One Day, One Job » Alaska

The Nature Conservancy

Willy Franzen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:50:09 +0000

Last night I started watching Planet Earth and ended up staying awake later than I intended. This morning the same channel was on, and I ended up watching documentaries on Yellowstone. There aren’t many things that I find more fascinating than nature, so it’s easy for me to get caught up in these kinds of shows. It’s also why I think the work of The Nature Conservancy is so important. They’re an international non-profit organization based in Arlington, VA that is “the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.” The Nature Conservancy was founded in 1951, and since then they have grown their membership to more than 1 million people. The organization’s huge size gives it a ton of power and has enabled it to do some really amazing work.

Nature Over Nurture

Everything that The Nature Conservancy does is rooted in science. They gather facts first, and then they take action on a local and a global scale. That’s why they’ve been able to protect “more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide.” What strikes me most about The Nature Conservancy is that they take a “non-confrontational, pragmatic” approach that sets them apart from some other conservation organizations. This may occasionally limit their short-term effectiveness, but it ensures that in the long run The Nature Conservancy will have the respect and legitimacy to continue protecting ecologically important lands and waters. If you want to dig deeper into this topic, you should really check out The Nature Conservancy’s Why We’re An Effective Nonprofit page. There’s a ton more to check out on The Nature Conservancy’s website (like How They Work and Where They Work), but I’ll leave the rest of the research to you. If you like what the organization is all about, check out their Careers page. They have some great opportunities for new or recent grads including (sorry I can’t link to the postings, but it’s a bad applicant tracking system):

Burn Crew Technician (Glyndon, MN or Karlstad, MN or Center, ND or Clear Lake, SD)
Philanthropy Coordinator (San Francisco, CA)
Preserve Management Assistant – Prairie Forest Border Ecoregion (Cushing, MN)
Seasonal Field Representative (Keene Valley, NY)
Human Resources Coordinator (Austin, TX)
Stewardship Field Assistant (Brunswick, ME)
Prairie Recovery Specialist (Watson, MN)
Conservation Coordinator (Anchorage, AK)
Preserve Management / Bison Research Technician (Leola, SD)
Grassland Bird Technician (Minor, ND)
Digital Marketing Programmer Analyst (Arlington, VA)
Stewardship Assistant (Choteau, MT)
Communications Coordinator (Oklahoma City, OK)
Assistant Land Steward (Letts, IA)

If you love nature and want to work at a non-profit, it would be hard to beat a gig with The Nature Conservancy. So take a look at these positions, and see if any are a good fit.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about The Nature Conservancy?

Volunteers of America

Willy Franzen — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 15:22:13 +0000

When you’re job searching, volunteering is a great way to both put your skills to use and develop new skills. There are countless non-profit organization that put volunteers to work in situations where they can really make a difference. One of our country’s largest volunteer organizations is Volunteers of America, which is a faith-based non-profit headquartered in Alexandria, VA. With their staff of 16,000 paid employees and 70,000 volunteers, they’re able to help “more than 2 million people in over 400 communities in 48 states.” Since the organization was founded in 1896, they “have supported and empowered America’s most vulnerable groups, including at-risk youth, the frail elderly, men and women returning from prison, homeless individuals and families, people with disabilities, and those recovering from addictions.” An organization that has been around as long as Volunteers of America has must adapt to changes over the years. While they continue to remain focused on providing neighborly aid to all people, it looks like Volunteers of America is putting more emphasis on helping the growing population of aging Americans.

Volunteer for a Job

Volunteers of America has a nice video on their About page that goes more in-depth in describing how they work and what they do. I’ve embedded it below (e-mail readers need to click through).

Volunteers of America also has this Overview sheet that provides some really specific information about the organization’s work. If you’re moved by their mission, then you’ll want to check out Volunteers of America’s job opportunities. They separate these into three groups: National Office, Nationwide, and Health Services. The Nationwide section actually has over 200 positions posted, along with 25 entry level opportunities, so it probably makes the most sense to check out. They have a wide range of opportunities, and they’re in a variety of locations, so you should be able to find something that piques your interest.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Volunteers of America?

MITRE

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:28:19 +0000

Not many of the companies on Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” are non-profit, and not many non-profits generate over $1 billion in annual revenue, but MITRE fits both criteria. I know that many of you responded in our survey that you wanted to see fewer technical jobs, but I’ve also noticed that most of the non-profit jobs that we feature on weekends aren’t very technical. MITRE, which has headquarters in Bedford, MA and McLean, VA offers an exception. They are an “organization chartered to work in the public interest” through “expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization.” They do this work through “four Federally Funded Research and Development Centers,” with one focused on the Department of Defense, one on the Federal Aviation Administration, one on the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and one for the Department of Homeland Security.

