Career Blazers

Nonprofit Compensation Practices and Benchmarking Report Finds Mission Alignment the Top Factor in Hiring

Career Blazers Nonprofit Search has released its national 2023 Nonprofit Compensation Practices and Benchmarking Report, assessing nonprofit recruiting, hiring and retention of talent, along with salaries for 38 executive job titles across six organizational budget sizes.
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Why You Should Participate in a Nonprofit Salary Survey

When a nonprofit salary survey lands in your inbox, it’s a good chance to participate in a research initiative that helps not only your organization, but employers and employees throughout our sector.
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Spice Up Your Interview with the Right Responses

The goal of every interview is to get the job offer or to get one step closer to the job offer. Each successful interaction advances the job seeker closer to the offer. Every candidate must distinguish him/herself to have a competitive edge.
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Philanthropy and the Impact of the Pandemic on Giving

A recent study by Fidelity Charitable, a public charity that helps donors maximize the effectiveness of their donations through an advised fund, illuminates the noteworthy impact the COVID-19 Pandemic has had on giving, specifically among women.
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Philanthropy and the Impact of the Pandemic on Giving

Study Brings to Light the Impact the Pandemic has had on Social Giving

A recent study conducted by the Indianapolis-based software firm, OneCause, has shed some light on the noteworthy impact the pandemic has had on social giving. The study, dubbed the “The Giving Experience,” provides several key insights regarding the current state of social giving. More specifically, it highlights the motivators of social giving, when and how social donors might be comfortable returning to in-person events, and what can influence repeat donations.
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Get Your Resume Noticed With a Well Developed Cover Letter

There's plenty of advice out there about what to include on your resume: Numbers that prove your achievements, language that appears in the job description (as long as it’s relevant to your experience, of course) and impactful verbs like "accomplished" and "improved."
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There is So Much More Than a Resume When Considering a Hire

Résumés have long been the go-to tool for job seekers to showcase their experience and skills to potential employers. If you’ve ever written a résumé, you know firsthand that it can be a mind numbing experience to jam your life into one measly sheet of paper.
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In A Competitive Job Market, Here's How To Win The Interview

The job market has become tougher and more competitive for white-collar professionals. On a nearly daily basis, companies have announced significant layoffs. Since more people are hunting for jobs, the competition becomes more intense.
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Recognizing and Compensating for the Work/Life Buffer Zone of a Commute

Commuting sucks. And working from home is awesome. At least, that's what most people seem to think. And the data is compelling: studies have found that many people find their commute alienating and exhausting.
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Demonstrate Your Soft Skills For A Competitive Edge!

Whether you’re newly laid off or currently employed and looking for your next great role, now is the time to find it. The job market is healthy, unemployment is low and this is one of the biggest hiring months of the year. But there are also a lot of people looking for work.
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Interview Readiness: Prepare to Shine!

Introverts and extroverts alike, we all have to go through job interviews — and we all equally have the potential to blow them.
Not that I think you would. I believe in you.
But if you get to the job interview stage and find you aren’t getting job offers after, you have to examine what you’re doing in the interview. Did you fidget or giggle nervously? Or worse, did you pull a me and babble on way too long, leaving out some of the important stuff?
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Nonprofits Have Steadily Regained Jobs Lost Due to Covid-19

The nonprofit sector has recovered the estimated 1.64 million jobs lost during the first three months of the Covid-19 pandemic (March, April and May 2020). After the initial dips, the sector experienced steady recovery throughout the latter half of 2020 and 2021, reaching 2017 staffing levels in October 2022. Read More

Removing Educational Requirements Gains Traction and HR Experts Site The Benefits!

Your college degree might not matter quite as much in your 2023 job search as it used to. Read More

Taking Your 2023 Goals From Paper to Payoff

The new year is when we set personal resolutions and goals—read more, finally begin meditating. But at work, we usually leave prioritization and goal-setting to our leaders. We rely on leadership and managers to tell us what our goals should be. Read More

Setting 2023 in Motion!

