How to land your next mission-driven role, from someone who's done it

Alder Bartlett was among the thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development employees laid off last year. Her 16-year career with the agency had taken her to Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Bolivia, Nepal, and finally to Ecuador, where she was working as a senior program director. While many in the sector expected change with the arrival of the Trump administration, “most people were really, really shocked at the extent of destruction,” she said. Following news of the layoffs, international staff didn’t know if they would be leaving the country in a day or in six months, she explained, and there was also very little clarity for national staff. The experience was difficult on a personal level and as someone in a leadership role — while trying to support her team, Bartlett, who is the sole earner for her family, realized she had to pivot quickly. In February, she was already applying for jobs, and by July, she was working remotely in her new role as chief operating officer with Oregon Housing & Community Services, or OHCS, before relocating to Oregon a couple of months later. In part due to time constraints, Bartlett decided at the start of her job search that she would apply selectively and only to positions that were a good fit. Finding a mission-driven role was important, and she quickly realized this meant preparing her résumé for an audience outside of the international development sector. “It’s a lot to pivot. It's hard to begin again,” said Bartlett. “There’s a big part of me that is so appreciative to have landed in a mission-driven organization, doing work I really believe in [and] supporting an organization that I can really stand behind.” Drawing on her own job search experience and insights as an executive leadership coach, Bartlett shares advice for professionals affected by layoffs on how to find their next mission-driven role and how to stand out to hiring managers. Reconsider what mission-driven work looks like Be creative and open-minded about what mission-driven can look like, Bartlett said, and utilize conversations, networking, and informational interviews to learn about new sectors or organizations. “You can find it in more places than you think … that mission-driven piece is in a lot of organizations, and it might surprise you.” A former USAID colleague, for example, now works for a local train and bus transit company in a role that requires them to think about accessibility and how people without a car can get to work. While it’s not global development, there’s a thread of continuity, said Bartlett, as they’re still working to make the world more livable and supporting people who may have fewer resources. Identify relevant roles in other sectors Something Bartlett struggled with at the start of her own job search was identifying job titles outside of the agency and sector that were relevant to her experience. Consider the skills you have and where those might align with job titles in other sectors, she suggested. Her previous roles as deputy mission director, which essentially involved overseeing internal operations and strategy, equated to a chief operating officer role in other contexts, she explained. “[Many] people don’t understand what a chief of party is, or any number of other job titles that we held within the agency — it’s okay to make that clearer and make the dotted line much more obvious for potential employers.” However, she cautioned against inventing professional skills just to fit a role. “There’s a balance between being able to have a title that really translates to an external audience and being true to what your role was in the organization.” Translate global development jargon Bartlett went through several rounds of interviews to land her current role. In preparation, she did mock interviews with a handful of people who were not from international development. It was a “sobering experience” as, to her surprise, there were terms that were not familiar to those outside of the sector. She then focused on the skills, particularly soft skills, she could bring to the role, such as fostering collaboration and synthesizing ideas in different ways. In international development, there is also often a focus on impact numbers, she noted. Where it makes sense and where these numbers are clear, she suggested it is acceptable to include a few of these examples, but otherwise, she advised job seekers to focus on skills or tasks that are transferable, such as the budget you managed or how many people you supervised. Given the role was based in Oregon, Bartlett also spent time researching the issues concerning people living in the state, such as affordable housing and community services, and familiarized herself with the work being done in these areas and the language used to describe that work. When applying for domestic or local jobs, Bartlett believes that the countries you’ve lived in, or the communities you’ve worked with is not matter most. “I really had to let go of that and just [focus on] what did I do.” Use your cover letter to stand out from the crowd In the months since Bartlett joined OHCS, her team has hired for several positions. Since recruiters prescreen applications and whittle down the candidates who meet the minimum qualifications, Bartlett only scans these documents. “I don’t spend a lot of time on résumés. I spend a lot of time on cover letters,” she said. This is “where someone has the opportunity to really tell me who they are and what they bring, how their skill set is matching to what we're looking for, but also who they are as a person.” The first paragraph is the most important — it needs to stand out and make the hiring manager want to keep reading. “In a saturated job market, résumés are going to look very similar. … Everyone’s going to have very similar levels of experience. It’s very hard to differentiate … so I feel like the cover letter is that opportunity,” she said. Be comfortable in ‘learning mode’ Joining a new organization and no longer having an international focus to her work has been a big transition for Bartlett. But, even as a senior leader, it’s okay to be in a learning mode, she said. It can be hard sometimes to not have the same understanding or context as colleagues who are experts in the area, she said. However, she recognizes that she brings a unique perspective. “As a leader, it’s really important to always remember that you’re helping elevate the expertise and the experience of your team members,” Bartlett said. “I have an incredible team of very knowledgeable staff; I don’t need to have all the answers. I really need to be willing to listen.”