One Day, One Job » psychology

Pathways to Housing

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:38:43 +0000

It’s hard not to notice homelessness when you live in a big city like Chicago. I can’t even leave my apartment without seeing a panhandler–there’s one guy who is always sitting in front of the Starbucks down the street during the day and in front of the Hooters next door at night. I don’t give him money because I don’t think that it helps solve the root of the problem, but I often think about what would be an effective solution. Pathways to Housing is a non-profit organization that seems to have it figured out. They’re based in New York, NY with offices in Burlington, VT; Washington, DC: and Philadelphia, PA, and they’ve taken a “housing first” approach that is focused on “addressing homelessness among people with psychiatric disabilities.” In other words, they provide housing before any other services, and they’ve found that this is a far more effective way to attack the root causes of homelessness.

Where Does Your Pathway Lead?

If you give a person a home, they’ll quite obviously no longer be homeless. But you won’t have really solved anything. However, Pathways to Housing has found that providing housing first makes it far easier to offer “supportive treatment services in the areas of mental and physical health, substance abuse, education, and employment.” It’s a counterintuitive model, but it seems to work. You can read more about it and how it’s now being used all over the world here. If you like what Pathways to Housing is doing, you’ll want to check out their Work with Us page. For some reason their Job Openings link won’t work for me, but you can check out their current postings on Idealist or try using our job search engine. There are some entry level Assistant and Coordinator type positions.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Pathways to Housing?

Child Mind Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 15:05:40 +0000

Children are by definition immature. They can be confusing, frustrating, and annoying for adults, but nobody should ever be surprised when children act like… children. But when is it something more? Psychiatric and learning disorder issues can be particularly hard to diagnose in kids. Yet identifying and treating such issues as early as possible is essential to ensuring that a child can live a full and happy life. The Child Mind Institute is a New York, NY based non-profit that “is devoted to transforming mental health care for the world’s children to enable them to reach their full potential.” By focusing on finding new ways to identify and treat childhood psychiatric and learning disorders, the Child Mind Institute is helping those who are least equipped to help themselves.

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

According to the Child Mind Institute’s website, there are more than 15 million in children in the United States with psychiatric disorders, and less than half of them will ever receive help. The Child Mind Institute is a relatively young organization, but they’re working tirelessly to change this. The key idea behind the Child Mind Institute is “turning science into solutions for the world’s children.” Their commitment to science includes conducting research, making information and resources based on this research available to parents, offering “evidence-based clinical care for children and their families,” and advocating “to destigmatize childhood psychiatric disorders and bring effective care to families around the globe.” If this sounds like a mission that you want to be part of, then you should check out the Child Mind Institute’s Careers page along with their Idealist page. Right now they have a few openings that seem appropriate for new or recent grads including Intake Coordinator, Receptionist, and Data Manager. It looks like a great organization, so maybe you can help them “build a global institution that will be a leader in turning science into solutions for the world’s children.”

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about the Child Mind Institute?

The Partnership at Drugfree.org

Willy Franzen — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:29:24 +0000

I don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, and have never have (I also avoid caffeine and can’t remember the last time that I took an aspirin). This makes me a bit unusual among my peers, so I often have people ask me why I am the way I am. I don’t have a good explanation. It’s not really a religious thing or a family thing—it’s more that I want to be healthy and be able to focus 100% on the things that I like to do. Or maybe D.A.R.E. worked really well on me. Regardless, I’m sure the folks at The Partnership at Drugfree.org would love to figure me out so that they can replicate it. They are a New York, NY based non-profit organization “that helps parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their children.” While many people are skeptical of the anti-drug movement in general, there’s no doubt that substance abuse continues to be a major public health problem in our country.

Drugfree Is the Way to Be

I’ve seen friends lose parents to alcoholism, parents lose kids to drugs, and friends lose control of their lives because of addiction. And these were all people who had access to the best resources available for treating their problems. The truth is that the best way to fight substance abuse is to keep people from ever using in the first place (and if they do start, to stop them while they’re still young). That’s why The Partnership at Drugfree.org began in the mid-80s when “a small group of advertising professionals discussed how to best use their talents to address the nation’s drug problem” and thought “if advertising could be used to sell products, couldn’t it be used to unsell them as well?” Over the years The Partnership’s mission has evolved, and now they devote significant resources to giving “hope and help to the parents of the 11 million teens and young adults who need help with drugs and alcohol.” They’ve identified parents as the “key leverage point,” and now much of what they do is focused on working with parents. If drugfree has a special meaning to you, then you should consider Careers at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. However, for job postings you’ll want to check the organization’s Idealist page. Right now they’re looking for a Special Event and Major Gift Manager and Parent Support Specialists. Neither job is explicitly entry level, but they’re still both worth checking out.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of The Partnership at Drugfree.org’s ads?

