Talent Market

Talent Market's mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector

Talent Tip #138: What HGTV Can Teach Us About the Market for Talent

Katelynn Barbosa

A couple of years ago, I was home sick with a bad sinus infection and chose to spend that time in the most productive way possible – reading seminal novels I had never gotten around to. Just kidding. I binged watching HGTV. If you haven’t watched HGTV before, the basic format of every HGTV show involves the following:

Act 1: Couple wants to buy house and meets with realtor to tell them what they are looking for in that house. Their expectations are always wildly unrealistic for their budget. The realtor passive aggressively smiles and nods along and then shows up by herself on camera to politely explain that the couple clearly has no clue about the local real estate market.

Act 2: Realtor shows them different houses at various price levels so they can see how insane they are.

Act 3: As the reality that the house they want is at least $300,000 more than what they can afford dawns on the couple, we watch them slowly adjust their expectations with each viewing and then they ultimately pick a house that meets 50-70% of their original criteria after seeing the market for themselves.

Episode after episode, not a single buyer ended up purchasing a house that fulfilled 100% of the criteria they had specified at the beginning of the show.

And episode after episode, I’m reminded of how similar the real estate market is to the talent market.

When we work with an organization to create a job description, it is not unlike a relator working with a prospective buyer to come up with a list of what they want in their dream home. (Fortunately, the organizations we work with are much more realistic than the buyers on HGTV.) A job description is basically an organization creating a list of qualities they are looking for in their dream candidate. Rarely does the organization hire someone with every single requirement listed in the job description.

With this in mind, here are some key takeaways that HGTV can teach us about the market for talent.

First, two key lessons for candidates.

  • You don’t have to check off every box. If you are reading a job description you are really excited about but find that you only have 7/10 things they are looking for, go ahead and apply. It’s rare that an organization is going to find every single thing they are looking for. For instance, the organization seeking a talented development director who has extensive experience with DonorPerfect is akin to an HGTV couple’s desire for an amazing house with an infinity pool –  the latter is something they want in their absolute dream but will quickly jettison in favor of what they really need.
  • But you should check off most of the boxes! On that same point, if you only meet 3/10 of the criteria in the job description, you may not want to apply. If the organization wants 3-4 years of policy experience and you just graduated from college a few months ago and completed one communications internship, you’re a studio apartment when the organization wants a 5 bedroom house.

And here are three equally important lessons for hiring organizations.

  • A job description for the equivalent of a Beverly Hills mansion may scare candidates away. As you craft your job description, be sure to denote needs versus wants. If you are hiring for a communications officer, do they really need extensive social media experience and a Rolodex of media contacts in your city and a master’s degree in communications? If not, make sure to say “Preferred but not required” next to your dream house items. Don’t refuse to tour a 4 bedroom house that meets all of your must-haves just because it doesn’t have a pizza oven and firepit.
  • Be realistic about your budget. If you want a Beverly Hills mansion but only have the budget for a trailer in Tuscaloosa, you’ll need to adjust your expectations. For instance, maybe you don’t need a turnkey candidate with 10 years of experience in a similar position. Perhaps you can get by with someone more junior who needs training?
  • Don’t let your listing get stale. Has your job been posted for 6 months? Think of it like a house that has been listed for 6 months. What would you think? Something is wrong with that house, right? The sellers are asking too much for it, the plumbing is totally whack, someone got murdered in it, it is haunted, or all of the above. By the same token, if your job has been posted for a long time, candidates are going to think something is wrong with the role or the organization or both. Maybe you need to offer a higher salary to get someone with the experience you’re seeking or consider a virtual candidate. Maybe you need to tweak your requirements or stop looking for that perfect new build on a hill with a white picket fence. Or, maybe you just need a fresh start and should take the job posting down and relaunch the search later with adjusted expectations.

You don’t need an HGTV binge-watch session under your belt to understand the wisdom behind viewing a talent search like a house search. Consider what qualities are most important in the new hire, be willing to compromise, and if you are a candidate who meets the key criteria for the job posting, throw your hat in the ring!

