February 27, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Q: I’ve had lots of experience in fund raising for social-service organizations, which have tended to be “lean” organizations in which I’ve worked alone or with a part-time assistant. I’ve recently tried to move up into jobs at private elementary and high schools, which usually have more development staff. Twice so far, I’ve been told I lack experience in managing people — and what troubles me is that these interviewers seem to be looking for someone who has experience in making layoff decisions when times are tough. How can I communicate that perhaps I know how to run a lean department?
A: Barbara Gilvar, a recruiter in Boston who has worked extensively with independent schools, found your question puzzling and wondered whether you are possibly misinterpreting your interviewers. The key problem may be your lack of management experience, she says, rather than any unspoken requirement to wield an ax during layoffs. Ms. Gilvar suggests you may be looking at the wrong kind of schools, if they are large and established enough to have an entire development staff. “There are zillions of independent schools with just 200 kids, so you can imagine that they’ll have a small department” — probably just one full-time person and an assistant, exactly the kind of lean organization you’ve already worked for.
Although you lack experience handling a full staff, Ms. Gilvar doesn’t think your background in social services should be an obstacle to switching into schools. “My observation is that inside the development office, a lot of people come from outside of secondary education — development is development.”
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