National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare

Willy Franzen — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:44:54 +0000

I’ve done a good amount of traveling this summer, and it just so happens that a number of the cities that I’ve visited have significant homeless populations. San Diego stands out the most, but there’s also Denver, San Francisco, and my home, Chicago. It showed me how serious mental health issues can become for individuals and communities. Obviously, mental health issues affect people from all walks of life, but with the homeless it’s visible in a way that most other mental health issues aren’t. The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a Washington, DC based organization that acts as “the unifying voice of America’s behavioral health organizations.” They support more than 1,700 member organizations and serve the “more than 6 million adults and children with mental illnesses and addiction disorders.”

Fighting for Our Future

The best way to get a feel for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is to watch the video that I’ve embedded below called “Fighting for Our Future.”

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare “advocates for public policies that ensure that people who are ill can access comprehensive healthcare services,” which means that they’re involved in all kinds of interesting work. If you’d like to be a part of it, you’ll want to check out their Jobs page. It actually doesn’t have their only posting right now, but I was able to find it on Idealist. They’re looking for a Membership Associate, and the position appears to be suitable for new or recent grads (although the description is a bit unclear on that).

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare?

The Harmony Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:39:26 +0000

Have you ever realized that you were being marketed to? I don’t mean watching tv and seeing an ad that makes you want to buy something. I mean getting a creepy feeling like somebody is watching you, but instead they’re getting inside your head to sell you on something. The beauty of marketing is that you usually don’t realize it’s happening, but when you do, it’s scary. You wouldn’t normally associate this kind of thing with a non-profit, but when I came across The Harmony Institute, I was both intrigued and freaked out. They’re a New York City based organization that uses “cutting-edge scientific research with film, television and new media experiences to help [their] clients deliver narratives that modify behavior and influence change.” Is it just me, or does that sound a little weird?

The Harmony Institute Will Change You

At first glance The Harmony Institute sounds like some creepy conspiracy theory gone non-profit, but when you think about it, it makes sense. The non-profit world is full of great causes that people don’t really believe in. Using science-based marketing techniques to influence the way people think is the only way to get buy in from the general public on big ideas like environmentalism, ending poverty, and improving education. By using entertainment to deliver well-crafted messages, The Harmony Institute can help other organizations achieve their causes. This is mainly based on using “unique methodology in researching and testing the impact of behavioral science on consumers of mass media storytelling.” If you’re intrigued by this, then you should check out Jobs at The Harmony Institute. They don’t have any full-time openings posted right now, but they say that they’re looking “for motivated, multi-disciplinary individuals who believe that social change can occur through new and engaging venues.” You can apply by sending a cover letter and résumé to info@harmony-institute.org.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think about The Harmony Institute?

Green Chimneys

Willy Franzen — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:46:18 +0000

Have you ever heard of animal-assisted therapy? Wikipedia defines it as “a type of therapy that involves an animal with specific characteristics becoming a fundamental part of a person’s treatment.” This type of therapy can have all kinds of beneficial effects for a wide array of ailments, and it can be done with animals ranging from dogs to horses to elephants to lizards. Green Chimneys is a Brewster, NY based non-profit organization that “operates residential treatment for children and a special education school” with a large focus on animal-assisted therapy. They’re located on a 200-acre farm, and they’re constantly working towards “restoring possibilities and creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral, social and learning challenges.”

Green Chimneys Is the Place for Me

If you love working with special-needs children and also love animals, then it would be hard to find a better place to work than Green Chimneys. They have a ton of job opportunities available, and plenty of them are appropriate for new grads. You can find the full list on Green Chimneys’ Jobs page; however, I’d recommend that you look for the following jobs: Youth Counselor, Assistant Unit Supervisor, Therapeutic Intervention Specialist (Crisis Intervention), Social Work Supervisor, Speech Teacher, 1:1 Aides, Social Worker (New York City), and Case Worker (Bronx). You can apply by sending a cover letter and resume to employment@greenchimneys.org, so get to know them by browsing their site and see if they’re a good fit for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever experienced any therapy animals?

