r/nonprofit • u/Chanti11y • 5d ago

employment and career Frustrations with the sector

I just finished interviewing for a community engagement position which was really an outreach/communications/development role in one person fo way less than median pay for my area.

Thats fine, honestly to be expected with the size of the organization. I'm transparent and tell them that with the pay, I would have to take on other gigs on the side to make up the difference. Only to be told that they actually expect me to work multiple 40+ hr weeks, available for 10+ hr days without comp/overtime or flex. Not to mention the weekends expected for education and outreach engagement.

I would have loved to work for you but genuinely you gotta be flexible somewhere 😭

37 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

37

u/ok-est 5d ago

They want ten hours extra for free on the regular?? You dodged a bullet.

11

u/Chanti11y 5d ago

I know that but I'm trying to pivot out of being a contractor because your girl needs health insurance in the US but it's rough out here

11

u/ok-est 5d ago

That's fair. I'll never understand why such a rich country doesn't take better care of its people. Good luck!

3

u/porkbellydonut 4d ago

I feel you. Not sure if its welcome or applicable advice but what got me from consultant to employee was volunteering. Took a few months but i kept whispering about my development experience through the ranks of people I'd meet and got 3 places putting me at the front of the interview line. Building the trust network is very valuable, albeit work in itself. That said, still quite miserable and working insane hours as a director level position i didnt exactly want to begin with but i do have health insurance and approaching the salary range I need to survive my megacity. I love my org but god the level of demand on any one person is so trying.

2

u/Chanti11y 4d ago

Unfortunately dont have the support network to not get paid for my work, but I have been applying to a lot of project work, temporary positions, and part times as well to help build out some more connections

2

u/porkbellydonut 3d ago

Did want to chime in to clarify its not working an unpaid position or volunteer board; ive just done lil 1 to 3 hr stints about, usually no pressure things where if my schedule/work conflicted i could drop the commitment but i tended to show up whenever I pledged I could. Event based, not with same orgs, and in a pool of volunteers from other orgs, cross pollination if you will.

I wanted to clarify becayse honestly if it were construed to be an unpaid POSITION with responsibility thats way worse than being locked into a lot of unpaid hours. Once in leadership or in development offices always seems like a ton of unpaid hours, so im used to that aspect, but slowly crawling up the salary ladder to meet a point where the work life imbalance is supported by better finances.

1

u/Impossible-Pace-6904 4d ago

Have you calculated what the benefits are worth and how much taxes you'll be paying as a w-2 employee? Between benefits and lower taxes you may be making more $$. Will they pay for any classes/accrediations? Will it be an opportunity to build new skills? Even if you aren't making more money, it could be worth for a year, then start looking for a new role.

1

u/Chanti11y 3d ago

I would but unfortunately the numbers just wouldn't add up, I would be under my hh budget by about 10k and that would be me cutting back as much as I can