Talent Tip #137: How Networking Can Make (or Break) Your Job Search

Many moons ago I was at a networking function in Washington, DC when a gentleman strolled up to me with the Worst Networking Line Ever™.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a graduate student at….”

Before I could finish the sentence he turned around and walked away. I kid you not. His exceptional deductive reasoning skills led him to believe I would be no help in his quest to take over the world, so he left me high and dry without so much as a, “I’m sorry, my mother is calling” or “I need to rescue a puppy that fell into a well.”

While his deductive reasoning skills may have been above-average, his people skills and long-term thinking abilities were abysmal. After all, today’s graduate student might be tomorrow’s nonprofit manager running an entity dedicated to helping people find jobs in the liberty movement! Ahem.

But wait — it gets better.

This very same gentleman reached out recently asking for help finding a job. You can’t make this stuff up! Needless to say, his networking efforts haven’t done him any favors when it comes to job seeking!

Networking can play a key role in your job search or, if done poorly, it can undermine your chances of getting a job.

With that in mind, here are four ways networking can make — and four ways networking can break — your chances of landing a job.

  1. MAKE: Asking someone who knows you well to put in a good word for you.  A nonprofit executive recently reached out to us to throw his support behind a candidate who had applied for a job through Talent Market. It turns out the competition for the opening was incredibly stiff (50+ candidates, many of whom were very impressive). The executive knew the candidate well enough to speak to her passion and how her strengths would align well with the opening. His feedback was thoughtful and it was clear he believed in the candidate. Guess what? She ended up landing the job!
  2. BREAK: Calling in favors from someone you just met or haven’t yet met. An associate of mine reached out a few months back and said, “John Doe told me he applied for the X role with Y organization and he asked me to put in a good word for him.” I eagerly awaited the actual “good word” but no such luck. I pressed for more details.
    Lo and behold, it turns out my associate wasn’t able to provide any substantive feedback about Mr. Doe because he had never worked with him and only met him once. In fact, my friend admitted he felt awkward even reaching out to me because he just didn’t know Mr. Doe well enough to vouch for him.
    While John Doe thought he was improving his chances by asking my associate to put in a good word, Mr. Doe ended up making himself look a bit foolish. Unless you know someone well enough, don’t ask them to vouch for you!
    Perhaps even worse is emailing someone you don’t know who works for the organization you applied for after you applied, trying to network at the 11th hour. Networking is like roofing. If you wait until it is raining/until after you have applied for a job, it is too late.
  3. MAKE: Asking someone who thinks highly of you to serve as a reference.
    Nearing the end of a search last year, one of our clients was torn between two candidates. He asked if we would check references for both candidates in an effort to break the tie. The references for the first candidate were solid. This is going to be tough, I thought. But the references for the second candidate were….glowing…like Clark Griswold’s house at Christmas. Every reference talked about how the candidate would exceed expectations and they each provided multiple examples of things the candidate had done to knock their socks off. All of them were effusive and they were very, very sincere. The client hired the Griswold candidate and he was not disappointed.
  4. BREAK: Including frenemies on your reference list. A few years ago I thought I was about to wrap up a search when the client called to tell me her top contender was out of the running. She explained that one of the candidate’s references (who also happened to be close friends with the client) had given such a tepid review of the candidate that she couldn’t bring herself to make an offer. Turns out the candidate didn’t have an accurate sense of his reputation, at least with the aforementioned reference. If you have any doubts about whether someone will actually cheerlead your candidacy, do NOT ask that person to serve as a reference.
  5. MAKE: Building a positive reputation by doing great work. If you do great work, you will build a positive reputation with your network and beyond. How? The people in your network will start talking about you and word of your awesomeness will spread organically. Have you ever introduced yourself to someone at an event and they responded, “Oh, I’ve heard good things about you.” That’s your positive reputation in action! This means your future boss might hear good things about you before you’ve even applied for a job there! Your positive reputation is the most powerful tool you’ve got when it comes to job searching.
  6. BREAK: Taking “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” literally. This saying implies you don’t need to have skills or experience; you just need a thick rolodex. Malarky! Most of the time it’s your skills and experience that will land you a job. Does having connections help? Sure! But the clients we work with care most about the value you will create for their nonprofit. We’ve found that having a connection can open a door for you, but that alone won’t secure the job.
  7. MAKE: Developing genuine relationships with people in your network. A friend of mine in the liberty space likens networking to a bank account: the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. If you cultivate authentic relationships with people and you take an interest in helping others, you’ll build a great network over time.
  8. BREAK: Treating people like rungs on a ladder. If you seek to build a network solely to advance your own career, your network will reflect this. Just as it was evident with my aforementioned networking buddy, people will see through you! Just imagine how different things might have been if he would have taken the time to talk to the lowly grad student that evening so long ago. We could have built a great friendship over time. It’s sad for him, but a great lesson for the rest of us!

