Books:
1. Self-Assessment: What's in Here?
Boldt, Laurence. Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design. New York: Penguin, 1998.
This 600-page resource guide for creative career changers integrates it all - from information about Zen and mythic archetypes to conventional materials about writing a resume. Boldt's premise is that everyone is an artist in his or her own life. He offers thought-provoking exercises to help you discover work that will be deeply satisfying. Eikleberry, Carol. The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1999.
Eikleberry offers a realistic and novel approach to the creative person seeking career satisfaction. She understands the odds: for every seven artistic persons in the job market there is only one artistic job. She gives the job seeker tools to compete wisely and to look at creative alternatives, such as self-employment. Includes an annotated list of 240 occupations for creative and unconventional people.
Levoy, Gregg, Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life, Three Rivers Press. New York, 1997.
Callings is a jewel for career changers who want to probe deeper questions of their life's purpose. Levoy draws on literary images and spiritual thinkers to help the reader examine the clues that they receive through dreams, arts, and synchronistic events. Levoy addresses such introspective questions as: How do we recognize a true calling? How do we handle our resistance to a call? What happens when we say "yes?"
Palmer, Parker, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. Josey Bass. SF. 1999.
Drawing from the back cover of this slight volume: "With wisdom, compassion and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and job, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives."
Sher, Barbara. It's Only Too Late If You Don't Start Now: How to Create Your Second Life at Any Age. New York: Dell, 1992.
Barbara Sher is a Jewish-tell-it-like-it-is-grandma who didn't write her first famous book until she was in her 60s. She is living the challenge to the career charger's inner foot-dragger that says, "It is too late to follow my creative dream." Sher uses humor to motivate the creative mid-life career changer.
II. Exploration & Research: What's Out There?
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (http://state.bls.gov)
Labor statistics, by state and occupation, including occupational outlook/projections.
OLMIS (Oregon Labor Market Information Systems) (http://www.olmis.emp.state.or/)
This site provides a wealth of information on wages and job outlooks in all regions of Oregon. Users can access a large variety of job titles to learn about required skill sets, training and education.
III. Finding the Job: Making the Match
Bolles, Richard, What Color is Your Parachute? Ten Speed Press, Updated Annually. Dick Bolles is the undisputed king of the career counselors and he publishes a new version of this famous, comprehensive career search book every year. He was the first champion of networking as the best strategy for finding a new job and his book is replete with data, web sites, and tips. A great deal of Bolles' material can also be found on his web site: www.JobHuntersBible.com.
Everett, Melissa, Making a Living While Making a Difference: The Expanded Guide to Creating Careers with a Conscience. New Society Publishers. Gabriola Island, Canada. 1999. Melissa Everett speaks to people who are committed to creating a better planet through their work. She aims to rouse people to think creatively and entrepreneurial about the true work to be done to move towards environmental sustainability and economic justice. Eighty percent inspiration and twenty percent practical advice. Melissa's web site, www.sustainablecareers.com also has excellent articles and links to resources.
Parker, Yana, Damn Good Resume Guide. Ten Speed Press. Berkely, CA. 2002 I use Yana Parker's model for functional resumes (see Resumes. This volume is filled with examples for a wide variety of fields.
IV. Accepting the Position
Chapman, Jack. Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute. Ten Speed Press. Berkely, CA. 2001.
I've seen Jack Chapman speak at a few conferences and his style is a little slick for most of us. Don't let his gung-ho attitude of pressing for more money turn you off because you probably need a little nudging in that direction. Most jobs have room for negotiation and you do want to be compensated for what you are worth, don't you? Jack will guide you through issues that apply in all fields, such how to respond to queries such as "What are your salary requirements?"
www. Salary.com and many other generic job web sites (such as Monster.com) include typical salary scales for a large number of job titles. These sites will help you adjust expectations for level of experience and geographical location (rates in SF vs Salem, OR for instance). Knowing the market value of a position is one of the best tools for negotiating a desirable salary.
Internet Resources
Useful web sites and lists for nonprofit career seekers
Most job hunters are aware that there are many web sites that are geared toward career seekers. But in addition to the huge general-interest sites like Monster.com, there are a small but growing number of sites directed specifically toward career seekers who want to make a difference. The following list is by no means complete, but shows many of the more useful sites available.
