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We’ve recently shared financial tips for nonprofit professionals and given advice about how to live on a small paycheck, however it’s always helpful to hear how people in different stages of their careers manage their money. Over on The Billfold, Liz Niemer, who will be starting AmeriCorps in the fall, walks us through her thought process and budgeting plans leading up to starting the low-paying position, including a chart with her expenses.

So: The numbers say AmeriCorps is going to work for me, but they might not have if it weren’t for the cheap rent I’m sharing with my boyfriend or the generosity of my parents. My parents have helped me graduate debt-free and are letting me stay on their phone plan—and thanks to Obama, also their health insurance plan. There’s no way I could afford to do this without the privileges I’ve had and continue to receive.

Even knowing I’ll have enough money to survive, I do wonder how good I’ll be at “surviving.” I’ve never had to live by a strict budget. Will counting up my daily spending be a reminder that helps me stay organized or a chore that makes me resent my job? I’ve never really used credit cards before—will my limited income make credit more appealing? I’m also worried about stalling my eventual career—will a year of AmeriCorps service make it look as though I didn’t have the motivation or skills to pursue “real” employment? I guess I’ll figure it out, and I’m excited to take this risk.

See Liz’s budget and read the rest here.

We know about the career benefits of AmeriCorps and similar public service programs, but for many people the low pay raises various challenges, including how people can manage individually and how low pay might keep people out of the sector in general.

What do you think? What advice would you give Liz and others who are wrestling with this?

Mario Paz

Mario Paz has spent the last seven and a half years as the executive director of the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center in San Francisco, which is pretty cool considering he came to the center as a child. Though Mario’s first executive director position has been challenging—dealing with the recent recession soon after starting—he advises people interested in becoming an executive director to be prepared for change and to embrace building community.

Why did you pursue this position as an executive director?

Throughout my career, I’ve always had different leadership roles. Prior to coming to Good Samaritan, I ran a department at a large social service agency in San Jose, which was actually larger than the agency where I currently serve as executive director.

My desire to work at Good Samaritan is a full circle; I came here as a young child. I grew up in the neighborhood and when I was recruited for the position, I felt like it was a calling. It was an interesting experience and it was not necessarily something I was pursuing, but it was an opportunity that presented itself that felt like the right thing, and the right fit for me. It was perfect timing.

What do you wish you had known before you took on this role?

I wish I would have known that the economy was going to go into a deep recession and it would be this huge crisis that affected our sector. No one anticipated how severe it was going to get. I’ve learned to manage crises well, and we navigated through the difficult recessionary period, in terms of fundraising and trying to build a sustainable organization.

There are a lot of changes occurring on our sector, so I was prepared for that. There’s always this issue of managing change constantly, but I wish I would have had the foresight to be be prepared for real difficult challenges around fundraising. But we got through it and it came together. I developed a lot of proactive planning to prepare for it and we go through it pretty well intact, fortunately.

What’s the biggest challenge facing executive directors today?

This issue of change. The nonprofit sector, like the rest of the world, as we’ve moved towards a global economy, is changing and there are a lot of pressures. The way you do fundraising has changed. The demands on our sector to be able to demonstrate our impact has changed. There’s a lot of pressures around being able to manage data that demonstrates impact. You have to be able to use technology effectively. You have to have staff that has increased skill sets and have more technical skills.

We suffer from low self-esteem also. We don’t promote ourselves enough in terms of how amazing the people who work in this business are. We’re a sector that is always going to be under-resourced. One of the things we’re able to do well, and we’ve always been able to do well, is to make a lot of things happen with few resources. We can squeeze a dollar out of every penny. We make things happen. There are people in the private sector who have all the money in the world and they still fail. In our sector, we are continuously going to be challenged by being under-resourced, managing all the changes that have to do with how our communities need to be served, and the demand for funders.

How can a newer executive director work to become better?

Executive directors, it’s ok for us to ask for help. We have these huge expectations placed on us: we should know it all and be able to do it all. But it’s not a sign of weakness to ask for help. It’s actually a sign of strength. Look to your board, look to your colleagues in the community for strength and support. There is a whole set of complexities that we have to manage on a daily basis and we won’t always have all the answers, but that is where you use your support system. I have my set of colleagues I talk to on a frequent basis and board members with whom I confer. Develop your own support system because our sector is constantly being challenged, so seek the help when you need it.

What advice or resources can you recommend for people interested in becoming an executive director?

