Many of us receive requests to meet with people who are thinking about entering Jewish communal work or working in the nonprofit sector. Often these requests are relayed to us by a colleague who asks, in an email or phone call, that we meet with someone they know or with whom they have had a similar conversation. What should our response be when we are approached by those seeking a job or considering the field of Jewish communal service?
Certainly, such requests can be seen as an imposition on our time and another task we have to handle in an already busy schedule. We may want to say, “I understand your request, but I really do not have the time to meet with you.” But I urge you to show a generosity of spirit and time.
When the request comes from someone looking for a job and we do not know of any open professional positions, we are particularly likely to want to turn the person away, simply because we do not think we can be helpful. However, we may be able to be more helpful than we think, and it may not be until we engage in conversation that it will become clear how much we can offer the job seeker. In situations like this our ability to be of real assistance becomes apparent only in the context of the conversation. Therefore we need to think twice before we turn down a request for a meeting.
Networking offers tangible benefits as well. At the very least it gives us the opportunity to meet some interesting and even unique individuals. Those of us who are veterans in the field of Jewish communal service can recall our own conversations with seasoned professionals when we were just starting out. Many of us remember a salient conversation we had at one point with someone who influenced our journey toward working for the Jewish community.
On average I receive two requests a month from people seeking to enter the nonprofit sector or considering a job change. I respond positively, but am very clear about the purpose of our meeting. Most of the time I do not know about specific job opportunities; however, I am prepared to speak with them about how to pursue their professional interests. I let them know that I am happy to meet with them and assist them in thinking through how they can first clarify and then pursue their career aspirations.
I thus make a decision to engage with people as a colleague and to provide them with the appropriate assistance to enhance their professional development. Most of the people who reach out to me are very thankful for the opportunity to meet with someone who can assist them in clarifying their interests.
I provide this clarification by offering them a perspective that many find very helpful. By focusing on their experience and knowledge, I help them determine their future direction. I suggest they identify an area of Jewish communal service or the nonprofit sector about which they are passionate. It could be the age group they like to work with or specific challenges facing that population, such as developmental disabilities, substance abuse, or Alzheimer’s disease. If they are not passionate about serving any one group of people, they may be interested in a particular area of concentration, such as resource development, leadership development, or the management of nonprofits.
Next, I speak with them about how they can learn more about the client group or area of service of interest to them. It is not rocket science to search the web or to identify agencies that either respond to the challenges they are interested in or employ people who are performing a variety of tasks in the voluntary sector. I then help them focus on identifying specific individuals who provide services or function in the capacities they wish to pursue.
When I am familiar with the field of service or specific professionals of interest, I will send an e-mail asking my colleagues to be available for what I call an information interview. In this meeting people pursuing their professional interests are able to learn more and reflect with someone already working in the nonprofit sector. This kind of engagement with an experienced professional can be invaluable.
A side benefit of these kinds of meetings is the mentoring opportunity it provides for the senior professional. The process of responding to questions and engaging in a conversation focused on explaining one’s own professional roles and responsibilities can be a stimulating learning experience for the veteran. When there is a willingness and openness to be available, then both parties will find the experience to be not only interesting but also rewarding.
We can never underestimate the value of these kinds of engagements between those looking to enter human services and those of us who are veteran professionals. The more willing we are to share with those hoping to join our ranks, the more we will strengthen the professional leadership and the services provided to the Jewish community.
Stephen G. Donshik, D.S.W., is a lecturer at Hebrew University’s International Nonprofit Management and Leadership Program and has a consulting firm focused on strengthening nonprofit organizations and their leadership for tomorrow. Stephen is a regular contributor to eJewish Philanthropy.
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Dr. Donshek,
I cannot agree with you more. These meetings, that we often cringe at–not only because we have time constraints, but also because we know we cannot offer specific job leads, are appreciated by the recipient and ofetn add to our pool of friends, acquaintances and colleagues.
As we often are in the position to ask others to contribute-time, money, resources, this ia small but significant way we too can contribute.
John Lemberger, Director, Geriatric Administration
Maccabi Healthcare Services
I too agree to most requests to meet for career info and networking. In my case, it is more like 2 per week rather than 2 per month, probably because I have had 5 distinct careers, only some of which were directly in or with the Jewish community, and also because I have had leadership roles on both the professional and volunteer level.
There is one important addendum I would like to add to the previous comments: I often wish that those who pass my name along would clarify to the networker that I am not likely to have job leads but might be helpful in other ways. All of us can tell when someone sitting in front of us is spending the time looking over our proverbial shoulder – asking to whom I can introduce him or her even if I cannot give job leads. When I perceive that I am simply being used as a networker, and not a person from whom to garner insights, it is hard to be as engaged as I am when someone seems genuinely interested in learning. The reason so many of us are so adamant about our non-knowledge of job openings is that we have found ourselves wasting time when we haven’t been absolutely clear ahead of time.
