Disclaimer: No employees were harmed in the making of this piece. We think.
You have to adapt to the sector lingo very quickly, or else…
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.
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?”
Sneaking up behind experts that just got off the stage becomes part of your key responsibilities.
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.)
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*.
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.
It can be slightly complicated to explain what we do for a living *cough*.
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?)