Certainly, depending on the size of the organization, you have to be able to manage change well, you have to be able to wear many different hats, and you need to understand enough about human resources, financial analysis, budgeting, basic accounting. You need to know how to lead people and I believe, in our sector, you don’t manage people, you lead them. You need to lead people and give them the right support and tools so they can be leaders in their own right and have some faith.

You also have to have good political skills, understand the community context that you work in and the population you serve, and be able to navigate institutional partners, whether it’s the government, school districts, corporate funders. It’s a combination of skills and requires a good balance of technical, political, overall leadership development. That is key in order to be effective.

And don’t forget that our role is not just to provide services, but also to build community. The younger generation is much more technically trained compared to the executive directors who have been doing it for a long time. But what I see lacking in the younger generation is this passion to build strong community. They come in more with this service mentality—I want to be an effective service provider—but you forget you have to build the community you are serving.

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At the beginning of your career, it is fairly common to tackle the job search on your own, but once you have some experience under your belt or are looking for a higher position, you may look for some help in the form of a recruiter. An Idealist recently sent us this question:

I’m curious about working with a headhunter to help me find my next job. I recently finished my master’s in Organization Development and would like to work in education. Most of my background is in alternative education, like corporate training or knowledge management, but I’d like to work in K-12 education. I think a headhunter would be very helpful, but I’m having trouble finding one who works exclusively in education.

Over on US News On Careers Blog, Arnie Fertig writes, “Working with a recruiter can be a great benefit in your job hunt, but only if you understand their role in the hiring process. Unfortunately, too many people have misconceptions about what they do, and how to motivate them to be your advocate.” The rest of the article busts some of those misconceptions, including who a recruiter technically works for and how they are paid.

CareerBuilder also has some information you should know if you are going to work with a recruiter. There are several executive search firms that focus on nonprofits and even education, but it is often a more personal decision. There are folks who think it is a good idea and those who think it is a bad idea.

What about you, Idealists? What are your thoughts about working with a recruiter? Do you have any advice for our letter writer?

Kelly Blandford Bah

This week, we’re talking to executive directors about their jobs, career paths, and what it takes to lead a nonprofit. To kick off this series we’re sharing the story of Kelly Blandford Bah, Executive Director of Sustainable Sandhills in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Kelly found her job on Idealist, after spending almost four years at the Canton Development Partnership, a Division of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce in Ohio.

Her journey began after serving in the Peace Corps in west Africa working in rural and small business development. When she returned she wanted to, “go back my own ‘village’ in Ohio and do development work, building community, and get people engaged.” However, moving 500 miles away to North Carolina to lead a nonprofit came with its own set of challenges and lessons. Here, Kelly chats with us about her career path.

Why did you pursue a position as an executive director?

I came to the Canton Development Partnership as an entry-level project manager and was soon promoted to assistant director. Over time though, I knew I wanted to get more experience and figure out what I could do with the skills and network I was building. I found my passion—sustainability—and knew that I needed to move on (my boss loved his job and wasn’t going anywhere soon). So I was looking for something that hit on my passion and utilized the skills I had developed. I also wanted to work some place smaller where I could focus on organizational growth and see projects from start-to-finish.

I looked at Idealist everyday and got email alerts about new opportunities. Then the executive director position at Sustainable Sandhills came to my inbox and I thought ‘wow this is perfect’: out of the Ohio snow with a focus on community development, and sustainability. I sent my resume in, and received a response immediately.

What was the most challenging part about pursuing that role?

Anytime you step into a role with more responsibility there’s a learning curve. I’m relatively young for an ED; I’m 33. I’ve been on this upward ladder, so I’m getting experience but I have to be very humble and patient as I figure out how to grow in each role. I am responsible for employees. I am responsible to the community by telling them about sustainability and letting them know we have a plan to create a more sustainable community. Culturally it’s very different here. This is a big military community here, with military values. Like the Peace Corps, I had to learn the culture and language but now I’m applying it more broadly.

What do you wish you had known before you took on this role?

How difficult funding a nonprofit really is. During the economic downturn people hold on to their dollars more tightly, across the board, not just nonprofits. So being able to shift and change our plan around that was challenging. We went from military funding to a more grassroots model and are celebrating 10 years next year! We also have to evolve and keep things relevant: creating community events and keeping our partners interested.

I’ve also realized that we’re often working with people who are learning about sustainability and recycling for the first time. It often feels like we’re starting from square one in getting out our message.

What’s the biggest challenge facing executive directors today?

Maintaining the presence in our communities and keeping partnerships. I believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. People want to silo themselves: Which organization is going to get the dollars? Whose name is in lights? We have to work more broadly in partnership to make community initiatives work.