Even those who hate the term “resolution” likely have career goals for the year ahead. Whether it is starting a leadership position, growing as a thought leader in your industry, or completely redirecting your career path, almost everyone has something they are trying to achieve professionally. Read More

Give Yourself The Greatest Gift: 5 Tips For Cheerful Holiday Networking

You've probably heard this phrase used time and time again in your corporate environment. For many, the month of December is a signal to wrap up outstanding projects in between crossing Christmas gifts off of your list and putting up the beloved "Out of Office" email signature before heading off to celebrate the holidays with your loved ones. Read More

Rethink Your 5 to 9 Routine For Better 9 to 5 Productivity

Most of us are looking for ways to simplify and streamline our workday. I've written countless articles on habits and hacks that can help you become more productive when you’re on the clock, But what about your off time?

Avoid These 5 Virtual Interview Mistakes

Despite a growing number of companies mandating their workers return to the office, a recent hiring survey from TopResume revealed one pandemic-inspired work trend that is expected to continue into the new year: the virtual interview process.

Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch

It's all too easy to fumble your response to the dreaded, "Tell me about yourself." Even if it's not an interviewer asking you that question directly, when presented with the chance to explain your work in simple terms, most of us end up giving convoluted, boring, or incomplete answers.

How To Cope With The Fear Of Failure

Whether you’re tackling a new job, launching an entrepreneurial venture or assigned a challenging work project, it’s conceivable that fear of failure may kick in. Fear is, after all, a biological condition that keeps us safe.

6 Tips to Keep Your To Do List Clear

One of the best secrets of time management seems to be too simplistic but is to know what to finish and what to leave undone. Most people struggle with starting things that pop up and seem urgent, and not being able to finish them because… guess what? Something even more urgent came up.

Networking Like A Croissant Not A Bagel

This summer, I went to my first in-person work conference since before the pandemic. As an extrovert, I was excited by the prospect of meeting new people in my field of journalism, rubbing elbows with the best and brightest and trading tips with other reporters.

Mastering the Often-Asked Interview Question - "Tell Me About Yourself"

The "tell me about yourself" interview question can be hard to answer if you're not prepared. Searching for a job is stressful enough without adding in a dose of self-perception.

The Opportunities and Obstacles of a 4-Day Work Week

On a recent summer Friday, 59-year old LaDonna Speiser takes her grand-nephew to the pool and helps her mother-in-law with errands. She visits the eye doctor and makes an appointment with a physical therapist.

Be Prepared For These Most Common Interview Questions

You made it (almost)! After networking and sending countless resumes, you've finally landed a job interview. Of course, you want to be prepared, so you did what most candidates are recommended to do — you looked up "most common interview questions."

If asked to return to the office full-time, nearly two-thirds would consider quitting

Spring has signaled the return of the commute as more companies call employees back to the office.
New numbers from Kastle, an office security firm that tracks key card swipes in thousands of commercial buildings, show that offices in the U.S.'s ten largest cities are about 40% occupied, up 15% from a year earlier.

Master the Online Interview!

More and more employers are opting for virtual and online interviewing. So now is a great time to brush up on your virtual interviewing skills and ensure you know what's expected of you and how to perform to bag your next dream job.

Address Resume Gaps in the Best Light!

Your resume is often a hiring manager’s first impression of you. They want to see that you’re reliable and have the experience and skills you’ll need to do the job. So if you have a resume gap, which happens if you went without employment for a period of time, you might be worried that it will work against you during the hiring process.

Some Tips on Tackling the Series of Decisions We Face Everyday

Just before the holidays last year, Rosa, the head of customer service at a health insurance company, canceled her monthly town hall meeting. She thought that since employees were scrambling to hit their year-end targets, they would welcome that extra hour.

Some Tips on Tackling the Series of Decisions We Face Everyday

Life is a neverending series of decisions: Who to play with at recess, who to take to the school dance, what to major in, where to go for happy hour, where to live, whether to end a relationship. Some of these decisions bear little weight on the rest of your life, but others can have huge consequences.

Build Your Team with a page out of the Ram's Playbook!

Who says nice guys finish last?
Last night, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI to become the newly crowned NFL champions. In post-game interviews, Rams players and coaches shared their thoughts on what they believed contributed to their championship season. You heard familiar phrases like "I knew this was a special team," and "we trusted one another to go out there and get it done."

