Ellen Banakis sits in the terminal at Reagan National Airport waiting to board a plane to Chicago for a conference, her second business trip to the Windy City since July. After graduating from UW-Madison in May, she headed to Washington, D.C. for the job that is now sending her on this two-day, all expenses- paid journey by Allstate Insurance.
Banakis isn't working for the Pentagon, a senator or the Washington Post, but for a small non-profit agency where she is one of three employees. Her title is quite a mouthful: Program Assistant for the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence. In short, that means she encourages lawyers to represent domestic violence survivors and helps them do their jobs better. And for her, this means more than just a steady paycheck.
\I really do believe in the work I do. I think it's really cool and I like that I'm able to do it at this time in my life,"" she said.
Like Banakis, most people who work in non-profit jobs do so because they want to be involved with a cause they believe in. This may mean working longer hours for less pay, but interest in these careers is increasing, according to an article on www.monster.com. Even experienced professionals are willing to take a large paycut if it means working for a good cause, the article said.
Just because making money is not the main focus of non-profit organizations does not mean they do not often think about it. In fact, paying attention to how much money is being spent is even more crucial than in a large corporation.
""Whether you're non-profit or for-profit you have to at least break even, so financing and being aware of budgets is a huge part of my job,"" Banakis said. ""We have to be so aware of how we're spending money, where we're spending money.""
The non-profit sector includes a wide variety of jobs, offering people with different degrees and skill sets plenty of opportunities. In addition to working on social justice issues like domestic violence, non-profit professionals work for the environment, health issues, the arts, social services and education. Here in Madison, Planned Parenthood, American Red Cross and the university itself are popular non-profit employers for UW-Madison grads.
Students interested in these kinds of fields should not be misled that non-profit jobs are easier to get, Banakis said. Having a good r??sum?? and good interviewing skills are just as important as they are for students going into the corporate world.
""Don't think because you're not well-paid and because you work in a non-profit that you don't need to be professional and have a really good r??sum??,"" she said. ""Just because it's non-profit doesn't mean it's easy to get the job.""
Much like any other job, working for a non-profit has its good days and bad days. Part of Banakis's job is talking to victims of domestic violence, and knowing she can only do so much to help them can be hard.
""That's probably the hardest part of my work ... having [victims of domestic violence] on the phone and telling them there's nothing you can do except refer them to other resources is sometimes really tough,"" she said.
But sometimes, it is the hard days that remind her why she wanted to work for a non-profit in the first place.
""There are days when I get yelled at, there are days when I mess up, and that is true of all my roommates who are all just out of school,"" she said. ""But I know at the end of the day that my work means that women and children are safe from violence, and to me that is what keeps me going.""