Talent Tip #136: On Cake and Virtual Work

By Katelynn Barbosa

I’ll never forget the day my daughter first discovered cake. Her eyes lit up in a feeling of pure bliss, discovery, and shock. How had we been keeping this food from her?

Ever since, cake is never far from her mind. We recently hosted a large family gathering where she walked around to every person in attendance inquiring “Cake? Cake? Cake?” And now, even in the midst of a classic two-year old tantrum in which she has thrown herself on the floor in tears, all it takes is a serving of cake to turn her into the most pleasant and charming toddler the world has ever seen.

The discovery of cake changed her forever.

And so it is with the American worker and virtual work. During the pandemic-imposed year of remote work, millions of employees discovered they were more productive, got more sleep, had more free time, and were free of the shackles of a grueling commute and daily makeup for the first time. Asking many of these workers to return to the office is about as palatable as asking my daughter to eat boiled Brussels sprouts when she has a gooey triple layer chocolate cake in front of her.

I won’t go too deep into the data because in a Talent Tip we published earlier this year, we already talked about how hiring virtually will double your candidate pool. But it’s worth highlighting how seismic this change in employee mentality is proving to be. Surveys show as many as 40% of workers are thinking about quitting their jobs to get more work/life balance, that the percentage of workers leaving for new opportunities is at its highest level in more than two decades, and that even if employees do return to the office post-pandemic, they expect more autonomy and to take on additional managerial responsibilities. 

And with the pandemic hopefully nearing its end, it has changed workers’ expectations for the foreseeable future.

So how can free-market nonprofits adjust and maximize their appeal to current and potential employees? Here are a few ways:

  1. Be as open to virtual work as the role will allow.  Are you willing to let employees be 100% virtual? Great! If not, are you open to employees working virtually from the state or region in which your organization is located as long as they visit the office once per month?
  2. If you can’t go virtual, incorporate as much flexibility, autonomy, and independence as possible. Many workers liked the independence they gained by working outside of the office and do not mind returning to the office as long as it means they can retain some of that autonomy. If you can’t go virtual, would you allow employees to work from home two days a week? Or maybe let employees work off-hours to avoid rush hour? Whatever you do, make sure you don’t welcome employees back to the office by breathing down their necks. They hopefully mastered virtual work over the last year, so they don’t need to be micromanaged when they return to the cubicle!
  3. Understand that flexible schedules (i.e. work from home two days a week and work in the office three days a week) are NOT the same as virtual work. In other words, if you need an employee to make an appearance in the office at least once a week, you are essentially requiring them to live within close proximity of your office.
    Take me as an example. In my previous job before I joined Talent Market, I had to commute to the office just once a week, but it was an hour and forty minutes each way. This arrangement became really burdensome after a few years, especially after I had kids. Pretty soon, I found that my entire week revolved around that one day. I had to wake up at 4am and was completely exhausted when I got home. I began to long for a full-time remote opening with no weekly commute, and here I am!
    While flex-schedules are good, don’t mistake them for true virtual work. Only when you eliminate geographic boundaries will you see your candidate pool increase exponentially.
  4. Can’t offer more virtual work or flexibility? How about more money? Ceteris paribus, some candidates prefer to work virtually. But if you’re willing to pay a candidate 20k more than another organization for a similar job in order to have them in the office every day, ceteris paribus just flew out the window!
  5. Make your value proposition clear as day.  While it’s true that the pandemic has put the spotlight on virtual work, that’s not the only thing candidates care about  — especially in the free-market nonprofit sector. They want to work for an organization that is truly making a difference!
    Make sure your website and job description clearly articulate how your nonprofit is changing the world.  

