Want a CSR Job? Read This First.
With just over two months left until I graduate from business school, I’ve started to reflect on what I’ve accomplished over the last two years.
Without a doubt, the most fulfilling experiences of my MBA program have been the chances I’ve had to engage in real-world consulting projects for corporate and nonprofit clients.
In the last four semesters, I’ve worked on some pretty terrific marketing and corporate social responsibility projects – including brand audits, marketing research plans, stakeholder communications strategies, and social media tactics.
But perhaps my most satisfying consulting project was a sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement plan for Praxair, a $9B Fortune 300 industrial gas manufacturer in Danbury, CT. I’ve talked about this project in past posts, and I was thrilled to see that Boston University recently issued a press release about this engagement (including a quote from yours truly!).
These consulting projects have been the most rewarding part of my MBA, but they’ve also been the most challenging and time-consuming. In the end, though, I’ve signed up for all of them without hesitation – in large part because I (and many of my fellow MBA classmates) believed they’d serve as proof of our experience to potential employers come recruiting season.
Interestingly, last week The Wall Street Journal published an article about companies partnering with business schools to create these sorts of CSR projects for students. The article starts out positively, saying urgent “social concerns” are leading more and more companies to partner with business schools to provide real-world education and training to students (aka: potential employees).
Unfortunately the story takes on a different tone just a few sentences later:
The effort [to create real-world CSR consulting projects] is being met with both gratitude and skepticism from business schools, which say that despite the emphasis on integrating these hot-button topics into the curriculum, it’s business as usual at recruiting time. Few hiring managers, they say, ask students about corporate-responsibility training or indicate it’s a priority.
That’s right – according to the article, these CSR projects may be happening more frequently on business school campuses, but that doesn’t mean they’re turning into more CSR jobs for MBA graduates after school.
The article drills home the point even further, saying that engaging students in these kinds of projects “doesn’t translate into hiring socially responsible M.B.As, an issue that “points to a disconnect on part of the companies: There’s enthusiasm in the classroom for imparting corporate responsibility and sustainability concepts, but hiring managers attending campus recruiting sessions say it’s rarely something they quiz candidates about.”
In the end it seems that MBA grads looking for CSR jobs can easily find themselves between that proverbial rock and a hard place – on the one hand, they’re receiving extraordinary real-world training for future sustainability positions; yet on the other, there’s often no opportunity to continue this work once they finish business school.
Another related and interesting study that just came out also reinforced this point:
Ellen Weinreb from Sustainability Recruiting analyzed six years of CSR job postings and drew conclusions about the availability of jobs and overall trends in CSR recruiting. Her findings point to an interesting conclusion for recent MBA grads wanting to get into CSR (which, by the way, is the same conclusion drawn by the Wall Street Journal article):
If you want to work in CSR, get functional experience first.
Ellen’s study shows an increase over time in VP and Director-level CSR jobs – which is great news for people already working in CSR but not so great for MBA grads just trying to jump in.
Since those high-level CSR jobs are most likely out of reach for newly-minted MBAs, Ellen suggests job seekers embed themselves in a corporate function (marketing, finance, strategy etc), learn the business, and then transition internally to a CSR role.
When you think about it, this advice makes sense; after all, to be effective in sustainability, you’ve got to first understand the business you’re in.
For my part, it turns out that I’ve actually heard this advice many, many times – and given the frequency with which it’s said, I’ve taken it seriously to heart.
Still, this puts me – and many other soon-to-be MBA grads – in a bit of an awkward position going forward.
My goal is to work in a CSR role within a big consumer brand, so I’ve stacked my resume with CSR-related projects and classes to show future employers that I know what I’m talking about.
But if in the end it turns out that these kinds of activities don’t necessarily translate into a job-seeker’s “competitive advantage,” did I waste my time on these projects when I should have been doing something else? Obviously that’s being overly dramatic, but the issue certainly gives me pause.
In the end, the best advice I can give to CSR job-seekers is sort of a hybrid model:
Learn the business through functional experience, but bring sustainability to work every day.
Yes, getting that marketing, or finance, or supply chain experience under your belt will be crucially important – not only to build credibility and a reputation for yourself, but also as a way to help you think about sustainability and CSR opportunities from within.
But just because you’re working in a non-CSR function doesn’t mean that you should chuck your CSR know-how and skills out the window. On the contrary, your understanding and flexibility in CSR can only help you do your functional job better.
We can still hope that one day CSR will be such a corporate priority that all companies will recruit for these positions. In the meantime, my advice is to earn your stripes at a company you respect and admire, make your interest and intentions in sustainability clear, and with time transition into the CSR job you want.
As the old saying goes, “Your patience will be rewarded”.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by JasonSerino: RT @AshleyJablow – Want a #CSR job? My take on job search strategy (incl new data from @SustainableJobs) – http://bit.ly/bjOQmW…
As a sustainable MBA student (will be second masters degree) starting later this month, yes, this gives me pause. But, I am keeping the faith-sharpening the skills and remaining open to ALL kinds of possibilities. Let the adventure begin. Thanks for a great post!