Give MITRE a Try

MITRE serves each of these groups by providing “a unique combination of broad operational knowledge and in-depth technical skills” while also developing new technology that can be transferred when appropriate. What is really astonishing about MITRE is its size. They have over 7,000 employees, and more than 65% of them hold an advanced degree. The organization is a hotbed for technical knowhow and creativity, and it’s great to know that they have thousands of talented people working to ensure the future of our country. On that note MITRE is constantly looking to hire smart people for both technical and non-technical positions. They have a very strong college recruiting program, which you can find out about here. There are nearly 400 positions posted right now on MITRE’s Jobs site, so browsing through everything may be a little tough. It maybe a little hard to sniff out which jobs are considered entry level, so you may want to reach out to Jessica Yu using MITRE’s employee directory to get your questions answered (or you can use the chat box on the Student Opportunities page during working hours).

Job categories at MITRE include: Acquisitions, Artificial Intelligence, Business Analysis & Administration, Communications, Computer Operations, Contracts/Subcontracts, Database Technology Software, Defense & Space Systems, Desktop Support, Digital/Microprocessor Hardware, Domain Operation Analyst, Economics/Business, Electromagnetic & Nuclear Effects, Facilities Engineering, Financial Analysis, General Accounting, General Systems Engineer, Graphics, Human Resources Generalist, Human Factors Engineer, Industrial Security, Information Security, Information Systems Engineer, Integrated Electronics, Legal, Multi-Disciplinary Systems Development, Networking & Distributed Systems, Physical Security, Procurement, Sensor Systems, Signal Processing Engineer, Software Applications Development & Software Systems, Special Security, System Administrator, Technical Project Support, Telecommunications Specialist, and Treasury & Risk Management. There are also a variety of locations beyond MITRE’s headquarters, so you’ll have plenty of options.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about MITRE?

StoryCorps

Willy Franzen — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:47:21 +0000

I bet that you have some friends whom you can listen to for hours – friends who can straight up tell a story. Whenever they speak, people listen. I bet that you also have friends (or quite possibly had professors) who can make any story boring, no matter how good the facts of the story actually are. Storytelling is an art, but it’s also a skill that can be learned. It’s essential to making friends, getting jobs, and persuading people. Everybody loves a good storyteller, and that’s why StoryCorps, an independent non-profit, is focused on honoring and celebrating people’s lives through listening. Here’s the story on StoryCorps and their entry-level job opportunities.

A Story About Stories

Listening is an act of love. Think about that for a second. It’s a thought that has probably never entered your mind before, but it’s also the title of a book by Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps. Everybody wants to be listened to, and StoryCorps is trying to make that happen by traveling across the country and recording the stories of everyday people. They take a storyteller and a listener, put them together in a recording booth, and let the words flow. StoryCorps records the stories to CD for the participants, archives the CDs at the Library of Congress, and broadcasts the stories online and on public radio. It’s amazing how fascinating the stories of everyday people can be – just give a few a listen. StoryCorps is doing a remarkable job of documenting our country’s oral tradition and history.

Make StoryCorps Part of Your Story

If you love being told stories, there couldn’t be a better place to work than StoryCorps. They have a number of opportunities for new college graduates listed on their Jobs page that look like a lot of fun. If you want to get an inside look at what it’s like to work and participate in the StoryCorps project, there’s no better place that the StoryCorps Blog. Reading it will give you a better sense of what you might be doing as a Data Analysis Assistant – Community Outreach, Facilitator, Alaska Initiative, or Participant Relations Assistant, Marketing & Communications at StoryCorps. Each of these jobs looks remarkably interesting, and perfectly suited for a new grad. Take a look at the specific job stories (descriptions) for all of the details including how to apply to each job. The deadlines are soon, so act quickly. StoryCorps is based in Brooklyn, NY, so it seems that the jobs other than the Alaska Initiative Facilitator (which is in Alaska) are located there.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you have a story to tell? Feel free to share it in the comments.

National Wildlife Federation

Willy Franzen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:00:59 +0000

The One Day, One Job team is partaking in the tradition of Spring Break (even if some of us aren’t in college anymore), so our posts are going to be on the shorter side for the next week or so. We figure, time off from school should give you plenty of time to do the research yourselves, right? Our compromise is that we’re going to give you more links, and less commentary. How’s that? I’m enjoying the wildlife of Puerto Rico, which includes ospreys, tarpon, egrets, iguanas (invasive, but still cool to look at), and a lot more, so it’s appropriate that today’s entry-level jobs come from the National Wildlife Federation.

The NWF is a non-profit organization that aims to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future. They’re a little light on entry-level jobs right now, but there are a couple of openings that should interest new college graduates. There’s a position as an Online Media Coordinator, Green Hour – Affiliate & Regional Strategies as well as a job as an Online Grassroots Coordinator – Conservation Programs. Both are located in the National Wildlife Federation’s Reston, VA office. You can also search for job openings at the NWF; however, most of the other listings require at least 5 or more years of experience. If you want to try cold calling, you might want to try the NWF’s local offices.

That’s it for today, visit the links below to continue your research on the National Wildlife Federation.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at the National Wildlife Federation.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What’s your favorite wild animal? Leave a comment and tell us.