Welcome to another non-profit weekend at One Day, One Job. If you aren’t already aware, every Saturday and Sunday we shift our focus to entry-level job opportunities in the non-profit sector. We do this because we want to help our readers find meaningful work, while at the same time doing our part to make the world a better place.

Today we are taking a look at jobs with YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities, an organization based in the New York City Metropolitan Area, that is devoted to providing education, training, and other services to people with developmental and learning disabilities. There are many organizations that aim to help people with disabilities, but YAI does so with the vision of developmental and learning disabilities as its own field. By treating their mission as its own profession, YAI is able to help people make the most of themselves whether they are YAI’s clients or employees.

YAI is aggressively recruiting at the entry-level. They are one of the few non-profits that we’ve seen making the rounds at college career fairs. Most entry-level jobs at YAI are in roles as Direct Service Professionals. These professionals work in services such as: residential, day habilitation, in-home family, employment initiatives, and day treatment. With these areas in mind, take a look at YAI’s page for college students, and find out how you can help people with developmental and learning disabilities. Some specific positions that YAI hires recent grads for are residential counselor, community training specialist, family specialist, job coach, employment training specialist, and teacher assistant.

From what we can tell, YAI looks like a great place to start a career in human services. They value entry-level talent as something that needs to be nourished and developed regardless of career outlook, which means that they often fill higher level needs with internal candidates. YAI doesn’t look like the type of organization that will burn you out, considering they won a National Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award in the Large Not-For-Profit Category this year. Beyond providing a great work environment, YAI also has an excellent track record of hiring internationally. If you love helping people and want to work with people who share your passion, YAI’s entry-level jobs might be a perfect opportunity for you.

YAI does have an online application form that can be accessed from the job search on the side bar of their careers site, but we think it might be best to use their contact form to inquire about entry-level positions. Their site is a little confusing because their Direct Services jobs page looks like job listings, but doesn’t include information on applying. We think that contacting them about your general interest is better than spending hours on the site trying to find the right position to apply for in this case.

Note: On April 26th we revisited entry-level jobs at YAI/NIPD.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• The YAI/NIPD Home Page
• YAI’s Careers Site
• About YAI
• YAI’s History
• Jobs at YAI for Recent College Grads
• YAI’s Entry-Level Job Listings

Now go research jobs at YAI so that you can make the world a better place.