Getting ready for a job interview with a non-profit organization? Here are some of
my top tips for your interview as an executive director who has hired my fair share of staff.
Welcome or welcome back to my channel! My name is Amber Melanie Smith and I am a non-profit founder
and executive director of the nonprofit that i started. I make videos here on YouTube to help
people who are out there making a difference in a number of ways - whether that's through
starting a non-profit, or participating in social enterprise or public service, what have you.
I hope that you find this video helpful and useful especially if you're looking for a job
with a non-profit organization right now and that you give it a like and subscribe to my channel for
more content like this if you're on the other side of this and you're thinking of starting
a non-profit definitely check out my website FounderToFulltime.com. I've got some trainings and
resources up there for people starting nonprofit organizations and i hope that those help you out
too okay so working for a non-profit is probably going to feel a bit different from working for
your typical business and thus the job interview process is going to feel a little different too
many people especially these days are drawn to non-profit jobs because they offer an opportunity
to make a difference in the world while making a living so here are my top seven tips for a
non-profit job interview check these out and good luck tip number one is ask before you go
ask questions before you go like who will be interviewing you what are their roles in the
organization or is there a specific dress code that they prefer you adhere to during the job
interview if it's something other than standard business professional if someone reached out to
ask clarifying questions before an interview i would not think that was a bad thing i would think
that that is a sign that they are being diligent now if you don't have any questions that's fine
too but if you do don't hesitate to ask and get that clarification before you step into the
interview room and regarding asking about who will be doing the interviewing it's important to know
perhaps some of the context about who will be in the room and why i know for my organization
though i as the executive director would have the final say in hiring staff that i'll be managing
i might also opt to have someone who would be that roles direct supervisor in the room after
all that's the person that has to work with them most often i might also invite someone
into the room who has a particular skill set or expertise or knowledge that is related to
the role that we are hiring for if someone is a marketing professional and maybe that's not my
strong suit and we're hiring for someone who's going to be like a marketing assistant
i might want that marketing professional in the room to help me verify that the candidate knows
what they're talking about so just a little bit more about who you might expect to see
it's not always going to be one person though it might also be one person and just being prepared
for that interview environment when you go in and on the attire front you might assume that business
is just what you should always do in an interview and in some cases that's it's
fair to have that as your default setting but i know for my organization we are pretty casual and
i probably would not be offended if you wore like nice jeans or something to an interview tip number
two is of course do your homework you want to understand the organization's mission and vision
at the very minimum now for those less familiar with the terminology the vision is going to be
like the organization's end game what is their ultimate goal is it a world without child poverty
is it a world in which there are a million trees planted so that's like the long term the end game
if you will and then the mission describes a little bit more about how they work to achieve
that vision so you want to understand these pieces the vision and the mission but you also want to
research on their website and study the organization a little bit more to understand
what their programming is what are the day-to-day activities that the organization undertakes in
order to achieve and work towards that mission and vision tip number three is to make it personal in
addition to understanding the organization's mission and vision and basic elements of their
programming you really want to come into the interview knowing and being able to explain
what you see as your personal role in helping the organization achieve its vision and mission and
depending on the role that you are applying for it could be any number of things if you are applying
for a programmatic role it could literally be activities that you'll you'll be doing on the
ground to further the mission if it's a marketing role then you'd be helping further the awareness
of the cause and bringing in support for the costs same with fund development you want to understand
the organization's mission and vision and all that and as a fund development person you're going to
need to learn how to sell it so that people will support the cause through financial means and if
you're applying for an operations role those roles are super critical in non-profits too so those
rules are like the backbone of the organization and making sure that things are running smoothly
behind the scenes so that the program folks on the ground and the marketing the fundraising folks
out on the streets trying to get support can all be doing their jobs efficiently without worrying
about whether the organization has its lights on now i know when i'm hiring uh experience
is important for sure but the top things that i really look for are passion and talent and
that's because on the talent side at least you know things can be you can be trained you can be
if you've got the talent and the the competency you can be trained to do a particular role even if
you don't have the exact experience of that role and on the passion side i want to know why do you