What advice or resources can you recommend for people interested in becoming an executive director?

Start by understanding the different roles in a nonprofit. You need to have volunteered and understand volunteer culture, membership culture, and fundraising culture. Make a commitment to understanding by volunteering with organizations. You can be on a committee, on a board, or just offer your help to a nonprofit – we always need that assistance. It’s always nice to hire people who have that understanding, because it’s hard to create that knowledge or experience. Keep moving forward with experiences. Life is about learning. It takes your whole body, heart, and soul to keep going and really make things work in the nonprofit field. We’re the glue that really holds the community together.

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Service opportunities in urban education, like the Denver Math Fellows program, are ideal for entry into the social sector because they present an opportunity to apply your efforts to a real world social problem. Programs involving a one-year commitment to working with and mentoring students in small groups are being developed in high-performing charters and in traditional public schools with the goal of delivering a quality education to every student regardless of their zip code. Whether you are primarily interested in policy, research or simply want to give a year of your life to be of service to others the experience will equip you with a unique skillset for entry into the social sector.

Communicating effectively

Effective communication is the foundation for relationship building and leveraging those relationships for student achievement in a small group setting. As a participant in an urban education service year you will gain experience on a diverse team and in an environment where every second counts. Developing a sense of urgency and communicating with purpose are skills you will form through repetition as you teach a student a difficult concept or present a best practice during professional development. Being in tune to individual needs and differentiating how you communicate to others is supported in a small group context and necessary for the social sector to drive results through networking and relationship building.

Asking for specific feedback

Soliciting feedback is a skill that is cultivated for personal and professional growth during a year of service. This can be uncomfortable but by participating in a program that values and normalizes feedback you will be primed for success in any field. Seek out those you respect and want to emulate and engage them in a specific challenge you are having. It may be that you are struggling to connect with a student or are concerned with your own ability to teach a difficult concept. Regardless of where you need to grow, one of the strongest assets you can develop in a year of service that will pay dividends in the social sector is a hunger for feedback and constant improvement. As you develop the skill of effectively communicating your needs you deepen your relationships with those around you and position yourself for constant improvement.

Cultivating a sense of purpose

As you complete your service year and investigate different nonprofit organizations look for a mission that aligns to your personal ideals. The most successful individuals who participate in urban education fellowships are driven by a larger sense of working toward equity while also being firmly rooted in the experience of the individual students they are teaching and mentoring. Cultivating a sense of purpose through an on-the-ground experience will inform the types of questions you ask in terms of policy or research, the kind of career you decide to pursue and ultimately the mission you align yourself with. Go for fit and transition into the social sector with confidence that you have the tools needed to succeed.

Tim currently serves as the director of the Denver Math Fellows program, an urban education fellowship in Denver Public Schools. He began a career in education through a service year at a high-performing charter school and has also worked as a teacher and assistant principal. To learn more about his work please visit Denver Math Fellows.

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We all know how important volunteering is, to organizations, to us individually, and to our careers. I am also a strong advocate for volunteering, but recently discovered a very specific way to volunteer – pro bono work – as a way to help myself professionally, while serving an organization’s mission.

Pro bono work is often associated with lawyers or experts donating their time to public cases. But, did you know that any professional can donate their time and expertise? Unlike traditional volunteerism, pro bono work allows professionals to offer their skills to nonprofits who otherwise might not be able to afford them, specifically in areas like capacity building and business strategies.

Pro bono services donated by professionals are incredibly valuable to nonprofits. For example, the FiXit Foundation, a nonprofit organization with the mission to  end the companion animal overpopulation crisis and reduce the number of animals euthanized in shelters, benefits immensely from pro bono service. According to Stephanie Downs, President of the Board, “FiXiT would not be able to do our work without these donated skills. From videographers to editors to project managers, we have been able to leverage people’s best skills to help further our mission.”

I began my own pro bono journey during a recent career transition. I wanted to volunteer my time but I also wanted to build my resume and portfolio, specifically utilizing very specialized skills, before launching an intensive job search as a way to get reenergized while serving a mission for which I was passionate.

After searching through a variety of volunteer websites, only to find a few one-time volunteer opportunities, I stumbled upon Catchafire, a website promoting pro bono service to civically minded professionals. I applied, interviewed, found a great pro bono opportunity with a passionate organization, and benefited personally and professionally through pro bono service. The organization also benefited from free labor that they otherwise couldn’t afford – a win-win!