Obviously, not every job can be virtual. You aren’t going to start seeing a bunch of job postings for a Zoom bartender (at least I hope not…imagine how dry the Martinis would be). But candidates’ desire for remote work is as strong as my daughter’s desire for red velvet cake. So to the extent free-market organizations can go in that direction, they will maximize their chances of finding good candidates!

Talent Tip #135: From Student to Professional: How I Feel Pretty Can Help You Transition To the Real World

By Katelynn Barbosa

Do you remember coming out of college thinking you were going to light the professional world on fire?

I sure do. And I remember feeling confident that everyone was going to be so impressed by my political science and history double major and my 3.7 GPA. I made sure to pack my resume full of that and my impressive college activities:

·       Vice President of the Student Alumni Association? Check!

·       Mediocre rower for one year before I quit because I didn’t want to get up at 4AM every morning? Check!

·       Semi-committed member of the pre-law society who went to meetings when I felt like it and skipped when I wanted to watch the latest episode of House (I went to college in the mid-aughts, ok)? Check!

My plan worked because I heard from numerous hiring managers. But you can imagine the shock and confusion I experienced at the very bizarre questions I was getting in interviews:

What experience do you have that will make you successful in this role? (Why would they even ask that? Can’t they see that I studied abroad in Prague?)

This position requires a lot of writing. What experience do you have writing in a professional environment? (I wrote my senior thesis over the course of six months after sleeping in until ten every day in between The Office episodes. Next question.)

Have you ever worked in an office and showed up consistently from 9-5? (What is with these people? It’s almost like they didn’t notice that I earned not one but TWO humanities degrees.)

And then it hit me like an 8am Mesopotamian History exam: I might have been a successful student, but that didn’t mean I was ready for the real world.

The professional world is dramatically different from student life! There is a reason I didn’t start drinking coffee until I had to go to the office every day. Showing up to a job for eight hours, consistently meeting deadlines, keeping your word, and maintaining your professional reputation are all things for which college doesn’t prepare you!

When you enter the workforce, it is vital that you make the mental transition from seeing yourself as a student to seeing yourself as a professional. 

Did you ever see the Amy Schumer movie I Feel Pretty? In that film, she hits her head and then afterwards, whenever she looks in the mirror, she sees a gorgeous model. This new perspective completely shifts the way she behaves and her life changes overnight. She lands her dream job, gets a boyfriend, and has more confidence and poise in everything she does.

Metaphorically speaking, I wish every graduating student would hit their head and instead of seeing themselves as students, they would see themselves as professionals.

Once you hit your head, so to speak, and make this critical mental transition, everything else will naturally fall into place.

·       You will start emphasizing how your experience translates to the professional world. Specifically, you will highlight relevant internships, jobs, and other accomplishments that demonstrate your ability to work hard and get results. As time goes on, you’ll start replacing the college activities on your resume with your real-world experience.

·       You will start reading application instructions closely. One of the most common reasons recent graduates get declined for openings is they fail to follow basic instructions. Unlike your favorite college prof who will let it slide if you write a term paper about Impressionism instead of Post-Impressionism, the hiring manager will be quite happy to relegate you to the digital trash heap if you don’t follow directions.

·       You will start taking deadlines seriously. Unfortunately, professors have a habit of relenting easily when students ask for extensions and failing to follow through on any real world consequences. But the professional world is full of real world consequences! If you don’t meet deadlines in the work place, you will very likely lose your job.

·       You will keep your word and understand that your professional reputation follows you around. In college you said you were going to attend a Young Beer Lovers’ meeting and then bailed at the last second with no consequences. Not so in the real world! If you accept a job offer and then back out of it, that will have a negative impact on your reputation and cause employers to be wary of you.