want to work for our non-profit and and further our mission not just why do you want to work for
any non-profit but ours specifically why do you care about our cause and want to be a part of
making it happen and a little bit more on that what would you be looking for from this position
that you weren't able to achieve or feel fulfilled by in a previous position number four is explain
how your unique skills apply to the job you're applying for let's say your past jobs or past
experiences aren't exactly synonymous with the role that you are applying for in a non-profit
i would say that that doesn't disqualify you as long as you can explain how those past experiences
and activities can be transferable or translatable into the position that you're hiring for
i also think it's really important to highlight any volunteer or pro bono experience that you have
on your resume that is completely valid and important experience building and skill building
work that the non-profit interviewer needs to know about number five come into the interview
understanding what you need in a non-profit workplace no a single non-profit is alike and
i have had experiences where someone maybe came in to interview for a position and assumed that
we were this like huge robust large-scale organization with all this infrastructure
and this was some time ago and um realizing that we were more like a startup we were smaller we
had to be innovative and entrepreneurial and very fast-paced and for the that particular person that
was not necessarily the fit that they were looking for they wanted something a little bit more
um stable and slow-paced and so understanding that nonprofit work environments are all different and
understanding what you might expect from that organization's work environment is going to save
yourself and the interviewer a lot of headache should you get hired and find
that the culture the pace the the expectations the infrastructure is not quite what you had in mind
now on the other hand some people really love that fast paced entrepreneurial environment in
which case that would be a great fit for you it doesn't i'm not saying that one is better than
the other i'm just saying that you should know the type of environment that you're looking for
and be able to align with the environment that you're going to be getting into if you get the
job and they're really pros and cons to either you know a smaller uh startup feeling non-profit
um might only be able to offer a smaller salary because their their budget is smaller however
you might have greater influence in shaping the organization's future because
you are a bigger piece of a smaller puzzle on the flip side a larger organization might be
able to offer some of those higher salaries but it might feel more bureaucratic or um slow paced
you might be able to tell that i have a little bit of a bias towards small organizations here but it
really doesn't matter what i think what matters is just you knowing what you're looking for in
a work environment tip number six is be authentic ultimately you want to know and the interviewer
wants to know that if you get the job you're gonna feel like you are comfortable that you can bring
your whole self to the job and you're going to feel at home people when they feel this way can
help create a really awesome healthy organization culture that makes everyone feel supported and
taken care of and when people feel that way they tend to do better at their work as well so i would
say bring your true personality into the job interview and look for the true personalities
of your interviewers too it is so refreshing to me when i'm able to interview a candidate and i just
see like a quirky side of them that you know you might not see in a typical corporate job interview
or environment i find that really endearing and i i feel like it's authentic tip number seven final
tip and this is a big one and it is ask your own questions too look all work employment jobs are a
two-sided contract the organization your employers they need to trust in you to do a good job and
you need to be able to trust in them to have your back you need to feel great about your leadership
and leadership needs to feel great about you so come up with questions to ask the interviewers
about the organization about you know their work with it things that you are genuinely curious
about what is the work culture like what um are some of the most challenging activities the most
fun activities really get a sense of what working with that organization would look like and if you
can get those answers from your interviewers then you're going to have a lot better time
if you get that position and want to stick around longer which is great for the organization and its
mission too all right are you preparing for a non-profit job interview what are some of
the questions that are on your mind that maybe i didn't cover within this video i'd love to hear
about it share in the comments below or maybe you are a non-profit hiring manager i'd love to hear
what are some other tips that you would offer to people that are interviewing for non-profit job
positions share those also in the comments below as i mentioned before if you are on the other
side of this and looking to start a non-profit i've got some great resources on my website
FounderToFullTime.com so check those out. I also do a newsletter for non-profit leaders and change
makers all around the world with articles and funding opportunities that i come across and
all sorts of good things so check out the link to subscribe to that in my description and you
can of course opt out anytime finally i have a Facebook group called change the world or bust
myself and 3,000 other folks from around the world are in there now at this point having great
conversations about the work that we're doing to make a difference and how we can support each
other along the way thanks as always for watching i hope you check out my other videos and enjoy
those so i hope to see you next time once again this is amber melanie smith and see you later