Here’s how to get started in your pro bono adventure:

• Consider what skills and expertise that you have to provide. As a pro bono professional, you are the expert, which means that you are proficient and experienced in this work. It doesn’t take decades of experience, but you should be able to provide evidence of your success and samples of your work. Consider your artistic, technical, organizational, and communication skills.
• Take advantage of matchmakers. Explore organizations that help professionals discover and secure pro bono opportunities, like Taproot, Catchafire, or Voolla.  You may also consider nonprofits that you are already familiar with. Reach out and propose your interest in serving pro bono. Provide a detailed plan and information on how you can serve their mission with your expert skills and interests.
• Make sure the benefit is reciprocal. Remember that pro bono service can’t just benefit you; the organization you intend to service also needs to benefit. It may take time to find an organization that needs your exact skills and services during the time of contact. Be patient and search around.
• Be clear about what you can offer. Consider how much time you are willing to provide. How many hours a week or month can you provide? How long are you willing to serve? Does your expertise allow for you to serve at one time or on an as-needed basis?
• Talk it out. Set up some time to speak over the phone or meet in person to discuss your pro bono services with the organization’s representative. Write down questions in advance. Prepare some items that you want to share about yourself or samples of your work. Ensure that you understand the organization’s mission and current activities or programs.
• Put it in writing. Once your pro bono experience is secured, prepare an outline of your “terms and conditions” for your service provider to review.  Consider deadlines, bench marks, term of service, and how you will communicate with each other. Edit and revise the document until both you and the organization are comfortable with the conditions.
• Stay connected! Remember that your professional service is an extension of your name and career. Communicate with your pro bono provider in a professional manner. Follow up as needed and stay engaged with your representative until your service is complete. Ask for feedback. As the expert, provide feedback. It’s important to leave a positive impact and represent yourself well.

Pro bono service is an excellent way to volunteer your time during a career transition. It allows you to enhance your resume and portfolio and make some great connections in the nonprofit sector.

Katie Mang is a volunteer coordinator for MuckFest MS and member of the professional volunteer team for Voolla, Inc. You can chat with Katie about all things pro Bono and volunteering on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

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Passion. It’s the one word I see the most on applications and cover letters. “My passion alone makes me uniquely qualified for this position.”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but passion alone isn’t going to get you hired.

Don’t get me wrong, passion is also one of the most essential things in a good employee. If you work in a nonprofit or a socially-minded organization, passion is what gets you through boring meetings, frustrating days, and the inevitable challenges of this type of work. Passion is what helps you hang in there when the pay is low and the project seems impossible. You need passion to survive, and thrive, in a socially-driven company.

Unfortunately, you also need useful skills and work experience. Nonprofits have basic needs: design, marketing, accounting, fundraising, and program management. These needs cannot be met by passion alone. Hiring managers look at your resume to see what you have done before and what experience you have that can help their organization.

This is the inevitable catch-22 many young professionals face: how can I get experience if I need experience first? In the nonprofit world, this can be a difficult conundrum. Many entry-level jobs ask for 2-3 years of prior experience. If you are struggling to find a job that allows you to pursue your passion AND make a living, focus on building skills that translate into nonprofit work.

Here are a few tips on how to start gaining experience.

Don’t focus too much on cause (at least at first)

Many people are drawn to the sector because of a cause they are passionate about. While there’s nothing wrong with this, when you’re just starting, you don’t have to limit yourself to organizations that address that issue. Instead, try looking around at similar organizations that could help you start your career. The director of development at the non-profit I worked for in Guatemala built her skill set while working in fundraising for a museum. She brought experience in event management, individual giving, and corporate sponsorships, as well as her passion for social change.

Be open to “un-fun” work

Keep in mind that non-profits are also businesses. While they love people with passion, they need people who are willing to do the dirty work: crunch numbers, enter data, write emails, cold-call donors. If you can build experience in areas such as fundraising, grant writing, marketing or accounting, you’re much more attractive to an NGO or non-profit. The positions most recruited in social change organizations are not usually “fun” jobs.

Consider volunteering or taking an internship

Volunteers are essential in non-profit organizations, and volunteering builds applicable skills even if you are not being paid. The same goes for internships. Besides, what better way to expand your professional network that working with like-minded people to further a cause you care about?

Think outside of the nonprofit sector

You don’t have to work in a nonprofit to gain experience. Consider working in for-profits (personally, I’d much rather hire an employee with 4-5 years experience in budgeting and planning for a private business, than a young person with ‘passion’ as their only qualification) or even starting your own projects. Keep in mind that working outside of the sector doesn’t mean abandoning social change. Not only are new kinds of businesses popping up that combine purpose and profit, but also you can integrate your cause into your career, no matter where you are and do projects on your own that stand out.

