If you are about to enter your last year of college, you may be thinking more about what you’ll do when you graduate than about your last few semesters of classes. (Or maybe you’re focusing on your classes to try to forget about post-grad life. Totally understandable.)
At any rate, a discussion about your career path is bound to come up more frequently the closer you get to May 2018. You may have your immediate answer ready because you’ve known what you wanted to do since high school, or maybe it’s the same as your major. If so, that’s great.
Now, if you’re not sure and you’re hoping to simply fall into a job you love (or at least like) through luck, consider a job related to corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is, in the most basic sense,companies doing good in their communities while furthering their missions.People who work in CSR have many functions, from processing grants to nonprofits to collecting data for yearly CSR reports to running volunteer programs for fellow employees and much, much more. As ACCP members often share,they find fulfillment in their jobs because they can measure their impact and know they are making a difference in their communities.
As you’re an almost-senior, you’re most likely cemented into your major and may be thinking whatever you’ve chosen to study won’t fit into CSR.Lucky for you, that’s not true. Many CSR professionals have diverse backgrounds, coming into the field from jobs in education, accounting, or health services.
To get your foot in the door and familiarize yourself with how CSR integrates into the business, consider exploring coordinator positions for grantmaking, employee engagement, foundation support, or anything similar.You’ll quickly learn how CSR teams function and how their actions are valued. ACCP has a CSR job board, so consider checking their for internships and entry-level positions.
Even if you aren’t looking to get into CSR, know that the company you work for will most likely have CSR initiatives and volunteer opportunities available to you. An awesome example of employees getting involved in a large CSR initiative is Workday’s Workforce Week. When you’ve landed your job and are getting to know your new company, make sure you find out what you can do to make an impact.
Regardless of where this next year takes you, good luck!