Leslie Back
http://twitter.com/lback63
Hi Leslie, thanks for your comment. And you’re so right – you have to remain positive and open to whatever comes your way. If sustainability is your passion, focus on it and find ways to make yourself as competitive as you can when it comes to your internship and job search.
I think my only reminder to you would be to make sure you also find a business function that you enjoy and you’re good at – and focus on that just as much as your sustainability coursework. Who knows what’ll happen with the CSR job market in the next few years – but my sense is the best CSR managers are the ones who truly understand the business they’re in (not to mention who have that business experience under their belts). The CSR job can always be a goal, but it’s important to be realistic that it might not come right after graduation.
Then again – what do I know?! I’m still looking for a CSR job myself, so we’ll see! Good luck in school and thanks for your comment.
Don’t despair! There are still opportunities out there…
From my experience, as CSR functions mature, they need more specialized employees. Like an IT specialist with CSR interest or a specialized communicator to help with CSR comms.
This also reinforces the need for more CSR professionals who come from “the business” (I HATE how people differentiate CSR from the rest of the business, but this is how people describe the work at many companies.), so make sure you enter a non-CSR role you’re passionate about – because you may be doing it for many years later within a CSR department.
Hi Marcus, you’re right – there are definitely CSR opportunities out there (and trust me, I’m looking for them!). But I also agree that job seekers need to find opportunities to do work that they enjoy, at companies they respect – which in many cases means taking a non-CSR job to start. But from what I hear, getting your foot in the door is 90% of the battle – once on the inside, internal candidates tend to have a great shot at any CSR jobs that come up (or even creating their own).
Thanks for as always for your input!
This is such a great post. It’s very challenging bringing a new perspective to the oldest profession; commerce. Change is unknown and usually unproven. As the executive said to me, ” I don’t know what I like. But I know what I like when I see it.”
Each one of you needs to bring your best game to every job. It’s true what you say, you might not get there going through the front door, but once you prove yourself, your self will prove of value.
Good luck to you and your fellow MBA’s. The benefits you bring to business is finding its place as you speak.
Yes, I’m your proud mom, but I’m also a tough business person!
xoxox
Great post and comments Ashley. Having tracked the CSR job market myself over the past 18 months or so I’ve seen many of the same findings that Ellen over at Sustainability Recruiting has seen. In recent months there has certainly been an uptick in the number of positions available in CSR, sustainability, and corporate citizenship. These are far more sophisticated job postings than even six months ago. The companies seem to know more about what they want. They are still struggling in terms of how to define what the qualifications should be.
One thing that recruiters keep telling me is how many candidates apply for these jobs that simply have no understanding of the business case for CSR or sustainability and have no business experience. The firms only want business leaders with solid business experience with an awareness of CSR and sustainability, not the other way around. You can have all the environmental/social justice/cause marketing background you want, but without actual business application and experience, you will not be considered.
Sounds like you are crafting the right kind of education, internship, and job experience to make you a viable candidate. Good luck and I look forward to seeing you out there!
Matthew Rochte, LEED AP
CSR / Sustainability Consultant
Opportunity Sustainability
Twitter: @mrochte for CSR and Sustainability trends and observations
Hi Matthew, thanks for your comment and interesting insights into the CSR job market.
It’s very interesting to me that there does seem to be a recent increase in high-level, sophisticated CSR jobs – and yet this is balanced against the clear expectation from companies that CSR “hopefuls” (aka: me and other recent MBA grads) get experience inside the business before transitioning into CSR. On the one hand, this makes sense – you clearly need to understand your business in order to create an integrated and strategic CSR plan. Yet don’t all of those advanced/senior-level CSR executives need to build a team (however small) of motivated and smart employees to help execute that plan? This is the $64,000 question that I struggle with – perhaps with time we’ll see an increase in manager or entry-level CSR positions, but for now, that’s clearly not the case (at least not on job boards – there’s no way to tell how many lower-level positions are filled purely through networking).
Anyway, thanks for your comments and encouragement! I’ll be sure to keep you and the readers of The Changebase updated as I figure out my next career move.
-Ashley
Have you read the NetImpact guide about intrapreneurship?
Making Your Impact at Work: A Practical Guide to Changing the World From Inside Any Company
Many CSR/Green/Sustainability movements are happening inside of companies rather than from executive positions. They start as grass roots internal network movements that then get the attention of the leadership. This is sort of the back door path to CSR leadership. Best Buy’s CR movement started this way and was completely lay led until last year when they hired a CR director from their internal leadership team.
Matthew Rochte, LEED AP
CSR / Sustainability Consultant
Opportunity Sustainability
Twitter: @mrochte for CSR and Sustainability trends and observations
Twitter: @greenjobadvice for trends and observations on green jobs
Actually, yes, I have read that Net Impact guide – it’s a great resource for ideas and inspiration, and a reminder that change can be part of anyone’s job description. Thanks for the reminder!