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Anyone ever swap careers from Corporate to Non-Profit or some other Cause: If so, how? (beehaw.org)

submitted 7 months ago by WaterLizard@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org

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I worked in the food industry for a while before returning back to school to get a degree in tech thinking it would be my path to a better life. While at first I thought where my career was taking me provided exactly that, I'm absolutely miserable working a corporate job in tech. I've seen several layoffs, AI is taking over, and the perpetual culture of playing several roles is killing me. I'm tired of being overworked, stressed, and given more and more responsibility for such trivial matters as selling more of X thing. This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life and I would way rather put in this type of effort for something worthwhile even if it means making less money.

The problem is I am so overwhelmed that it is hard to think of a way to change this. I keep saying I want to bring my experience to a non-profit or charitable cause, but I am unsure on how I can bring my tech/project management background to such a cause or how to sell myself in that way. I'm also debating going to get my masters to be more aligned with this change in career, but it's a similar case of not knowing the best route. For anyone out there who has made this type of career change regardless if it was in tech, I would appreciate any wisdom shared.

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[–] autumn@beehaw.org 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

hello from another person in tech! i've always gravitated toward companies that do work for nonprofits. i've been at my current job for almost six years, and the only reason they've been able to keep me is that (most of) the clients aren't soul-sucking. we do a lot of work for nonprofits who have causes i believe in, and that helps out a bunch. it's also a small, family run business (two guys who met in college about 15-20 years ago and grew the business from there). i've worked at less nonprofit-focused places, and i always felt drained.

i would find out which companies are doing your kind of work for the nonprofits you care about and go from there.

[–] WaterLizard@beehaw.org 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for sharing your own experience. While part of me wants completely out of tech, I really think the right company culture plays a role in that. I wouldn't mind staying in the field if I found something similar to your own job.

Out of curiosity, how did you find your current job? I'm used to using LinkedIn, but I feel it has become very Facebooky and very corporate America. I've heard of Dice and Indeed, but haven't heard if one is better than the other for these types of jobs.

[–] autumn@beehaw.org 8 points 7 months ago

the company i was formerly working for decided to get rid of their web dev and design departments (including me). i had already had some contact with two of the folks where i work now on other projects, so i knew their work was well done and smart. i demanded the company who was letting me go to get me an interview there, since they were old college buddies.

in a nutshell: luck and happening upon the right people. whenever we have openings, i always press any of my friends who are unhappy in their current jobs to apply, because it's by far the best place i've worked.