Job Search / Finding work in social enterprise

They were all ready to take the leap.  Each holding their own reasons, they leapt from MBA programs, fellowship programs, and corporate jobs into the world of social enterprise.

However, since the field is scattered and nascent, finding work in social enterprise is almost never a clear path from submitting an application to getting that interview and landing a job.  The leap can be a daunting journey.

“If you decide tomorrow that you want to quit your corporate job and go work for a water organization in Africa, what you would likely do is go on a job platform and look for jobs in that space.  Or you might go to Google to search.  That might work, but the problem with that is you have no understanding of the credibility of the organization,” said Shweta Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Karmany.org, an India-based startup that connects social enterprises with talented job candidates.

Sharma was herself one of those who leapt into the world of social enterprise after seven years working at AT&T.  She embarked on a new direction after dabbing into the startup space in Chicago and working on an education nonprofit in India while still maintaining her day job.  These experiences eventually led her to build Karmany.org, after noticing that finding the right talent was an obstacle for social enterprises.

The business model for Karmany.org pivoted over 30 times.  Sharma originally assumed that the reason social enterprises couldn’t attract talent was because they didn’t have the money to bring them on.  The idea was to provide low-cost loans to grassroots-level entrepreneurs.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at 

via Career change: places to find social enterprise jobs | Social Enterprise Buzz.