Engineering a Path into the Nonprofit Sector: Q&A with Patrick Miller

It’s almost impossible to talk about how engineering fits into the nonprofit world in Canada without some mention of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). In fact, almost every person I spoke with while researching my last story, Engineering a better world:...

Engineering a better world: Using your degree in the nonprofit sector

Engineering has an immense impact on the way we live our lives. Almost everything around us – from our water systems, to our Facebook accounts, to the highway we take to get to work – owes a part of its...

Career Q&A: Does it matter if your experience is volunteer or paid?

I have recently graduated with a Masters degree and am looking to build a career in the nonprofit sector. I have been an active volunteer with a number of organizations over the years and have gained experience in my field...

Great Chemistry: Pure science degrees and the nonprofit sector

In the fourth year of her undergraduate life sciences degree, Polly VandenBerg realized working in a lab just wasn’t for her. She was studying neuro-electrophysiology as part of her thesis at Queen’s University, and a small lab on campus had...

What business does a business degree have in the nonprofit sector?

The nonprofit sector in Canada – which employs more than two million Canadians and accounts for almost 9% of economic output – is constantly growing, putting thousands of organizations under a great deal of pressure. Today there are more than...

What to do with a communications/marketing degree

More than any other skill, the ability to communicate effectively is almost always at the top of employers’ lists when hiring. They want to see that you can listen, write, speak confidently, and facilitate the transfer of information within their...

Results from 2012 Nonprofit Compensation & Benefits Study now available

It’s all about the money. Or is it? If you work for a nonprofit in Toronto or Ottawa, you’re earning, on average, a higher salary than people working in the rest of Canada. If your organization is affiliated, like a...

Getting in the door: The nonprofit dilemma

When Blair Sanderson decided to pursue a second career, he did what many do in the same position: he went back to school. He strategically invested the next two years studying social service work, within the stream of immigrants and...

D is for Disenchantment: How nonprofits are losing out

When 27-year-old Julie (*name has been changed) began working at the national organization that still employs her today, she had big dreams and an even bigger heart. “I was gung ho about it,” she says of jumping headfirst into nonprofit...

The revenge of the liberal arts degree

In the past ten – arguably twenty – years, there’s been a growing trend towards downplaying the applicability of a liberal arts degree in the world of work. Changes in our understanding of the economy have led employers to doubt...