how can i find a job doing social impact?

Olivia,

I would like to address the second part of your question. Colleges offer courses in "Data Analytics" and there are jobs with the title of _________ Analyst. Crime Analyst, etc. Courses are offered in the Business College, but may also be offered in a Non Profit Management degree plan. Measurements drive funding, so this is a very crucial concept to understand! From what I have seen though, sometimes the wrong things get measured. So, being the person who defines WHAT is to be measured, and the standards of success, could also help. This sometimes happens in the area of Project Management. These classes, in and of themselves, may seem far removed from your particular area of interest, especially if they use examples from the business world. But, they will be relevant at some point! If it is offered, consider also taking a class in Grant Writing. People who can write proposals to secure grant funding are highly valued!

Real life example: I met a lady who was involved in a program to help financially needy people to get cars. We were discussing things at a program level. I asked her what the measurement of success was for her program. She said as long as they spent all the money, that was successful! To me, I would want to know, a year or two later, did the people still own the cars? Were they operational, with insurance and current license plates? Merely getting them a car does not make them a successful car owner!

Second example: I worked at a state workforce center. One of our "performance measures" had to do with the number of job referrals we gave to a client. Yet, nothing measured the time we spent helping them with resumes or interview preparation. I met with a co-worker's client while she was on vacation. I learned that he had been coming in once a week for 6 weeks, getting 10 referrals a week. Yet, he did not have a marketable resume! She had been "using" him to help meet her numbers!!!

As a footnote: Sometimes it seems that the bureaucracy that springs up around a program costs more to administer than the program is actually contributing to society, and that the people within the organization care more about keeping their own jobs than truly helping others. We all hear from time to time about the outrageous salaries of the executives in these agencies. There is an organization that will help you in looking at these agencies, and evaluating how cost effective they truly are. It is https://www.guidestar.org/NonprofitDirectory.aspx This is very helpful info to hold onto, such as perhaps when you are looking for a place to intern. There is a charge for some of the information, but I have found there is a lot of it that is free.

If you have narrowed down what sort of social impact/change you are interested in, you may be able to get more answers to the first part of the question. Environmentally, there is a lot going on in the field of Sustainability, for example.

Best of luck!

Kim

First off, pretty much every job has some sort of social impact. Secondly, if you want to find ways to find your own niche for doing that, try volunteering for various community service organizations and other non-profits. That will get you in touch with a lot of people who can give you all sorts of ideas.