How to transition successfully from nonprofit jobs to corporate America

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March 2, 2011

How to transition successfully from nonprofit jobs to corporate America

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By Kristen Fife
NWjobs

Q: I've worked for nonprofit organizations for the last 11 years, working in youth-centric program development, fundraising and event management for organizations such as the YMCA . After being laid off in December, I am interested in transitioning to corporate America. I'm particularly interested in recruiting and corporate giving positions. I'd love to learn more about university recruiting, as I think my experience working with young adults could be an asset. What are your suggestions?
--AB, Renton

Kristen says: Sounds like you have had a rewarding career. I’ll start by addressing your interest in recruiting. The skills most recruiters need are a sales/marketing bent and experience, ability to learn quickly, good account management and communication skills, and an understanding of how to use databases. In Seattle, it is desirable to have at least some experience with a staffing agency, which is a great training ground for recruiting in general. Bridgeway Career has a great list of agencies, and WARecruit is our local online community (job listings, candidate shares, Q & A). Most corporate campus recruiter positions are with larger organizations; to identify them, look for companies with job descriptions seeking interns or 0-1 years of experience.

Corporate giving positions are usually available at companies with strong philanthropic ties to the community, to hospitals and to colleges and universities. I’d recommend looking at nonprofit programs with large endowments or corporate sponsorships to see who their donors are. Idealist is one of the main nonprofit job boards. Vocation Village has a list of area nonprofit organizations, too. You might also check Volunteer Match to see who is looking for volunteers. Seattle Opera, Pilchuck Glass School, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The Tacoma Museum of Glass, Hugo House, Goodwill, Fare Start, Red Cross and the Scouts are the sorts of organizations that come to mind. Once you have compiled a list of major corporate donors to the programs you've researched, start visiting those company websites to see who has corporate giving positions available, keeping in mind that you may need to wait for a few months for openings. LinkedIn will help you identify individuals in those companies to start building relationships with; especially in the nonprofit space, it is very much about networking and “who you know.”