·       You will dress like a professional instead of a student. If you wore that cute dress to a bar that had sticky floors, I bet it’s not appropriate for a job. And if you wore that shirt whilst doing a keg stand at a frat party, I am thinking it’s not meant for the workplace. When you stop shopping at Forever 21 (because, you know, you aren’t 21 anymore) you’ll know you’ve crossed the Rubicon to adulthood. Welcome. It’s not as bad as you think.

If you are entering the workforce (or even if have been in the workforce for a while!) and find that you are struggling to get where you want to be, skip the painful part where you hit your head and focus on making the mental transition from a student to a professional. (And don’t worry, you can still wear that keg stand shirt on the weekends.)

Talent Tip #134: 10 Tips for Pivoting into a Career That Advances Liberty

Nothing makes me happier than hearing from someone who wants to move into a career that advances the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, and limited government.

I made that transition myself many moons ago and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made (along with rescuing a dog and not going to law school…no offense to cat lovers and lawyers).

But making the transition wasn’t easy for me because of a few misconceptions that I had.

With that in mind, here are the 10 things I wish I knew back then, as it would have made the transition a lot easier.

  1. The free-market nonprofit sector is not a talent wasteland. There is a misconception that the nonprofit sector is desperate for talent, and that when we find someone with strong private sector experience, we trip over ourselves to hire the person. This isn’t quite how it works. The free-market universe is filled with amazingly talented and smart people. Now, to be sure, we’re always looking for more people to join the fun! But most of the searches we work on have stiff competition; so, put your game face on and be ready to compete!
  2. You may need to adjust your salary expectations. I took a pay cut to come into the free-market universe because I valued fulfillment and advancing change more than I valued the additional income. Had I not been flexible on the salary front, I’d probably still be searching for a liberty-oriented job!
    Especially if you’re well into a lucrative career in, say, big law, corporate lobbying, or even the federal government, chances are slim and none that you’ll find a job in the free-market nonprofit world at your current salary (and Slim just left town). (Speaking of, do not go into a nonprofit interview process and reference your GS payscale! “Um, yeah, I’m a GS-15” will likely be greeted with confusion, eyerolls, or both!)On the bright side, salaries aren’t stagnant. You might have to take a financial step back when you make the transition, but you can make up for lost ground over time. In fact, you can make a fine living in the free-market space! White-shoe firm money? Nope. But you won’t have to work 120 hours a week, bill your time in six-minute increments, and I suspect you’ll actually like your job.
  3. A lateral move may not be possible. Unless your skills translate perfectly for a role in the free-market nonprofit space, you may need to take a less senior role in which you can learn the ropes and gain an expertise relevant to the nonprofit space. If you are unwilling to do this, you may find making the transition very challenging.
  4. Apply for jobs for which your skills and experience are a strong match. Changing sectors is hard enough, but trying to change sectors and land a completely different type of job is REALLY tough. For instance, if your background is in sales, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to land a policy analyst position in the liberty movement. But an entry level fundraising or marketing role might be more accessible. If your background is in private sector project management, it’s going to be an uphill battle to secure a communications role with a free-market nonprofit. However, an operations job might be within reach. Aim for jobs that require the skillset you already have; not the skillset you hope to one day develop. (Pro tip: READ the job description. If your skills and experience don’t line up at all, it’s best to keep looking!)
