Discover the Passion in your #NPTech Career (Opening Post)

As of late my blog has been derailed with posts about career and jobs in nonprofit technology. But it has seemed to be interesting to a few people. So I am going to continue on the topic for a bit. This one will focus on Networking, but not between electronic devices. rather between people.

I have been in conversation with a bunch of different nonprofit tech staff, some early in their career and others much more experienced. One of the more interesting topics has been how we network. We have so many new opportunities to network, but are we using them for our careers?

Follow These 6 Steps to Network Like a Pro is a great post with some terrific advice and good links.

1. Be ready with your elevator pitch
2. Complete your profiles on every platform you have an account
3. Introduce yourself to people who you’d like to connect with
4. Follow up with people who you meet
5. Connect through social media channels
6. It doesn’t stop at hello, continue to build the relationship

If I was to add one thing though, it would be about personal branding.  Just like marketing for your organization, you need to have a brand. And there are tons on good articles and sets of information about personal Branding, here are a couple as examples:

• HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn
• Personal Branding for Introverts
• Five Personal Branding Tips for Solopreneurs
• Or if you don't what personal branding is, Wikipedia even has some info: Personal Branding

But what I see missing in many of these and I think is most important is finding your passion and investing in it.  Over the next few posts I will explore some of what I have tried.

• Find your passion - here is where it is different in nonprofits, you have to pick a career passion and a cause passion.
• Invest in your passion - find time outside of work to learn about and participate in your passion
• Share your passion - there are so many easy ways to share, so just do it
• Mix personal and professional - be yourself

So my blog will stray a bit for a few more weeks. But I hope it proves useful and interesting to someone out there.