When we think of mentoring, we usually think of someone with a lot of experience teaching and developing a younger novice. In recent years, mentoring has taken on many other forms such as peer and group mentoring. One of the newest forms is reverse mentoring. In reverse mentoring a senior employee is also mentored by the junior employee. The traditional one-way street becomes a two-way thoroughfare where employees of all ages can learn from each other.
Recruiting and employing a 60-year-old former corporate businessperson may be different than bringing on a 25-year-old recent business school graduate.
But both candidates may be attracted by some simple innovations in how the workplace is structured that are often overlooked by nonprofit organizations.
How can you determine whether a job applicant will be able to successfully make the transition from the commercial world to your nonprofit organizations? Bridgestar, an initiative of the Bridgespan Group, provides sample interview questions that will help you probe the applicant's motivations and skills. Here are selected questions from Bridgestar's Hiring Toolkit for nonprofit employers.
Take the pain out of sorting through resumes by creating a review process. The following tips from Bridgestar will help you find the most relevant candidates, including talented encore jobseekers.
Step 1: Agree on your resume review process and team member involvement.
Interviews provide an excellent opportunity to assess talented boomers who are hoping to transition from corporate and governmental sectors to the nonprofit world. Bridgestar offers helpful tips for interviewing prospective sector-switchers.
What can be done to encourage more nonprofit organizations to hire experienced workers seeking jobs that combine personal meaning, social impact and continued income?
The Tapping Encore Talent report by Encore.org offers some practical ideas, based on meetings and brainstorming sessions held across the country. The report was funded by the MetLife Foundation. Here are some ideas:
