Learn from the wisdom of others about careers in social impact
Individual Profiles
Profiles of individual professionals working in social impact
General Advice
Advice on different aspects of social impact career development
Resources
Links to resources (online, print, and other) related to social impact
Perspectives
A range of opinions on social impact careers
Featured Post
One RECENT perspective from a seasoned social impact professional:
“…the ‘following your passion’ advice is terrible: it leads too many young people to pursue passions that don’t allow them to earn a decent living and/or to agonize about finding the perfect, most fulfilling career.”
She recommends that you figure out what you’re good at, and identify jobs that pay decently and that allow you to exercise those skills. Then narrow it further based on your desired lifestyle and your personality type, which will help narrow down job function and industry. Then identify organizations with these roles which share your values (this is where the social impact piece comes in) and a compatible work culture. Read more about her thoughts here.
This perspective also echoes my own experience, and I love this tweet by Scott Galloway, “People who tell you to follow your passion are already rich.” Also go to this article for more details about his thinking. There’s also a 2019 Harvard Business Review article, “3 Reasons It’s So Hard to ‘Follow Your Passion,'” which lends another perspective.
Contact us to share your thoughts about whether it’s possible to follow your passions, and if so, how to approach that.