Steps to Improve Your Writing! Make the Most of the Messaging You Do Everyday

Even if you aren’t a writer per se, proficient writing skills are highly valuable in plenty of careers. Often overlooked, the amount of writing workers do on a daily basis via email, text, and instant message is sky high. Add to that the occasional report, write-up, analysis, presentation, or performance review, and it starts to become clear how much of a writer you really are.

A Twist on the Traditional Sabbatical

Early last year, after winding down a long-term work contract in Hong Kong and relocating to England, for the first time in 20 years, I found myself with plenty of time on my hands and nothing to do.

I Am Not Sorry For My Delay, And I Don’t Expect You To Be Either

At first, being reachable all the time felt good. To professionals who started using BlackBerries 20 years ago to conduct business on the go, it registered as a superpower. “They felt like masters of the universe,” Melissa Mazmanian, an informatics professor at UC Irvine who studied the devices’ uptake in the early 2000s, told me. But as more people got mobile devices, responding to messages anytime became the norm among co-workers as well as friends and loved ones. The superpower morphed into an obligation.

Hybrid Clothing!! Combining Comfort and Professionalism!

This past fall, Lululemon’s design team noticed something unusual. Wall Street bros were flocking to the Brookfield Place store in the Financial District to buy the On the Move trousers, which look like chinos but are made from the same soft, stretchy, moisture-wicking material used in the brand’s activewear.

Resolution Wisdom Through the Ages

If we abide by the common definition of philosophy as the love of wisdom, and if Montaigne was right — he was — that philosophy is the art of learning to die, then living wisely is the art of learning how you will wish to have lived. A kind of resolution in reverse.

There's Always Another Way to Look at 2022 Goals!

This year, my new year resolution is to finish the first draft of a novel. It’s a realistic goal – I’m not saying it has to make money, or even be any good. I just want the words on the page, even if all they do then is languish for ever in a folder.

Intentional Hybrid Model Can Help Avoid a Two-Tier Model and a Mommy Track

When F, a 37-year-old media strategist, started working at a tech company based in Austin in June 2019, she negotiated a hybrid schedule. She would work from home Tuesdays and Thursdays so that she could spend more time throughout the day with her 15-month-old son.

Whatever The Reason...People Are Choosing To Quit Their Jobs!

Until recently, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) was pretty obscure. Now, it's become a mainstream indicator as workers continue to quit in record numbers.

Face to Face Etiquette in Business Situations

As we head back to work, everything from face masks to greetings can be fraught...

Stop Worrying And Start Growing

Being a leader requires confidence, decisiveness, and quick thinking--none of which are served by overthinking every decision or scenario or worrying about every move you make. There's a time to think, a time to act, a time to reflect, and a time to move forward.

The Answer As To Why So Many Americans Are Still Quitting Their Jobs

Goodbye. Farewell. Adios. Sayonara. Workers have been giving their bosses an earful of such words as of late. Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 4.3 million Americans, or 2.9% of the entire workforce, quit their jobs in August. That was a record-breaking month, piggybacking on previous record months. "The Great Resignation" is real, and it can be seen across virtually all industries.

The 40 Hour Work Week Comes Into Question!

The five-day workweek can feel as preordained and immovable as the number of minutes in an hour. You wake up, go to work and come home. Then, wash, rinse, repeat until the weekend.

What are Offices Good For? - It Deserves Some Thought!

As the Age of Delta scrambles back-to-office timelines, I find myself wondering what offices are good for in the first place.

I am pro-office. I miss a good eavesdropping, the promise of midday gossip, the "quick random question" that blooms into a half-hour conversation, and, theoretically, the magical combustion of creativity forged by these connections.

How Can Leisure Be Making Us Unhappy?

Leisure is the prize, right? We work hard, so we want to play hard; we look forward to our time off, believing that the more leisure time we have, the better life will be. Enjoying that time – or savouring that coveted end goal – should come naturally.

Spice Up Your Interview with the Right Responses

Nonprofit Jobs Experience Strong Rebound with an Element of Uncertainty Ahead

Nonprofit job growth saw its strongest two-month recovery since last summer and could return to pre-pandemic levels in about a year, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS) at Johns Hopkins University.

Competition for talent will continue to require strategies beyond the paycheck.

