CAREERS
The Social Enterprise
Club aims to give students interested in social enterprise the inspiration,
information, tools, and contacts necessary to achieve their career goals.
The club provides resources for these students by organizing career
events, sharing information and leads, distributing a resume book, working
with the career services office, and cooperating with affiliated organizations,
such as Business for Social Responsibility, Social Venture Network and
a variety of other organizations.
Social
Enterprise Career Areas
Social Enterprise is a broad category defining a number of careers that
span several different industries. These include non-profit management
and non-profit consulting, for-profit entrepreneurial social endeavors,
corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy, social venture
capital and venture philanthropy, foundations, micro finance, government
and public finance, and community and international development. The
common thread uniting these careers is the desire to blend business
skills and personal values to achieve public benefits.
Social Enterprise
issues also arise in traditional for-profit careers (and cut across
functional areas, such as strategy, operations, finance, marketing,
accounting, and human resources), providing MBAs with opportunities
to serve on boards or special commissions, enter public-private partnerships,
and help companies become more socially responsible. Given the increasing
level of public interest and scrutiny of corporate actions, keeping
up to date with social enterprise issues will become increasingly relevant
in the pursuit of for-profit careers.
Social enterprise
areas include: Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR), Socially Responsible Investing, Non-Profit & Public Sector
Management, Non-Profit Consulting, Foundation Management / Corporate
Philanthropy / Venture Philanthropy, Social Venture Capital, Community
Development, International Development, Microfinance, Healthcare, Education,
Arts Management, Renewable Energy / Energy, and Enviromental Management.
A short description of these social enterprise
areas is on this website. However more detailed descriptions of
these areas, including current students and alumni contacts, job resources
and web links, are available to current students only on the Social
Enterprise Program website.
Finding
focus and suggested readings
Given the breadth
of the Social Enterprise sector, students aim to find a balance between
exploring different options and focusing on a few target areas for career
search purposes. Although students may express an interest in working
for for-profits in social enterprise roles, non-profits, or public sector
organizations, students may find it useful to clarify which particular
area within the field they intend to investigate in detail.
There are a number
of books that are assumed reading for traditional MBAs (Liar's Poker,
Barbarians at the Gate, Monkey Business, etc). MBA students interested
in social enterprise have compiled a list of book
recommendations, relevant to those interested in working in or keeping
up to date with this sector. These might be of interest to those interested
in current ideas, exploring career options, or looking for inspiration
to pursue careers incorporating personal values and social benefits.
Career
Events
One of the advantages
of being in such a large and diverse city is the opportunity for MBA
students to attend and organize events that draw upon participants and
speakers from a wide array of international and US-based organizations.
SEC, MIDI, Social Enterprise Program, and Career Services organize a
number of career events both jointly and independently throughout the
year to help career seekers in the social enterprise sector. Previous
career events held at Columbia include the Annual
Social Enterprise Conference, summer internship panels, alumni panels
and networking events, mentoring groups, speakers and panels focusing
on career areas within Social Enterprise and issues common to a number
of areas. See SEC Events for further details.
The Social Enterprise
Program and Club share the same listserv that is available to current
Social Enterprise students and Columbia Business School alumni only.
This is the primary method by which students, faculty and administrators
share information on career events and job leads.
Independent
Projects
Columbia's location
also offers unparalleled opportunities to integrate career interests
with course-related projects - both core and electives that are explicitly
or implicitly related to social enterprise, as well as "independent
studies" that are supervised by social enterprise faculty. New
York is an ideal base to find domestic and international organizations
for course projects and mini-consulting assignments. These activities
can cover areas including marketing, finance and accounting, strategic
planning, organizational development, operations and technology.
The integration
of career interests with course work helps students develop contacts
and hands-on experience in a target area, while also providing them
with opportunities to create a positive impact on the community. Organizations
benefit from the business-consulting skills and experience of MBA students
working on these projects. For a list of courses, see the Social
Enterprise Program website, SEC Courses,
a listing of all
business school courses, and electives
at other departments.
Volunteer programs
also provide ample opportunities for students to find and work with
Social Enterprise organizations. Common favorites include the Small
Business Consulting Program, which matches nonprofits to student
consulting teams, the Global Social
Venture Competition, and volunteer activities organized by groups
such as the Committee on Volunteering and Philanthropy (COVAP), Harlem
Tutorial Program of Columbia, I-Prep, and Junior Achievement. See descriptions
on the student
clubs website.
Finding
a Job
Although a number
of social enterprise recruiters come on campus, the majority of social
enterprise positions are found via faculty and alumni, independent networking,
internal job postings, Net Impact, and MBA Nonprofit postings. Social
enterprise students have typically found the most effective way to identify
job openings is via the first two methods. Columbia University also
hosts a nonprofit careers fair open to all graduate and undergraduate
students.
Organizations looking
to recruit or participate in career events, can find further information
in the recruiters & sponsors
section.
Further
Career Resources
More details on
specific career resources are available to current MBA students only,
in the password-protected section of the Social Enterprise Program website
(contact Carolyn Champ for details
if you are a current student). The Social Enterprise Program careers
section has a "Guide to SE Career Resources" which covers
areas including:
- General social
enterprise questions, advice and career counseling;
- Overview of the social enterprise field and the type of positions
available to MBAs;
- Making networking contacts and calls;
- Finding social enterprise job postings;
- Information on specific social enterprise organizations; and
- Typical salaries in the social enterprise field.
The careers section
of the Social Enterprise Program site also provides CORP fellowship
information and career links by category, which has been gathered by
students and alumni.
Current students
are also assigned to career mentoring groups,
which are based on student's interests in various social
enterprise areas, and can also contact Carolyn Champ about the Alumni
Counseling Group, and counseling services available via the MBA Nonprofit
Connection.
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