Disclaimer: No employees were harmed in the making of this piece. We think.
1
You have to adapt to the sector lingo very quickly, or else…
2
Your nonprofit card stands to be revoked if you have never attended a conference at India Habitat Centre. Needless to say, the smallest details of the Stein Auditorium are now permanently etched into our memory.
3
Networking at conferences will alter your brain chemistry in unique ways. Sometimes when my mother comes to visit I greet her with “Hi, can I have your business card?”
4
Sneaking up behind experts that just got off the stage becomes part of your key responsibilities.
5
But be warned, said expert may use some terms you may have never heard of. (Pro tip: Just say ‘ecosystem development’ or ‘just transition’ anytime there’s an awkward silence.)
6
At least there’s free food at conferences. That’s such a great perk. Truly. No complaints. *cue food poisoning* *cries in no-health-insurance*.
7
We don’t know what FCRA is but our boss says we’ll never get one. Much like a return on a public policy master’s degree.
8
It can be slightly complicated to explain what we do for a living *cough*.
9
But despite everything, the people are genuinely nice, passionate about the impact of their organisation, and love to scale their work (did we use ‘scale’ correctly?)