  5. It may not happen overnight. Don’t give up. Shortly after Talent Market launched in 2009, I got connected to a very talented businessman who wanted to pivot into the free-market movement. We explored multiple opportunities together, and I’m happy to say Talent Market eventually helped place him in a great role…seven years later. Yep. Seven years. I wish it hadn’t taken that long, but finding the right opportunity wasn’t easy for someone with his unique background — just like it wasn’t easy for me, and it may not be for you. Now, to be clear, I don’t necessarily think it will take you seven years, but you probably won’t land the first liberty-advancing job for which you apply. Be patient and keep trying!
  6. Think twice before getting that graduate degree. If you’re planning to get a graduate degree in order to help you transition into the liberty movement, slow your roll. I did that and ended up with a diploma that catches dust and an education I don’t use. Moreover, I scared potential employers who didn’t want to pay a premium for an advanced degree that wasn’t going to be useful for the job they had open. Make sure an advanced degree is necessary before going that route. When in doubt, opt for experience over education.
  7. Show us you are passionate about liberty. Those of us in the liberty movement are passionate about what we do, and we want to hire people who share that passion. So, a job applicant who has zero demonstrated interest in advancing liberty may not get traction with the hiring manager — especially if the candidate is competing with other candidates who have proven they care about the cause.
    If you haven’t previously worked in the liberty movement, make sure your application package includes everything you have done that speaks to your interest in liberty. Are you a member of America’s Future or Federalist Society? Did you attend an Institute for Humane Studies seminar? Were you active with Young America’s Foundation or Students for Liberty in college? Are you active with other liberty-oriented organizations or causes? Did you intern in the liberty movement a decade ago? Put it on your resume! Never been formally active in the liberty world but grew up reading Hayek and protesting teachers unions? Tell us in your cover letter! Speaking of cover letters…
  8. Tell us you are passionate about liberty. In addition to a resume that illustrates your interest in liberty, be sure your cover letter makes a compelling case for your interest in making a move into the free-market nonprofit sector (and, of course, the job for which you are applying).
    I cannot tell you how many candidates we see who attempt to make the transition into the liberty movement using generic cover letters that could easily be used for a customer service associate opening at TJ Maxx. Not once in my career have I seen a candidate with a generic cover letter land a job in the liberty movement.
    If you’re having trouble “breaking in”, go back and review the cover letters you have written. Were they compelling? Did they clearly articulate why you want to be a part of advancing each organization’s mission? Or were you just phoning it in with “Get the max for the minimum” cover letters? If you really care about making the leap, put your heart and soul into the cover letter.
  9. The longer you wait to make the transition, the more challenging it will be. If you spend a few years in another career and then pivot toward the free-market movement, you can probably make that change happen. But if you spend 20 or 30 years in another career, the transition could be very difficult.Once you have been working for 20-30 years,  not only will you have developed a skill set that may not align with the nonprofit space, you’ll also likely be trapped in the golden handcuffs and command a higher salary than nonprofits are unable to afford. Regardless of timing, you can still make the transition; you just might have to be more flexible and open-minded about salary, geography, level of role, etc.
  10. Own your pivot. You are attempting to transition to a new sector, one that is likely very different from your previous work. Neglecting to mention this in your application might underscore to the hiring manager that you aren’t really passionate about making the change or that you don’t understand how different this world might be. So, OWN IT! Acknowledge in your cover letter that you want to make a big transition and explain why (see #7 and #8). Help the hiring manager understand how your skills and experience translate to the job for which you are applying; do not assume that they know the acronyms and jargon used in your previous lines of work.  Finally, acknowledge that you have a lot to learn and tell them how excited you are to do so.