Department of Veterans Affairs

Willy Franzen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:52:48 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve featured any entry level government jobs, and with today’s being Veteran’s Day, we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take a look at what kind of jobs you can get at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Before you get in to job searching mode, though, go thank a veteran. If your grandfather served in World War II, give him a call and say thank you. Or if one of your buddies has served or is serving in Iraq, shoot him or her an e-mail stating your appreciation. And if any of you job searchers out there happen to be veterans, thank you from the One Day, One Job team. Now let’s get into what the VA is all about. There are 25 million veterans currently living in the United States and 70 million people who are “potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.” The VA is responsible for providing top-flight patient care and administering veterans’ benefits. Our vets have risked their lives to earn the services offered by the VA, so it’s important that the VA has a talented staff that is committed to providing top-flight “customer” service.

Thank a Vet by Working at the VA

If you remember any of our previous posts about jobs with the Federal Government (e.g. the US Forest Service), you’ll know that finding jobs with them isn’t as easy as it should be. That’s ok, because we’ll guide you through the process. You should probably start by checking out the VA’s page on Types of Careers. It has info on every type of job that they offer, and even includes some videos that show “A Day in the Life.” In fact, this area of the site is pretty simple to navigate, so you shouldn’t find it too hard to get a sense of what types of jobs might interest you – categories include Health Care, Business / Administration, Legal, Engineering / Architecture / Technical Support, and Specialized Skilled Occupations / Trades. The hard part is actually navigating through the job listings. For most jobs with the VA, you need to use the USAJOBS site to search for openings. (The exception is if you’re looking for jobs with the Veterans’ Health Administration.) From the USAJOBS site you can search by Agency, Occupation, Keyword, or Location. If you have found some positions that interest you on the Types of Careers page, then you can search for those jobs. If you haven’t, you might want to try using the keyword “entry.” It’s worked for us in the past, but it’s not 100% at finding entry level jobs. You can also try sorting the search results by salary and start from the bottom, which is almost certain to lead to jobs that require no experience. There are hundreds of jobs in locations all across the country, so we’re not going to list specific opportunities, but we will warn you that once you find jobs that look interesting and click on the links to their descriptions, be sure to notice the second row of tabs on the page. That’s where you can find all kinds of detailed information about the jobs and how to apply.

The VA does work in cities big and small, so there’s a strong likelihood that they have jobs near where you live. The application processes for all of these jobs are pretty intense, because that’s how the government likes to do things, so be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you thanked a veteran today?

Gallup

Willy Franzen — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:31:31 +0000

We don’t like politics. We’re already sick of this election. We don’t care who made a verbal gaffe yesterday. And we certainly don’t understand how double-digit leads in the polls can evaporate and reappear based on a few words here or a few words there. We just don’t care (don’t confuse that with not caring about the direction of our country), but a lot of people do care. They want constant information, not only about what’s happening, but also how the American people are reacting to breaking news. The media provides the news on the mud slinging, but someone has to keep the pulse of the nation. Much of that responsibility falls on pollsters like Gallup. You can be sure that you’ll be hearing that name a lot over the next 6 months.

9 out of 10 Pollsters Agree

Gallup is studies how people behave and leverages what they learn to help businesses be better at what they do. They’ve collected the best minds in management, economics, psychology, and sociology to help them provide customers with “measurement tools, coursework, and strategic advisory services.” Polling is an essential part of Gallup’s business and reputation, and this is most evident in the political arena; however, their business goes far beyond letting the world know how voters react when they find that their favorite candidate picks his or her nose. Whether at the world, national, local, and organizational, Gallup knows how to measure human sentiment and turn the results into action for their clients. This is the basis of the consulting services that they offer, which include Strengths-Based Development, Talent Management, Developing Great Managers, Workplace and Employee Engagement, Customer Engagement, Executive Performance Coaching, Sales Force Effectiveness, Performance Strategy, Performance Reward and Compensation, Succession Management, Performance Evaluation and Development, Brand Management, and Marketing Research

Measuring Employee Engagement at Home and Abroad

The thing that jumped out at us from Gallup’s core business was Employee Engagement. If a company is going to pride themselves on measuring how employees feel, they better be doing a great job of engaging their own employees. Gallup probably would have liked to cite themselves, but instead they had to go to the Vault to brag that they rank “#1 for corporate culture and work-life balance, and as #2 for overall quality of life” in a survey of consultants from top firms. Heck, Gallup probably would have given themselves their Great Workplace Award, if it wouldn’t look like a conflict of interest. Either way, Gallup is focused on treating their talent well, and that means that you should be looking at some really strong internships.

