Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing: “We can’t find staff. Where are all the good people, the qualified people, the people who can write, think creatively, analyze?”
It’s the same all over the country – at least in the voluntary sector. The corporate sector, of course, has it a bit easier. With fat paychecks to offer and a wide range of perks (travel abroad, plush offices, air-conditioning, fitness clubs) good companies have no trouble attracting good people.
But nothing comes for free.
A friend’s son just took a new job. Big Corporate Office. Fancy Address. His salary is staggering (more than my husband’s and mine combined and he is half my age) and he is still young enough to be dazzled by the benefits coming his way: medical insurance, all his travel arranged by the company – business class – a car which picks him up each morning and free use of the spa-like company fitness centre.
The only problem? He simply has no time to visit the spa and even less to spend his fat pay check.
The corporate world has no qualms about the way it treats its slaves. My friend’s son gets home at nine each night and his Business Class travel is a vital necessity so he can catch up on the sleep his punishing schedule robs him of. He has recently married and the strain is beginning to tell. His young wife is already wondering if this is the marriage she dreamed of (when she has time to wonder, of course; her own corporate job is just as frenetic and neither of them can even imagine how they could ever fit children into it).
And what’s it all for? Some company will sell more computers because he gave his life up in its service. Another will convince more people to buy things because she poured her talents into advertising.
Wow. Now that’s worth telling your grandchildren about.
Well. If you want your grandchildren to be proud of you, if you want them to look at you with respect and to understand that you made this world a better place for them to grow up in, you might want to re-think.
Working in a voluntary organization is more than just a job. Here at the Foundation, our salaries are pretty OK. You can live a decent life on what we pay and – because this is Dehradun – you will be able to afford a sweet little house with a garden and you will be able to send your children to a good school. You won’t have two cars and it’s unlikely you will take shopping vacations in Singapore or Dubai, but you will be able to put great food on the table and you’ll have amazing, mind-opening friends. And most important? You will be a part of something you can feel proud of. Something you can tell your grandchildren about without having to make up excuses or feel ashamed.
There is no way we can ever compete with the corporate sector for salaries, benefits or lifestyle. Our appeal is in another galaxy.
We are talking about the glow on a mother’s face when her little girl speaks for the first time.. We mean the light in a child’s eyes when he realizes how much his teacher loves him. We’re talking about the joy in our own hearts at the end of a long day spent doing work we can be proud of, work we can tell our children – and their children – about because we know just how vital it really is.
We are currently searching for a Senior Fundraising Executive. We will pay well. We are flexible about where you live (it doesn’t have to be Dehradun).
And we GUARANTEE you a life of purpose and satisfaction. We promise that you will have fun every day, that you will feel fulfilled and important, that your creativity and drive will go in the service of something larger than any of us and that you will end each day convinced that you have made the world a better place to live in.
Superb spoken and written English is essential. You need to be confident, articulate, self-driven, capable of working to deadlines, willing to travel and to learn all there is to know about the Latika Roy Foundation. Corporate contacts would be useful.
We want people with spark and energy and a boundless desire to serve, to be part of something bigger than themselves. If this isn’t for you, maybe you know someone who fits the bill. Pass it on. Write to us at: jo@latikaroy.org
