Month: December 2020

If you’re going to invest considerable in graduate school to get a degree so that you can pivot into a social impact career, I strongly advise you count the cost before you do so. This advice actually applies to any type of grad school and career. Here are some considerations for your calculations about whether grad school is worth it:

1. How much are you paying (or will you eventually pay) out of pocket for your graduate school program? If you’re going to take out a loan, what are your monthly loan payments going to be once you graduate? Are you eligible for loan forgiveness? Will you plan to work part-time during grad school to reduce the loan size you need?
2. What is the opportunity cost? For example, what would you have earned had you not gone to graduate school? Are you OK with giving up this income? And are you sure that you can’t find a job to get the experience you need to pivot into the social impact job that you want? If you’re unemployed and struggling with finding work, and you can afford to go to graduate school, this might be a good time.
3. Can you go to grad school part-time and work full-time? Many employers have a professional development benefit / tuition assistance benefit. However, in some cases, it’s better to go to grad school full-time, e.g., MBA programs are set up for networking with classmates, so might be better to do on a full-time basis.
4. What type of standard of living would you desire/expect after finishing graduate school? Create a mock monthly budget for yourself based on your projected living costs. Housing: Do you want to live with roommates or alone? Do you want to live in a nicer neighborhood? Do you want to live downtown? Do you want to own or rent? Transport: Will you need a car? Add in monthly car payments, parking fees, gas, maintenance, insurance. Savings: How much do you want to save? Other: food, entertainment, travel, clothing, cellphone, internet/cable, etc. Add that all up. Then add in your estimated monthly grad school loan payments (see #1 above), and any other loan payments. Then add on 35% on top for estimated income tax. Multiply by 12 and that’s your targeted annual income.
5. What is your estimated salary when you finish grad school? And what types of jobs would you be likely to get? You can look at average salary data for your grad program at the school you’re interested in, and what types of jobs people are getting. Does the average salary roughly match your desired annual income (calculated in #3)? If not, this is problematic and you may want to reconsider your plans.
6. Do you actually want any of these jobs? What job do you want? Is grad school critical to getting that job? Or at least, will it help increase your likelihood? Keep your end goal in mind. I talk to a lot of people who want to work in impact investing, corporate social responsibility or philanthropy. To be honest, all those are incredibly competitive and hard to get into, and usually a graduate degree won’t increase your chances all that much. Most of them can rely on having the right connections, prior relevant work experience, and/or just dumb luck.

Other considerations include the reputation and quality of the graduate school. For some careers/jobs, the rank/tier of the school is very important (for example, I was told that if you actually want to be an attorney who practices law, you need to go to a top law school). The problem is we’re flooded by advertising from for-profit schools, online programs, bootcamps, etc. and graduate degrees are real moneymakers, so BE CAREFUL. Graduate school is not a magic bullet for employment.

I receive numerous cold requests for informational interviews from people to whom I have no prior connection. This LinkedIn message I received from Christian Morales is the most compelling cold request I’ve received, and I did give him an informational interview. He gave me permission to share his message here as a good teaching tool. In general, here’s what makes his request effective:

• Overall it’s obvious he spent time and thought crafting the message – both in reading on my employer’s website, reading my profile, and writing a personalized message. He did his due diligence. You get back what you invest in an info interview request b/c we are wired for reciprocity. In contrast, it’s painfully obvious when someone spends 30 seconds jotting a quick LinkedIn message, “Hi, I’d like to learn more about your work. Could you spare 30 minutes to speak?” Nope. Better to spend 30 minutes strategically crafting one really compelling request, versus sending out 60 short impersonal messages with a “spray and pray” “strategy”.
• He provides a thoughtful case as to why he’d like to speak. I often get generic requests, e.g., “I’d like to hear about your social impact work.” Not compelling.
• He only requests a 15 minute call, demonstrating respect for my time.
• The message is the right length. Too short would indicate thoughtlessness. Too long would be too much and I wouldn’t even read it.
• The tone of the message is very respectful. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s flattering.

[By the way: If you’re looking to hire, Christian is looking for opportunities in social entrepreneurship, peace building or organizational development. Actively seeking to network with mission driven professionals and apply his previous experience in driving new levels of business and team performance at Morgan Stanley to a socially conscious accelerator, think tank or organizational development consulting firm. Outside of work, you can find him on five mile runs, watching the Dallas Cowboys or volunteering for B Corps. You can send him a friendly LinkedIn message here.]

I’ve pasted Christian’s original message here, and then below that, I break down the elements that make it compelling.

I’m inspired by your work

I became aware of your work after navigating [your employer’s] webpage and find your professional journey inspiring. Within your LinkedIn page, you share you are “adept at serving as a cultural translator and creative connector between people and ideas.” Similar to you, I have served as a “cultural translator and creative connector” through my travels and working abroad, most recently in Argentina and Spain.  

I’m passionate about philanthropy and social impact, currently exploring which career path will help me have the greatest impact. I’ve used [your employer’s website] as a launching point to better understand the intersectionality between philanthropy and social good through tech, but I’d really like to ask you a few questions to get an in-depth sense of what it’s like to work within this space. I’d love to hear more about your experiences and pick your brain on how you think social impact and philanthropy will evolve in the next 10 years.   

Can we set up a time to get on a quick call for 15 minutes or so? Let me know what works for you and I’ll accommodate to your schedule. I know you may be busy so if I don’t hear from you, I will follow up next week.   

Kind regards,   

Christian

Here is the message with my commentary/analysis interwoven throughout:

I’m inspired by your work

I became aware of your work after navigating [your employer’s] webpage and find your professional journey inspiring.

He indicates he actually did research on my employer’s website — many people who reach out to me don’t even bother to read the website ahead of time.

 Within your LinkedIn page, you share you are “adept at serving as a cultural translator and creative connector between people and ideas.” Similar to you, I have served as a “cultural translator and creative connector” through my travels and working abroad, most recently in Argentina and Spain.  

He read my LinkedIn profile closely and then drew a connection between my skills and his own experience.

I’m passionate about philanthropy and social impact, currently exploring which career path will help me have the greatest impact. I’ve used [your employer’s website] as a launching point to better understand the intersectionality between philanthropy and social good through tech, but I’d really like to ask you a few questions to get an in-depth sense of what it’s like to work within this space. I’d love to hear more about your experiences and pick your brain on how you think social impact and philanthropy will evolve in the next 10 years.   

He lays out his reasoning and makes the case for wanting to talk to me. Very thoughtful.

Can we set up a time to get on a quick call for 15 minutes or so? 

He asks for a very short call, which is reasonable for someone I don’t know.

Let me know what works for you and I’ll accommodate to your schedule. I know you may be busy so if I don’t hear from you, I will follow up next week.   

Smart to indicate that he’s going to follow up because I am busy and often don’t respond right away. Takes the mental burden off of me to remember to come back to this message. If he actually does follow up, it demonstrates that he’s serious and intentional about connecting.

Kind regards,   

Christian

If you’ve written or received compelling requests for info interviews, please share tips via the comment section.

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