Portland-Area Jobsites
www.cnrg-portland.org This is an excellent resource for nonprofit job seekers. Subscribers to this listserv receive several emails daily with notification of job openings, classes, events and other issues of interest to people seeking alternative careers.
connect2jobs.org Although this site is not exclusively focused on nonprofit or "sustainable" careers, it is an excellent all-around resource for Portland area job hunters. Launched by the City of Portland's Work Systems Inc., the site lists employment opportunities in Multnomah, Tillamook, and Washington counties. Most of the jobs are in technology and education but there are several listings for nonprofits.
www.craigslist.org This legendary Bay-Area based website recently added a Portland section. While the job and resource listings for Portland aren't as exhaustive as those posted for the Bay Area, you will find some jobs posted there that you won't see anyplace else.
www.earthshare-oregon.org This is a federation of nonprofit environmental organizations that promote environmental education and charitable giving through workplace campaigns. There may not be any listings for paid jobs but there is a link to information about volunteer opportunities.
www.easystreet.com/services/nplist.html This is not a job site, but an excellent resource nonetheless. It's one of the best single collections of links to the websites of Portland nonprofits.
www.inforain.org/jobbase.cfm - Inforain is a job site sponsored by Ecotrust, a Portland-based nonprofit that bankrolls environmental projects and sustainable businesses. Many of the jobs listed are from the Portland area, some are from elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, and a few are national.
http://www.1stop.org/nonprofitjobs.htm - This site is sponsored by One-Stop Workforce Development Centers, an excellent free service for low-income job seekers. New jobs in nonprofit are posted on this site daily. It also has links to each of the government and educational web sites.
http://www.wvdo-or.org/jobslist.asp - Willamette Valley Development Officers sponsors this site that has the most comprehensive local listing of jobs in development including event planning, fund-raising, and grant-writing.
Local Government Jobsites
www5.ci.portland.or.us/jobs City of Portland jobs.
www.portofportland.com/JOBSOPEN.asp Port of Portland jobs .
http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/jobs Multnomah County jobs.
www.metro-region.org/jobs/jobs.html -Metro region jobs.
www.dashr.state.or.us/jobs State of Oregon jobs.
National Jobsites (General Focus)
The following all serve as clearinghouses for national nonprofit job information. All of them allow users to narrow their search criteria to jobs from one specific state, so it's pretty easy to go through them and check what's available in Oregon right now.
www.idealist.org This is one of the first job sites to focus exclusively on nonprofits. Today it lists over 8,000 organizations, publications, nonprofits, and community organizational interests in its database of 18,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 130 countries. Despite its vast scope, you can customize it so that it will send you only those postings from Oregon.
nonprofit.about.com About.com's nonprofit Charitable Orgs is a massive clearinghouse of information about nonprofits. It's not exclusively geared toward job seekers. There are, however, many useful links such as "One Stop Resource For Job Seekers", "Local nonprofit Connection" and information on starting your own nonprofit.
www.sustainablebusiness.com Select the link to "Green Dream Jobs", which bills itself as "the most extensive job and internship listing service devoted to helping people with business skills find jobs with sustainable businesses and organizations."
www.accessjobs.org Click "Jobs" to get an extensive list of links to all sorts of jobs, some of which are for nonprofit organizations.
www.nonprofitcareer.com The nonprofit Career Network is a resource center for individuals seeking job and volunteer opportunities in nonprofit organizations.
www.opportunitynocs.org OpportunityKnocks.org is a good resource for nonprofit jobs and career opportunities.
National Jobsites (Environmental Focus)
ecojobs.com Bills itself as "The number one source of environmental jobs." Its listings are broken down into groups such as Conservation and Natural Resource Jobs, Environmental Advocacy Jobs, and Environmental Science and Engineering Jobs, etc.
eelink.net/eejobs.html -The primary emphasis of this site is environmental education. It features a host of links to many other job sites, including a few already listed here. Some of the links are even accompanied by a user rating of the indicated site (0-5 stars).
Jobs Mailing Lists
lists.onenw.org/lists ONE/Northwest hosts lists that carry discussion about conserving and protecting the environment in the Pacific Northwest. Of particular interest is the Women on Water list, which provides local environmental job postings, especially for jobs related to water-resource management. Women on Water is an organization of environmental professionals that hosts networking events such as potlucks, seminars, and recreational activities.
PNW Job Seekers This newsletter-style list was established to share information about Portland area job opportunities related to natural resource conservation and environmental education. To subscribe to the list send a blank email message to pnwJobSeekers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
General Information Sites
www.careers-in-marketing.com/nplinks.htm Features links to the websites of several nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity. There is also some useful information and links to books and other resources on topics relevant to nonprofit career seekers, such as fundraising and management techniques.
www.sustainablecareers.com - This site does not feature any job listings, but it has a lot of good job search tips and an "Information Gateway" that features numerous links to other useful sites.
www.guidestar.org Although there are no jobs listed here, it's a great resource for people who've narrowed their job search to the nonprofit sector. This is a database that lists every IRS-registered 501(c)(3) organization in the US. The basic information on each group is taken directly from IRS Form 990.
http://www.volunteerhere.com/ The purpose of this site is to connect people with customized volunteer opportunities. You can locate volunteer opportunities in your preferred type of organization that can utilize the skills that you want to apply.
Occupational Research and Outlook
http://state.bls.gov is the work of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) It provides comprehensive Labor statistics, by state and occupation, including occupational outlook/projections.
http://www.olmis.emp.state.or is the site of OLMIS (Oregon Labor Market Information Systems.) This site provides a wealth of information on wages and job outlooks in all regions of Oregon. Users can access a large variety of job titles to learn about the required skill sets, training and education.
|
