Read This If You’re Just Now Starting Your Career…
And Am Considering a Non-Profit!
Jumping into a non-profit career is an incredibly unique one. In Singapore, exceptionally. Having ‘graduated’ from my first full-time job just 2 weeks ago, I can’t help but constantly reflect upon the greatest lessons of the past 2 years!
You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
— Steve Jobs.
It all started in 2013, from an airborne wind turbine project study to the eye-opening experience in Sweden, then a courageous cold email to volunteer over at wind conferences which got me to meet one of my life mentors who introduced me to GWEC~
Fast forward to the present, out of my first full-time role as a Policy and Communications Manager, turned out to be a huge understatement but whole-heartedly an incredibly memorable expedition of my lifetime!
Come along as I share what worked for me in a non-profit, which in my case, resembles a startup experience.
A Jack-of-all-Trades, Master of One — LEARNING!
Becoming a master at learning will surely benefit you in this position, which gives creative thinkers and problem solvers an advantage to thrive in this ever-changing and challenging environment. A can-do attitude can go a long way.
“You don’t know everything there is to know yet, and that’s okay.”
Part of being a great non-profit employee understands that there are limited resources and so, you often wear a lot of hats instead of doing the same tasks day after day. It’s essential, then, you actively work to bridge the knowledge gap by asking good questions that help you work more efficiently.
Clearly, being the jack-of-all-trades doesn’t make you a master of none. It makes you a master at learning, an invaluable skill at any company, especially a non-profit.
Embrace Work-Life Integration
Work at a non-profit offers you a platform to deliver a lot, especially when you are a young person full of gusto and desire to change the world who likes you are doing and am having fun. There isn’t a clear 9–5 schedule, because you can always get into many other things.
It’s one thing to be tired and complain a little bit — everyone has to vent sometimes — but it’s quite another thing to be burned out. That’s when you will hear a lot about the concept of “work-life balance”. When people describe “work-life balance”, most of them describe it as a scale. On one end is “work” and on the other end is “life”. The two are described in a way that it’s an either-or option — more of one means less of the other.
I come to disagree. While I do not have the answer for this million-dollar question for everyone, but I have it for myself.
I come to believe that it’s impossible for us to precisely divide our work and social lives in 50–50 proportion, and so, I combine those two things so I can have the best of both!
As for my case, I make sure that I spend time re-charging every other evening at the very least — read a book, go for a run, take a long walk, practice writing, sleep early — do anything that makes you feel relieved of stress and good about your body.
Bottom line: You are the master of your own life and one who decides your own definition of work-life balance. If you ask me what’s a good life/work balance (in my own interpretation): Get a life. Choose your life as much as you choose your job.
Passion Trump Skills!
Working in a non-profit is hard. If you’re not passionate about the cause, don’t do it.
“Passion pushes you to learn more, create more and to create better. Best of all, it’s contagious.”
— Robert T. Kiyosaki
It’s true. While you might overwork (a little), there will be times when you step back and realise you are making a tremendous difference for a cause you believe in. Seeing the impact of your work on helping others really does feel great. It’s a special feeling about being able to say, “There’s a ripple effect to the work that we do.”
Wherever you are working at — startup, big company, government agencies or even a non-profit and/or whatever it is, HUSTLE for it! Make time for great work.
If you take the time to master the tools necessary for your job, take time off when appropriate and align your passion with the mission of the non-profit, you are on the right path to achieving greatness.