As the economy continues to reopen, labor market turbulence is on the rise. Workers are leaving their jobs in favor of new careers or locations, and some aren't going back to work at all, leaving critical jobs unfilled.

Is Your Side Hustle Relevant on a Job Interview?

Over the last year, due to a combination of financial need and having more time on their hands during lockdowns, many Americans turned their creative passion projects into lucrative side jobs. And now in today’s tight labor market, many of those people are poised to find a new job amid a record number of openings in the rebounding U.S. economy.

Most candidates these days should expect to be asked about their location preferences in job interviews

Many Americans have come to enjoy the perks of working from their homes, which became makeshift offices during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the unplanned experiment in telecommuting is turning a corner as more people get vaccinated against the virus and companies gird for the new era of hybrid workplaces.

Mission Statement's Transition from "what's within our four walls" to "what's outside of our four walls"

To appease employees, customers and shareholders alike, companies are spending time and money grappling with huge social problems like systemic racism, income inequality and climate change.

Philanthropy and the Impact of the Pandemic on Giving

It's Never Too Late

It's no secret that with age, comes wisdom (generally speaking). Over the years, I've learned a lot about who I am, what I value and what "success" really means. As I reflect on my career, here are five things I wish someone had told me when I was starting out. By adopting these action-oriented strategies, you can create true, long-term success for your career.

2020 Wasn't All Bad, After All

A flood of donations to support COVID-19 relief and racial justice efforts, coupled with stock market gains, led Americans to give a record $471 billion to charity in 2020.

Multifaceted Impact of a Four Day Work Week

The 89 people who work at Buffer, a company that makes social-media management tools, are used to having an unconventional employer. Everyone’s salary, including the CEO’s, is public. All employees work remotely; their only office closed down six years ago. And as a perk, Buffer pays for any books employees want to buy for themselves.

Back to Office Attire? Maintaining Comfort, Productivity and Professionalism!

I haven’t worn proper pants in over a year. My hair dryer is coated in dust. Ballet flats and boots and kitten-heeled pumps topple over one another in a basket in my closet, abandoned early in the pandemic in favor of practical Birkenstocks and sneakers.

Study Brings to Light the Impact the Pandemic has had on Social Giving

Perks of Working From Home Lead to Resignations

A six-minute meeting drove Portia Twidt to quit her job. She'd taken the position as a research compliance specialist in February, enticed by promises of remote work. Then came the prodding to go into the office. Meeting invites piled up.

You may have your favorite podcasts - Here are a few more to consider!

Most folks love learning, regardless of whether or not school is "their thing." Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right teacher for your learning style—or maybe even the right medium.

Bring your business into the digital age

Change comes with the territory in business. Fail to adapt, and your company can quickly shutter. However, the pace of change in the digital age has become exponential and is disrupting even large, successful companies that might seem secure.

Employer to Employee talk: "I want what’s best for you, even if what's best is achieved somewhere else."

Career dissatisfaction is something that we all struggle with from time to time. We’ve all had situations where we thought our lives would improve if we only had that one thing that was missing.

The History of The Resume: From Leonardo da Vinci to Linkedin

In the last decade, I have revised 3,000 résumés while working as a college career adviser. Here is my advice: The strongest will fit on a single page. Exceptions are few. An 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of letter paper fits about 700 words. So be efficient.

Magical Thinking Won't Get Your Work Done

We are master storytellers. We tell ourselves fanciful stories to motivate ourselves to get vast amounts of work done in small amounts of time. We jot down task after task after task, sure that we can complete them all within a standard workday.

The Decline of the Work From Homer's Lunch

In those first panicked weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, lunch was a respite for Debbie Davis-Graff and her husband, F. T. Before the lockdown, F. T. put in 14-hour days at work as an executive in the pipe industry and traveled so often it felt like he was rarely at their home, which sits on a lake in rural Ghent, West Virginia.

This mindset will boost your chances of landing an offer

No matter how much time you spend preparing for a job interview, we're all human and can freeze up or lose focus sometimes.

Ultimately, it's the attitude you bring that determines how successful you are at quickly recovering from those slipups.