Talent Tip #133 1/2: 10 Reasons Your Cover Letter is Terrible (Part 2)

(This month’s newsletter article is the second of a two-part series written by Katelynn Barbosa, who is now on maternity leave.)

As you may recall, last month I provided the first five of ten super honest tips about a vital component of every job application – the cover letter. This month I’m giving you the second five.

And if my advice seems anything but delicate, it’s because I am 37 weeks pregnant and not in the mood to mince words!

  1. It’s filled with errors. Your cover letter needs to be a perfect document with no errors. Why? For most positions, it is the only writing sample the organization has for you and is a testament to your attention-to-detail, focus, and how much you care. Yet I constantly see cover letters loaded with errors. They vary from relatively harmless such as the errant word, a missing letter, or a single misspelling to the egregious: an application package with track changes on, displaying 15 different things someone thought the applicant should change about their resume and cover letter, the wrong organization referenced multiple times, multiple run-on sentences, and so many egregiously incorrect uses of the English language that I suspect the writer wrote it whilst drunk.Your cover letter should always be perfect no matter what, but it’s especially vital when you are applying for a position that requires attention-to-detail or God help you, a literal Editor role. What is an error-laden cover letter supposed to tell me about your ability to edit, the very thing you are applying to get paid to do? What is a cover letter riddled with grammatical sins supposed to make me think if you’re applying to be an attorney, a job that demands so much attention-to-detail that they have a whole book devoted to minutiae like whether to italicize a comma?  (True story. It’s called The Bluebook. I highly recommend it if you have insomnia or are trapped on a deserted island with a Supreme Court Justice.)
  2. You miss the opportunity to answer obvious questions your resume screams. Do you have large gaps in your resume? Are you looking to make the switch from a policy career to a development career? Are you missing critical experience that the job description is asking for? Your cover letter is your one and only chance to address these issues head on, so do it. Tell me what those gaps were about, tell me why you want to leave policy for development, tell me why I shouldn’t freak out that you’re missing experience the job description states as a requirement. If you don’t, I am left to assume the worst.
  3. You come across like an overconfident windbag. If your qualifications make you a really great fit for the opening, I’ll be able to tell. You don’t need to say “I am indisputably the best candidate for this job,” “no one will be able to match my skills and expertise,” or “my MBA from Ivy U makes me a prestigious candidate.” All that does is convince me it’s a good day to get started on that construction project in my house because I just found a tool.
  4. You failed to edit. Did I accidentally pick up my copy of Anna Karenina when I meant to get started with my work day? Nope! You subjected me to two rambling pages at a 10 point font and I hadn’t had my morning coffee so I mistook it for Russian literature.Here’s an easy rule for you: don’t submit a cover letter, resume, or anything else with a font size smaller than 12 point font. It’s like when my husband comes up to me apropos of nothing and starts massaging my neck –  I know what you are trying to do. I mean, this is how I found myself in this condition. If you make your font so small that you feel morally obligated to ship me a microscope, it’s just a sign you need to edit and cut content. Never mess with formatting to fit your cover letter on one page.On that note, you should try and make your cover letter as close to one or two pages as possible. It’s OK if it spills on to a second page because you’re going into detail about how your background meets the job description. But when a cover letter spills on to page numero tres, it is almost always because you didn’t take the time to carefully edit.
  5.  It’s shorter than that Mother’s Day card you wrote last year. If your cover letter is two short paragraphs, there is zero chance you are covering everything you need to. Getting your cover letter down to an appropriate length should take a lot of time and editing prowess because you should be working to cover why you are interested in the specific opening you’re applying for, why you are interested in the specific organization, and showing why your background matches up well with the position. You simply cannot do that in two paragraphs.

The third trimester stinks but not as much as reading 10 point font general cover letters that don’t follow basic instructions. If you avoid these ten pitfalls, your cover letters will become instantly better. I promise.

-Katelynn

About Us

Claire Kittle Dixon
Executive Director

Claire runs the day-to-day operations of Talent Market, manages searches for clients, and oversees the organization’s fundraising communications, technology, administration, and cat-herding efforts…
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Katy Gambella
Director of Outreach

Katy oversees Talent Market’s outreach to young professionals and manages the outreach team. She also manages searches and executes outreach directly herself…
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Stephanie Keaveney
Senior Manager of Outreach
Stephanie splits her time between managing talent searches for free-market nonprofits, maintaing Talent Market’s social media presence, and engaging in outreach to young professionals interested in liberty-oriented careers…
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Bailey Drouant
Project Manager
Bailey assists free-market nonprofits with their hiring needs by helping them manage the search process from start to finish…
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Savannah Rupp
Project Manager
Savannah channels her expertise to manage searches for free-market nonprofits, ensuring they find the perfect match to drive their missions forward. She also supports Talent Market’s…
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Wait, You’re a Nonprofit?

Talent Market is a nonprofit. We’ll wait here while that sinks in. We know it’s a crazy concept, but it’s been working like a charm since 2009.

Talent Market’s mission is to promote liberty by providing talent for critical roles within the free-market nonprofit sector.

We provide consulting and recruiting services at no cost to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that clearly and directly focus on advancing the principles of economic freedom, free enterprise, free trade, free speech, property rights, rule of law, and limited regulation. (We do not work with political organizations, organizations with mission statements that do not clearly advance free-market principles, organizations that focus on social issues, or organizations that have a focus outside of the United States. We are not a job board. ) 

Talent Market believes that the road to prosperity is paved with freedom and that the success of our movement hinges on the talent that will take us there.

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