We Love Their Careers Site, But…

Gallup’s overall website and Careers site in particular are really nice. They look good, they’re easy to navigate, and are extremely informative (they’re even nice enough to be upfront and tell international students that they’re out of luck when it comes to sponsorship – most companies ignore the fact completely). They even have a well thought out Campus Recruiting page. The site is really approachable, and it’s easy to get a sense of the types of opportunities Gallup offers and what it’s like to work for them.

Unfortunately Gallup fails to segue from this elegant portrayal of information to their job listings. The only option is to use their Job search, which leaves job seekers confused about what opportunities to search for. Gallup says that they are working on a new campus recruiting site, which hopefully will address this problem. Otherwise, we think that they’ve done a great job of presenting themselves online, so we hope that they don’t change too much.

Survey Says That I Can’t Find a Job

How do you find entry-level jobs at Gallup? We’re not quite sure what the most reliable way is. There are 167 openings right now, and that’s too many for us to wade through and pick out which ones are entry-level. Your best bet is to focus your search terms on your areas of interest, with a concentration on Accounting, Administrative Services, Business Development/Sales, Information Technology, Data Production, and Document Services, because these are areas that Gallup identifies as having the most opportunities for undergraduates. It’s really too bad that they don’t identify their entry-level positions more easily, as it’s even pretty easy to find internships at Gallup. We do know that most opportunities at Gallup are located in Omaha or Lincoln, NE, so keep that in mind when you’re searching their jobs site. They do offer many opportunities for new college grads, you just have to find them.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Did you find a better way to identify entry-level jobs at Gallup? Share it with us by leaving a comment.

Heldref Publications

Willy Franzen — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:00:55 +0000

Rocks and Minerals, Romance Quarterly, Preventing School Failure, Demokratizatsiya, Behavioral Medicine, and Historical Methods. No, this isn’t an excerpt from one of those spam e-mails with random words that don’t make any sense, but a small sampling of titles put out by Heldref Publications. As a non-profit publisher, Heldref Publications aims to provide a forum for scholarly discourse in the approximately 50 titles that they publish. These titles are geared towards academics in a wide range of fields, as you probably gathered from our first sentence. Those fields include “research and practice in K-12 and higher education, world affairs and political science, history, world literatures old and new, the arts, popular culture, psychology, social sciences, health, and the environment.”

If you’re curious as to where they got the name Heldref, we can tell you that it comes from the HELen Dwight Reid Education Foundation. Helen Dwight Reid was a professor at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Buffalo, and she established the foundation in 1956 to promote education, international affairs, and sciences. In the 1970s it became clear to the foundation’s leadership that they could best pursue their mission through publishing. By doing so, the foundation was able to save a number of academic journals that were in risk of folding due to cost constraints, and to bring them under one roof where economies of scale could be used to their benefit. Since then, Heldref Publications has added a considerable number of titles, all of which “share a purpose of providing new ideas, information, and a means to communicate for scholars, teachers, students, and interested readers.” We think that the best way to get to know more about Heldref is to take a look at their list of titles on the left-hand side of their Home page.

Heldref Publications is currently hiring at their office in Washington, D.C., with a few of their open positions appearing to be appropriate for new college graduates. The position that looks most likely to be filled by an entry-level candidate is Proofreader. There is also an Accounting Assistant job that is part-time, but it appears to require some work experience (maybe a couple Summers of accounting internships would do). There’s also a listing for a Snow Removal Specialist, for those who are taking a little different path after graduation – we’ll assume that job has a start date some time a little after June. Heldref’s Jobs page is simple, but serves it purpose. To apply for any of these positions, send a cover letter and resume to Jon Terry.

Heldref Publications looks like a great place for someone who has mastered the English language, loves education, and wants to work for a non-profit. You can be pretty sure that proofreading for Heldref’s publications will be intellectually stimulating work.

Note: On April 27th we revisited entry-level jobs at Heldref Publications.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Which of Heldref’s publications looks the most interesting to you? Leave a comment and tell us.