If you are passionate about real social change, get practical about your job search and start building skills you can contribute to your cause.

Ashley has worked for 5+ years recruiting staff for domestic and international organizations aimed at finding effective solutions to poverty. She currently serves as Director for The Work First Fellowship, where she manages a program that connects recent graduates with work in urban poverty and public policy.  Ashley began her work in career counseling at America Works, where she counseled low-income clients on resume writing and job search in New York. She later worked as Community Engagement Manager for Mercado Global in Guatemala, where she organized internship programs and oversaw private fundraising. Ashley graduated from Barnard College in 2006 with a B.A. in Anthropology. Read more of Ashley’s career tips and advice at Save the World Careers or follow her on twitter @stwcareers.

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When we surveyed job seekers for our 2012 state of the sector report, many shared that they want to hear from employers. Not just acknowledgement that an application has been received, but also any information that will help them create a better resume and cover letter or avoid certain mistakes moving forward. While we often assume that employers are too busy to offer such detailed feedback, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, two additional elements make sharing such information with rejected candidates difficult: legal challenges and upsetting reactions from job seekers.

Linda Jackson, a partner with employment law firm Littler Mendelson, says she advises her clients against offering specific feedback to job candidates. For instance, telling someone he has too much experience for a particular job might be interpreted as age discrimination, she said. “Is it the basis for a claim? It might or it might not be,” she says.

Then there is the discomfort of relaying hard-to-hear information. Some hiring managers are so uncomfortable at the prospect of these conversations that they refuse to bring their business cards to interviews, says Amelia Merrill of Risk Management Solutions Inc., a risk-modeling firm in Silicon Valley.

Despite how awkward it can be, Ms. Merrill expects her recruiters to call finalists to let them know they weren’t hired, giving those applicants a chance to ask for more information. She wants even rejected candidates to leave thinking they want to work there.

On rare occasions, she added, a rejected candidate will argue with the recruiter or insist he was the right pick for the job.

The article goes on to share how HireArt—a company that matches employers and employees—tried to share feedback with rejected candidates, and were met with mixed responses, leading them to wonder if job seekers can handle constructive criticism. Also, giving feedback can be challenging when many employers are increasingly using applicant-tracking systems as an initial screen.

What do you think? Is it worthwhile for employers to tell employees why they weren’t hired? Would such feedback help you in your job search? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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Work-life balance is an important issue for many employees, but are we thinking about it the wrong way? Christine M. Riordan over on the Harvard Business Review argues that “balance” isn’t always the point. Yes, frustration from work can spill over into personal lives, but by making our work together integral to our lives, and not some separate, frustrating thing, we can change our attitudes:

Some people appear to manage career success and a positive private life with ease. Here are a few pointers:

1. Strive for work-life effectiveness—not balance. The term work-life balance implies that one dedicates an equal portion of time to work and life. Catalyst, a research firm focused on women in business, uses the phrase work-life effectiveness, and suggests striving for a situation where work fits with other aspects of your life. Researchers Jeffrey Greenhaus and Gary Powell expand on this concept and recommend that work and personal life should be allies and that participation in multiple roles, such as parent, partner, friend, employee, can actually enhance physical and psychological well-being — especially when all of the roles are high quality and managed together.

2. Define success in all categories of your life. Every person needs to define success on his or her own terms. Ultimately, for both men and women, the definition of success is deeply personal. At the end of each person’s life, only he or she can look back and say, “I was successful.” It is also important to realize that what constitutes success to one person may not constitute success to another. Ryan Smith, co-founder of Qualtrics, manages his success by doing the following: “Each week, I examine the categories of my life — father, husband, CEO, self — and identify the specific actions that help me feel successful and fulfilled in these capacities. This weekly ritual helps me feel like I’m doing everything in my power to address my needs and the needs of those around me. This is important because I can’t lose sight of the business agenda, and we’ve all seen or read about what it looks like when you lose sight of your family’s needs.” As Smith suggests, consider sharing your priorities and ideas of success with important stakeholders in your life. By doing so, you will gain valuable perspective and, perhaps, buy-in to your work and life goals.

What do you consider success in your life? How can you work to bring together you work and personal life in the most effective way?

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There’s a lot of talk about having a mentor these days, and for good reason. But in order for us to have mentors, some of us need to be mentors, too!

