Jane Jackson client success story, Jo Green

Back in 2010 I first wrote a success story post about my client, Jo Green, who made a career transition from London to Sydney and then from market research to the not for profit sector. 

Her story continued with  Part 2 when she transitioned from Clean Up Australia to Canteen to support children fighting cancer and their families. 

Jo has grown further in her career and is now providing global support to those in need with Caritas Australia. 

Let’s continue this journey with Part 3 of Jo’s story.

Who is Jo Green?

I grew up in the UK and moved to Sydney nearly 5 years ago to experience living on the more sunny side of the world.

Where do you work now?

I work as the Fundraising Campaign Coordinator at Caritas Australia.  Caritas is an international aid and development charity and in my role I look after the annual fundraising campaign, Project Compassion.

Who are your clients and what are the services?

Caritas support the poorest and most marginalised people in the world through its long term development programs, supporting people to help themselves out of poverty, hunger and injustice. 

What did you do prior to your current role?

I worked in the Community Fundraising at CanTeen and in volunteering at Clean Up Australia.  But before my transition to the non profit world, I worked in market research.

 

What made you make this career change?

I was sat in a market research focus group for a famous Australian wine brand and realised I really didn’t care whether the bubbles on the bottle were green or blue.  It was a light bulb moment that I needed to find a job that aligned with my values and allowed me to make a difference in the world.

What assistance did you get along the way?

I was recommended to work with Jane Jackson, a top Sydney career coach in July 2009.  She was fantastic at helping me to understand, explore and research my values and future potential careers. 

The skills she taught me I have used in my subsequent job searches and I am thankful for when thinking about my career (thank you Jane!)

I’ve worked with some amazing and inspiring people and keep in touch with many on LinkedIn.  It is great to contact them for advice when looking for a new role, or when something crops up at work which I think they might be able to offer some advice on.

What were the key challenges you experienced?

Moving in to the non for profit sector can be tricky due to the change in salary level, resources available such as budget for marketing, IT, HR, etc. but is a rewarding area to work in.  

The people you work with tend to be passionate and friendly, but quite often there is more work than people – which can mean taking on things that you might not quite have expected!

Depending on the type of non for profit it can also throw up some personal challenges in terns of dealing with the emotional side of the cause. 

At Canteen I attended workshops where I heard about the issues faced by young people who have lost a parent to cancer, and at Caritas I visit programs which support the poorest people in the world.  

It can be challenging to remain professional whilst dealing with your own reaction to seeing the reason for your work first hand.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of going into the Not for Profit sector?

Work out the types of non for profits you are interested in (health, education, environment, animals, etc). This will help you narrow down your search field and is a question recruitment consultants always ask.

There are numerous specific non for profit websites and newsletters which are great for job announcements but it is also worth going to the website of many particular non for profits you are interested in as so me only advertise through their own site.

There are a few recruitment agencies that are fantastic and are worth contacting to discuss the types of roles you would be suitable for and current opportunities.

Non for profits always ask for experience in the sector when applying for a role. I was lucky that I got my foot in the door by securing a 6 month contract but I would advise people to get some volunteer experience on their CV even if just for a few hours to show where their passion lives and that is an important part of their life.

Many non for profits offers a proportion of your salary tax free.  This means that you end up earning slightly more than your base salary.  Although non for profit roles tend to have lower salaries than their corporate equivalent, this does help them to be a bit more attractive and is worth investigating.

Tell us about your best moments at Caritas

In March 2013 I went to Sao Paulo in Brazil to visit on of Caritas’ programs to make a documentary film of one of the people the program has helped.

The people we met live in a slum or favela and told us stories of the terrible living conditions cardboard houses, no water and electricity and sewage running down the street, before the program helped them to improve the conditions where they live. There is also a high level of violence and drugs gangs in the favelas and we heard about the impact of the youth program in engaging young people and keeping them off the streets.

We met some inspiring people and could really see Caritas’ work in action. I’m looking forward to the filming trip (probably to Indonesia) in 2014.

The other group of amazing people I communicate with is are the supporters of Caritas – it is always amazing to meet people at events or help out with donation phone calls to understand why people support us, and to thank them for doing so.

How can we find out more about the great work at Caritas?

www.caritas.org.au

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