Having said that, I too welcome most of those meetings – after all, I have reached the point of my life and career when those younger than I often have more knowledge than I; I just may have more of the wisdom that comes with experience.
Thank you for this perspective. It is so important that we “pay it forward” as professionals. I will forever be grateful to the individuals who took the time to meet with me when I was starting out and value the advice and time they gave me. In my current role I have the opportunity bring in new interns to our department and have found great satisfaction in working with them. You never know what people will become and to be generous in time in spirit will always put you in a favorable place. If we want to build the pipeline of strong professional leadership, these types of meetings will allow us to have strong, lifetime relationships with multiple generations.
Although we are “in the business” of Executive Placement in the Non-Profit Sector, seeing candidates daily, I am often contacted by younger professionals (for whom our clients job level may not be relevant), or recent graduate school or college graduates, with only Intern experience.
We believe that the time we invest will pay dividends, not only for us, but for the Jewish Non-profit sector, as well. We need to have many more people consider the field of Jewish non-profit work, especially in Development or Institutional Advancement (fundraising!).
Stephen, Thank you for your insight and guidance.
I’m with Richard here, except my frequency is 4-8 weekly requests for help – networking, brain-picking, a request for free promotion of someone’s project, a pitch for me to write somewhere for free, brokering a connection to another professional, organization or publication, suggestions of best tools, sharing of best practices, questions about whether I can get that person into the ROI Community or onto a Birthright trip or a grant for their initiative, advice about things to see and do and places to live in LA for people who are friends of friends (sometimes of friends) and moving to town…all of that is in the last two months or so, and it is a representative sample. A few weeks ago, someone asked me to blast a project out to the media because that person thought I “was in charge of the West Coast Jewish media.” This is my daily life, which I admit may not be the norm for Jewish professionals with a more singular affiliation than my portfolio of various jobs, some of which involve networking, one-on-one meetings, advising, etc, as part of the daily work. But it takes a toll and can be pretty overwhelming.
I believe in “paying it forward.” I was the beneficiary of many such coffees and lunches with people who were willing to speak with me, sharing their time and expertise, and a good number of business partnerships and personal connections have resulted. (I also reached out to a number of people who didn’t respond, and although I was disappointed, that’s part of “the cost of doing business.”) But I like to believe I was humble in my approach, sensitive to the fact that the time they gave me was a gift, and was appropriately both respectful and grateful. This isn’t always the case, and I am more likely to say yes to a meeting with someone who acknowledges that my time has value to me as well as to them. There is also sometimes the expectation that a meeting with me is going to result in my becoming a headhunter for that person – I rarely do this, as one meeting isn’t usually enough for me to recommend someone I just met.
I also recommend this “No, You Cannot Pick My Brain. It Costs Money” piece from a few years back. It’s written from a pretty angry, but not entirely unjustified, point of view, but it also provides some tips and guidelines that people can follow.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/03/28/no-you-cant-pick-my-brain-it-costs-too-much/2/
I’m clearly not a hardliner on these guidelines. But they can be helpful – especially to freelancers and consultants – in reaffirming that time has value to both parties, and that an exchange of significant business content should not happen, repeatedly, gratis. My comfort zone is somewhere in the middle between making time for everyone and charging everyone for every minute. I’m thinking about an “office hours” style-structure, where I declare a three-hour block and a location and people can drop in or make appointments during that time only. Or maybe the answer is an “intake questionnaire,” which asks some general questions in advance and permits us to have a more specific conversation in-person.
I’m a believer in relationships, and in networking, and in generosity of time and spirit, and in the connectedness of the Jewish people. But I also need to protect my own time, space and professionalism. So it remains a juggling act.
Working in the Jewish community means being a giving, sharing communal member. We all started out once and needed those “older and wiser” conversations to clarify our thinking or help us focus. At the William Davidson Graduate School at JTS, where Mark Young and I run career coaching sessions for our soon to be graduates, we strongly recommend “Informational Interviews” with those in positions they may want to pursue. The purpose is to ask about the professional’s journey, the skills they wish they had gotten and what they would change if they could. Our “rule” is to ask for 30 minutes of someone’s time and stick to that. If they allow more, great. if not, be respectful, be grateful for the opportunity; prepare ahead of time so you use your time as wisely as possible. Do not ask for a job, but use this as a professional networking opportunity. You never know when paths will again cross and opportunities will present themselves, but for now, this is a learning moment. We all need to give back to the next generation so m’dor l’dor, we can strengthen the professionalism of the Jewish community and ultimately achieve our collective goals.