You might be thinking that mentoring sounds like too big a commitment, that you have nothing to offer anyone as a mentor, or that there wouldn’t be any professional value in mentoring for you. Well, get ready for some myth-busting.

Myth #1: Mentoring is too big a commitment

Okay, this isn’t totally off base—mentoring could consume your life or cramp your style if you let it, but like most things, it’s what you make it. There are lots of ways to fit mentoring into your schedule without breaking the time or energy bank.

• Pick a program with a reasonable schedule. Many mentoring programs take busy schedules into consideration and call for a small amount of time at fixed intervals, making them easy to plan around. For example, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs College of Business Alumni Association offers mentoring assistance to students and recent alums to help them transition to the business world; mentors are asked to commit two to four hours a month. Other organizations, like the venerable Big Brothers, Big Sisters, suggest that the mentor-mentee commitment be individually tailored, just advising that pairs “keep a consistent schedule of outings and meet on a regular basis.”

• Don’t get in over your head. If you don’t want to sign up for too steep a learning curve, make sure to mentor in an area or with a community you already know well. For example, if you’re good with money, United Way of the Piedmont’s financial literacy mentorship could be an easy fit. Or if you’ve spent time in the Peace Corps, you’d probably feel right at home joining their mentoring program for new recruits.

Myth #2: I have nothing to offer as a mentor

Don’t be modest—you’re good at lots of things, including many you probably take for granted. You don’t need a PhD in English to help teach someone to read, or have an NBA-worthy dunk to play basketball in the park with a kid. This is just as true in the professional realm, where there are many options to share what you know, even if it feels basic to you.

• Explore mentoring at work. Depending on where you work, there could already be some existing mentoring opportunities. In the legal community, for example, pairing law students with established lawyers is a long-standing tradition that can aid students’ career advancement and help professionals stay in touch with current trends in legal academia.

But it doesn’t have to be formal. If your workplace doesn’t have any mentoring programs in place, consider starting the ball rolling by proposing more casual opportunities for knowledge-sharing. A great example is “brown bags,” where one team member gives a short presentation over lunch on an interesting project she’s done or a conference she’s just attended—again, no need to be a career expert in something so long as you have a slice of worthwhile knowledge. Not only is useful information shared, but staff members get a better idea of who knows what in the organization, and who they can turn to for help with specific issues. Think of it as pint-sized mentoring!

For more ideas and info about formal versus casual mentoring models, see this post by the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors.

• Connect with alumni. Most institutions of higher learning have a mentoring program that matches alumni with current students. Depending on the type of match sought, you needn’t have particular post-college expertise—some students will be more keen to learn how you navigated the social ropes of university experience, or be curious about how your lifestyle changed after you graduated. Some schools, like Marquette University, segment their mentoring program into academic areas of focus; others, like the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign base theirs on Greek connections. Check in with your alma mater to see what they do.

Myth #3: There’s no professional value in mentoring for me

Nothing could be further from the truth! Two key reasons why:

• All in the family. If you volunteer to mentor within your professional world, don’t believe it’s strictly an act of charity or that you don’t stand to benefit from the exchange too. Mentoring can give professionals face-to-face introductions to the next generation of the talent pool: your next hire could be your mentee or one of his classmates. On the flipside, in our increasingly flat world, the bright college sophomore you mentor today could be running a robust startup in three years that you’d love to work for. And don’t forget the extra chances you’ll get to hone your coaching, leadership, and management skills. For a great list of the professional benefits of mentoring, check out this Mind Tools post.

• Everyone loves a mentor. You never know who you’ll wind up talking to at a dinner party, and the more interesting, generous activities you have on your chat resume, the more doors will unexpectedly open for you. Mentorship is also a terrific addition to a resume, no matter what your professional focus. In a recent survey, 76% of nonprofit hiring managers cited nonprofit experience, including volunteering, as “important” when screening potential new hires.

Mentoring best practices

In mentoring as in life, some basic best practices apply:

• Keep your word. You’re probably volunteering in this role, but for best results, you should still always strive to be on time and do what you said you’d do.

• Know your boundaries. Don’t fall prey to feelings of superiority or parental-level protectiveness with your mentee. You’re there to help them grow, not to make yourself feel better or dictate their decisions. If you encounter issues with your mentee that you don’t feel you can handle on your own, ask for help—the program’s coordinators, the mentee’s family, and your colleagues could all be good candidates for advice and information.

Have you been a mentor? What takeaways from the experience would you share with the Idealist community?