The Green Room





Where can you find expertise from leading nonprofit authors and subject matter experts? Enter The Green Room, bringing to light key views and opinions on the issues that matter most to people that work within nonprofits.

You’ll find everything ranging from HR policy evaluation strategies, the state of the social sector as it affect nonprofit careers and best practices in human capital management. So pull up a chair and come on into The Green Room to read articles found exclusively on 5 Opportunity Knocks.


Hiring from the Corporate Sector: Should You, and How

By Laura Gassner Otting

More and more, our firm is asked, “What about hiring people from the for-profit sector?”

Our answer: “Well, that depends.”

There is not doubt that hiring from the corporate world is on the rise. Recent seismic economic shifts, increased board savvy, a retiring but still active baby boomer population, and an increased focus on planned career trajectories available to ambitious nonprofit professionals have changed the landscape of hiring in the sector. However, smart search committees and hiring manager know that they must first stop to determine whether a corporate hire is right for them and if they are ready for a corporate hire. Key to this is understanding who seeks to transition and why, which types of organizations can bring out their best, and proven practices of those organizations that have harnessed the talents that this formidable pool is able to bring to bear.

Click here to read the full article


About the Author Laura Gassner Otting founded the retained nonprofit executive search firm of Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group in 2002. She helped build the start-up ExecSearches.com, served as a vice president at Isaacson, Miller, and as a presidential appointee for the White House Office of National Service and a program officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service, where she was part of the team that created the AmeriCorps, and as a member of the Clinton/Gore Transition Team and 1992 Election Team.


Laura serves on numerous community boards and is the author of Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector. She is widely quoted for her expertise in mission-driven work in publications like The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, US News and World Report and Money magazine.


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