What to expect going forward in the nonprofit world and predictions for the future

During a year of unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofits and other businesses have dealt with waves of constant change and uncertainty. Throughout forced closures, months of remote work, and inconsistent reopening plans, nonprofits have constantly adjusted by implementing strategies like virtual nonprofit fundraising to stay afloat.

Challenges Ahead for the Hybrid Work Environment

In March 2020, companies across the US abruptly shuttered their offices and instructed employees to work from home indefinitely as a result of the pandemic.

At first, many thought the shutdowns would last a couple months. But one year later, millions of workers are still working remotely.

Will introverts crave those once dreaded forced work interactions?

"It's such an interesting feeling," said Alex Delaney, 28, a teacher who lives in Brooklyn. "I fully identify as an introvert and like to spend time alone, but I've had more urges [in the last year] than ever to want to be at a club or go to a bar, which are places I would never go prior to the pandemic. It's funny, though, because I feel like once I do have the option to go to those places again, I probably won't."

You cannot spreadsheet your way to passion

Would you be excited if your boss started a meeting saying: "I want to remind you that you’re a cog in a machine whose primary purpose is to hit our financial targets"?

Is spending time on TikTok makes you feel bad? Think again.

There are now 3.78 billion social media users worldwide in 2021 — about a 32 percent increase from just five years ago. These numbers are expected to continue to grow, meaning social media will become an even more useful tool for nonprofits to connect with their communities.

Zoom Multitasking: Why and How you should reduce it

We've all heard that multitasking is bad and switching between activities makes it harder to complete them. But let's be honest—many of us multitask during Zoom meetings, especially as we enter the 10th month of working remotely and our Zoom fatigue has worsened.

In-person gatherings are like oxygen to leaders!

I started a company determined not to be "that boss." I wanted to work with people I actually knew and cared about, and I wanted them to be happy in return. Unlike some of the cold, clueless managers I had over the years, I intended to be there for my team—tuned into their challenges and committed to building something together.

My name is...
Are we in first grade?

The first sentence of your job application should ideally hook a hiring manager. But too often, job seekers resort to formulaic introductions in cover letters because selling the story of one’s career on paper is an understandably difficult task.

Don't sack the former Quarterback!

What would you say if, after losing the best employee you ever had, that employee went on to lead a competitor to greatness? Would you talk trash? Or suffer in silence?

The past 12 months have offered a glimpse of the nowhere-everywhere future of work.

Some evenings, when pandemic cabin fever reaches critical levels, I relieve my claustrophobia by escaping into the dreamworld of Zillow, the real-estate website.

We've all heard about the power of positive thinking, but what about the power of negative thinking

Steve Jobs famously stayed motivated by reminding himself of his own death every day, author Tim Ferriss has argued that thinking through the worst-case scenario in any situation can help you get anxiety under control and prepare for all eventualities, and...

Can a good leader really be "lazy"?

Author Matt Casey calls his approach "lazy management" and says changing the job, instead of the manager, is the best solution.

Resilience is one of them. Can you guess the other three?

Back in my corporate days, I wasn’t always good at hiding my disappointment or dissatisfaction. It’s awful to think back on...

In anticipation of the most creative non-profits of 2021...

This year’s finalists in the not-for-profit category of Most Innovative Companies are finding creative ways to achieve their missions...

Education level and projected openings, 2019–29

Oct. 2020

U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics projects occupational openings over the next 10 years based on education Level....

How to conduct video interviews: 7 tips for employers

Sept. 25, 2020

Conducting a video interview certainly incorporates facets of an in person interview, other element deserve consideration. Putting the candidate at ease without meeting them in reception and walking them to your office is a new challenge. Just because the candidate looks in a different direction or the volume is low does not mean they are not someone who makes eye contact and speaks softly – technology factors apply.

How to Write a Nonprofit Cover Letter (With Template and Example)

Mar. 12, 2020

A cover letter compliments, rather than duplicates what someone can read on your resume. Here are some additional things to consider when preparing a cover letter for a specific nonprofit organization.....

4 easy ways to grow in your current job while working from home

May. 13, 2020

We miss that face to face interaction, opportunity to share your works and feedback while working from home. Here some ways to be proactive, keep learning and keep communicating!

Insights

How to conduct video interviews: 7 tips for employers

How to Write a Nonprofit Cover Letter (With Template and Example)