We know how difficult it is to find a job in these difficult economic times. The jobs are scarce and the competition is fierce. So, we decided to help you out, by starting our weekly tips section. Each week we will provide a few tips to make your nonprofit job search simpler and more successful.

Tip 1

       Looking for a nonprofit job using online job boards is a great idea. It lets you search through many different opportunities at once instead of contacting each company individually to find out if there are openings. You can also customize your search to look for specific position, location, salary range, etc. However, it is important to cast your net wide in your search.
       Don't just stick to the most well known sites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com. While these sites have a large variety of nonprofit job openings they also have a large competition since everyone looks there first. Try to look for less known job boards by going into google or other search engine of your choice and searching for job boards. This way you might find job boards that are not as commonly known, but have great selection of jobs and less competition for the openings.

Tip 2

      When most people think about jobs they consider public or private sector, but not many people think of nonprofits. That is not surprising considering that most of us associate nonprofits with volunteer work. Even though it is true, that nonprofits have a lot of volunteer opportunities, they do hire full time personnel as well. Furthermore, jobs in nonprofits range from top level executive positions such as Director to clerical positions such as an Office Assistant.
       So whether you are interested in IT work, marketing, writing or accounting nonprofit organizations have a place for you. www.nptimes.com is a great place to start your search for a job in a nonprofit organization.

Tip 3

      It is very important not to use position titles as the only criteria for job search. For example, if you lost a job as an executive assistant, don't just look for jobs that say executive assistant. It is possible that different organizations have different names for the same job duties. It is not uncommon for private sector companies to have slightly different titles for nonprofit job than those in public or nonprofit sector.
       A search on google indicated that executive assistant can also be called administrative assistant, executive secretary, office manager, and administrative associate. So instead of searching for specific job titles, try to focus on job descriptions and see if your skills and qualities match the requirements.

Last week we suggested that one way to find a job is to consider nonprofit organizations. This week we would like to continue this topic and provide a few tips on how to approach your job search in the nonprofit sector.

Tip 4

      When you are looking for any job it is important to know what you want. It doesn't mean you have to be too narrow in your search, but going through every job out there in every city and state will take a lot of time and probably will be so overwhelming that it will bring no useful results. The same rule applies to nonprofits. There are literally hundreds of thousands of nonprofits in the United States. Therefore, before starting your job search you need to figure out which causes you are passionate about and what type of nonprofits will interest you.
      For example, if you care about education you might want to look for jobs in nonprofits related to education. If you find reading boring looking for a job in a nonprofit that does fundraising for libraries might not be the right calling for you. Looking for a job in nonprofit organizations that match your passions and values in life is essential to succeeding in getting a job because nonprofits are more likely to hire a person who is passionate about the organization's cause.

Tip 5

      If you recently lost a job or just looking to go from public or private sector to nonprofits you might want to consider looking for a nonprofit job that is similar to what you did before. For example, if you previously worked in construction you might want to consider looking for a job with Habitat for Humanity or similar organizations.
        It will be much easier to get a job and transition into working for nonprofit if you look for a job in an industry you already know well and have lots of experience in. Plus you are more likely to have many easily transferable skills from your previous job which will give you an edge when applying and interviewing for a position.

Tip 6

      While using websites is a great way to start a job search, don't just use online tools in your search. If you found a nonprofit organization that you believe would be a good fit for you, but you don't see any openings at that organization don't assume they don't have anything available. Pick up the phone and talk to somebody in the HR department to find out if they might have something available that is not advertised.
        If they have nothing at the moment you can tell them about yourself, send a resume over and ask them to keep you in mind when there is an opening. You can do the same thing for private and public sector jobs. In fact, many city departments, colleges, and school districts allow you to fill out an interest card for a position that you would like to apply for and then notify you if a nonprofit job position becomes available.