October 7, 2004 | Read Time: 3 minutes
Q. I’m currently a freshman in college who is looking toward a career in nonprofit organizations, but I don’t know where to start. I really like to organize and file, make lists and schedules, etc. Is there a specific major I should consider? Or is that something I could do as a volunteer?
A. No specific major is required for a nonprofit career, says Deborah Jones, director of career services at Centre College, in Danville, Ky. However, take some time to think about not only your skills but also your interests. Are you passionate about the environment? Helping the homeless? Working with disabled children? Take electives from academic programs outside your major, such as psychology or human development, that you think might help strengthen your background in the areas of the nonprofit world that most engage you.
And if you can, Ms. Jones suggests studying abroad.
“Studying in another culture is a great way to learn to understand the issues others face,” she says. “You may return home with an entirely different perspective about what you’d like to do with your life.”
To focus your goals, consider taking a self-assessment test to help you understand your strengths and skills. Some, like the Self-Directed Search, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or the Strong Interest Inventory, are available to take through many college career centers. “Although such tests will not tell you exactly what you should do, they can give you ideas about how your interests fit in the world of work,” says Ms. Jones.
Taking a class that requires you to work at a nonprofit organization, completing an internship, or, better yet, simply volunteering at several charities during your college years can also help you sample the field and build experience. “But don’t just volunteer for a few days and then move on,” Ms. Jones advises. “Do your best to make a contribution to each of them.”
She also suggests talking to the people who work at those organizations: Ask them about their jobs, what they like about them, what they don’t, and how they got into the field. Those conversations, she says, are likely to elicit some useful advice about how to proceed with developing your career.
Internships can, and often do, lead to full-time paid jobs, attests Jill Lewis, who graduated from Texas A&M University, in College Station, three years ago. In 2000, Ms. Lewis did an eight-week internship at Buckner Children’s Home, a charity in Dallas. As an intern, Ms. Lewis worked with Buckner’s fund-raising staff to help open four buildings to be used to care for abused and neglected children. “I learned firsthand about donor relations, special-event planning, and volunteer management — all in one summer,” she says.
The experience was a turning point for Ms. Lewis, who says that she had been planning to find a job in the corporate world after graduation.
“I had volunteered for charities since I was in junior high school, but I had never made the connection that these organizations had a business side to them as well until my internship experience,” she says. “For the first time, I realized that one could have a great career in the nonprofit sector, and I have never looked back.”
Indeed, Buckner’s Children’s Home offered her a job as its volunteer and special activities coordinator upon graduation. She now serves as the organization’s development officer.
If nonprofit work does turn out to be your chosen path, you can take a customized curriculum at some colleges and universities: More than 80 campuses offer the American Humanics certificate program for undergraduates, which prepares students to go into nonprofit work after graduation, with a focus on youth-development and human-services charities.
