My First 90 Days at the National Human Services Assembly
By 2012 Fellow Bridget McCabe
Prior to ProInspire, I worked in advertising as a media buyer in New York City. About two months before the Fellowship, I had switched agencies and was still in the process of understanding the idiosyncrasies of my new role. When I was offered the Membership & Communications Coordinator position at the National Human Services Assembly, I accepted without hesitation and was ecstatic at the prospect of embarking on a career in the nonprofit sector.
After I met with the Assembly, things started to move fast and furiously. I received my offer letter the day after my interview, gave my employer proper notice, and took a train down to DC three weeks later to begin the fellowship—leaving little if any opportunity to digest the significant changes I was to undergo. However, ProInspire encourages and facilitates time to reflect on these new experiences through monthly trainings, coaching calls, and overall support. Having been a fellow for roughly 90 days, I’ve come to understand the stark differences and subtle similarities of my past and present roles and have identified key elements that enabled a smooth transition.
A key difference lies in the size of my organization. I had previously been employed under the umbrella of one of the largest global advertising companies in the world and moved to an organization with a staff of about 10 people. A small staff allows my organization to bypass some of bureaucratic processes seen in large companies but also creates workload challenges, with employees wearing many hats.
The intrinsic nature of my roles are reversed. As a media buyer in national broadcast, television networks were obligated to adhere to my requests. Sales representatives would cater to my team in the hope we would continue to recommend their business to our client. The Assembly is an association of leading national nonprofit human service providers and the success of the organization is based off of the participation and engagement of members like the Red Cross, United Way, Girl Scouts of the USA, etc. My role at the Assembly is to cater to our members—field member queries, maintain communication with members, and to ensure organizations are receiving value from their membership.
Despite these differences, collaboration is essential for both the media industry and human services sector. In both roles, I needed to maintain a large network outside of my immediate colleagues. As a media buyer I established relationships with planners, sales representatives, producers, and marketing staff to ensure spot placement. Likewise, at the Assembly, I frequently interact with senior executives at member organizations and their staff, consultants, and partners in an effort to help address social problems.
While my day-to-day responsibilities differ, I’ve come to realize I possess a number of transferable skills that would help me succeed in any role such as time management, organization, and accountability. Understanding that there would be a significant learning curve and that it would take time to adjust and feel comfortable in my new role helped me manage my expectations during the transition. I realized I was not going to make an immediate impact but needed to take time to really understand my organization and grasp the nuances of my new role. ProInspire provided a number of resources addressing some of the major differences professionals come across while switching sectors so there were few surprises in diving into my new role. ProInspire also serves as a phenomenal network by constantly keeping you tuned in to professional development and networking opportunities throughout the DC area encouraging fellows to engage in the community.
There is an uneasiness in starting anew in an unfamiliar city in a different career but ultimately I knew I wanted to make a significant change and use my skills to impact social change. Keeping that in mind throughout the first few months was instrumental in alleviating any concerns or doubts enabling me to take the fullest advantage of this exploratory time.