September 1994
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina
7
Tapping into 'hidden' sector
Resources for students seeking nonprofit jobs
On campus and off, help is avail
able for students and young
people considering careers in
the nonprofit sector.
By Sidney Cruze
“f—here is good news for college
I students seeking jobs in
/ nonprofit organizations; A
growing number of resources are
available to help them with their job
search.
Even thou^ the nonprofit sector
is a growing Industry throu^out the
U.S., the nonprofit job market can be
difficult for students to tap into.
Some career counselors even refer
to it as the “hidden” job market.
“Nonprofits have fewer resources
and that makes it hard to for them to
spend the money to recruit on cam
pus,” says Dian Poe, a career spe
cialist tor community service, public
service and government positions at
Duke University. “Also, they typical
ly have fewer positions available and
have a tendency to hire from within
or throu^ word of mouth.”
The result is that students who
are interested in working in the non
profit sector may have to work hard
er to find out about job opportuni
ties.
Yet a, growing number of them
are not intimidated by the extra
work. These students want to help
solve community problems, and want
to do that by working for nonprofit
organizations.
“We have seen a definite increase
in the number of students who are
interested in community service and
nonprofit jobs,” says Marcia Harris,
director of University Career
Services at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“More and more students are
choosing this career path as we
move away from the 80s and the ‘me’
generation.”
Two years ago, the University
Career Services office at UNC-
Chapel Hill responded to students’
increased interest in nonprofit jobs
by creating a staff position to help
them plan for careers in nonprofit
organizations. Harris says the posi
tion, which was filled by Jacquelyn
M. Gist, is designed to assist stu
dents and to change the perception
that the office was useful only to stu
dents looking for jobs in the for-prof
it sector.
Career development offices on
other college campuses in North
Carolina also serve as resources for
students looking for nonprofit jobs.
Libraries in most offices include
information about the nonprofit sec
tor, as well as job hstings, and coun
selors are available to help students
find out about internships and job
opportunities. Counselors also work
to let nonprofit organizations know
about student interest in nonprofit
careers and to encourage them to
send job hstings.
In addition to campus career
offices, students considering non
profit jobs can turn to pubUcations to
find job hstings.
Five pubhcations containing non
profit job listings are produced by
“ACCESS: Networking in the Pubhc
Interest.” The New York based orga-
' CAREERS
nization was founded in 1985 to pro
mote civic involvement and volun
tarism by serving as a national
clearinghouse of nonprofit job oppor
tunities.
One ACCESS publication,
“Community Jobs: The National
Employment Newspaper for the
Nonprofit Sector,” includes listings
for 200-300 positions ranging from
entry-level to executive director. The
organization also offers nonprofit
networking programs, such as a
resume bank, career counseling and
a national career fair. Students can
get information about ACCESS at
their campus career development
office.
Counselors encourage students
who are preparing tor careers in the
nonprofit sector to volunteer,
become involved in their community
and gain leadership experience.
Students can get much of this hands-
on experience with local nonprofit
organizations throng campus com-
mimity service centers.
“I always mention our community
service center to students with an
interest in nonprofit careers,” says
Poe of Duke. “It’s a great way for
them to get experience and to get
involved with the local nonprofit
community.”
The centers offer opportunities
for students to either volunteer, join
committees or even participate in
starting new programs.
North Carohna Pubhc Alhes also
offers opportunities for young people
to gain experience in working close
ly with nonprofit organizations.
Pubhc Mies, based in Durham, is
part of a national apprenticeship
program that pays young people to
do pubhc service work in their own
communities. The North Carolina
program sponsors 24 internships at
nonprofit organizations by providing
a portion of the interns’ sdaries.
The interns are young people
who want to work to find realistic
solutions to community problems.
They are assigned jobs ranging from
pohcy analyst to volunteer coordina
tor, and they receive training in
leadership, coalition-building and
practical job skihs as part of the pro
gram.
College graduates who want
experience managing their own non
profit initiative can apply to The
Southern Community Partners
Program. The program provides
seven two-year fehowships annually
to people with proposed projects
designed to inspire other young peo
ple to influence communities or
regions in the South. 'The fehowship
includes financial support, business
equipment and training for partners.
For information, cah N.C. Pubhc
Allies at (919) 687-0005, The
Southern Community Partners
Program at (919) 683-1840, and
ACCESS at (212) 475-1001.
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