If you identify certain organizations that you would really love to work for:

• Check the organization’s web site for job postings.

• Research the organization’s mission, services, products, culture and performance. In addition to their web site you might ask for their annual report, talk to current employees, clients, etc.

• Find out the name, title, and telephone number of the person most likely to be doing the hiring – e.g., a department manager, the head of Human Resources, the president of a small company, the director of an agency. Look for this information on the organization’s web page, or phone/email and ask.

• Organizations seek job applicants in various ways. Small nonprofits tend to look only when someone resigns or they get new funding, at which point they want to hire quickly. A good network of contacts is a vital source of information about job openings in the nonprofit sector.

• Job seekers use a number of effective ways to “get their foot in the door” of an organization, such as internships, volunteer or part-time positions, temporary or contract jobs.