‘Recruitment’ Articles at WOW Fellowship Blog

I have always thought that internships were strictly about building my resume. Without work experience on this one sheet of paper, how would I be able to find work after graduation? After interning this summer with Avodah, however, I now realize that internships mean so much more than just the LinkedIn “I’m thrilled to announce…” post. The real meaning gets lost in all the internship hoopla.

During my junior year at Brandeis, I took a class all about internships and making a lasting impression on your organization. The instructor, Jon Schlesinger (who is also the Interim Director of Hiatt) shared something with the class that has stayed in my mind ever since. He said to us, “You should always learn more than you do at your internship.”

That comment completely shifted my perspective on internships. There I was, thinking that internships were just about how to get ahead in college and secure a full-time job for after senior year. I saw how difficult it actually was to find an internship, and because of the competitive nature of summer internships, I always assumed that when I finally got one, the only thing that I would get out of it was a ticket to the next level. I could not even see an internship as a learning experience because I was so blinded by the fear of not getting one at all.

That’s a big issue, especially when talking about social justice and building equality for all students as they try to gain work experience.

However, once I started my internship at Avodah, I began to see how my course instructor’s comment made a lot of sense. I was hired as a recruitment intern at Avodah, but my supervisor (Avodah’s Director of Recruitment), Emily, did not expect me to be a professional recruiter on my first day. Rather, she recognized an internship for what it should be: a give and take between the intern and the organization. Throughout my interview with her on my first day—and honestly, throughout my entire internship—she asked me what I wanted to gain out of my experience at Avodah, and based on my answers, she crafted my work schedule to benefit my growth. I was not simply another set of hands to do the work that no one else “more important” had time for. I was not used exclusively for their benefit. They wanted me to learn and become confident in my skills, which transferred over to more enthusiasm and excitement each day at work.

When I look back on these past eight weeks, I realize how lucky I was to be a part of an organization that valued me as an equal employee. I told Emily that I wanted to learn the technical side of recruiting, specifically the interface of Salesforce, so she put me on a project that directly challenged me with that software. I also realized that I have a knack for writing persuasive email campaigns for potential program applicants (after a few trial and error drafts), which I can now speak on in future job interviews. I was also able to bond with my colleagues about our favorite novels, go-to hype music, and vacation plans.

Most importantly, I learned about the possibilities for my future career. Interning gave me an inside look at what it would be like to actually have a full-time job. That prospect is scary before you actually experience it! I learned what a typical day as a recruiter looks like, but also what a typical day looks like as an employee experience specialist, or as a CEO of a nonprofit, or as an organization’s accountant. Being in a work environment this summer allowed me to stop imagining my post-graduation career as a deep dark hole, and instead helped me see my tangible potential in the working world.

That’s the goal of an internship.

I wish I had known that my internship experience was only for me, not for anyone who might find my resume on their desk or my LinkedIn connections. My internship was about figuring it all out, not about having it all together before I even started. Why did I feel like I had to have learned it all before I began?

I am very proud of the work I did and the impact I had at Avodah. The culture of this nonprofit organization filled me with joy and lasting meaning. Whether or not I end up recruiting in my future, working at a nonprofit, or drafting email campaigns, I know that my opportunity to learn and grow takes precedent over the fear of failure or uncertainty in the world of work.

As a Sociology and Anthropology double major, as well as a double minor in Creativity, the Arts, & Social Transformation (CAST) and Social Justice & Social Policy (SJSP) at Brandeis, I am constantly examining the power of people and social networks in my classes. My classmates, professors and I discuss the systems and patterns of society that make up human lived experience, and how different experiences and histories of oppression, connection, and privilege create unequal opportunities for communities around the world.

In these discussions, we often speak about social justice, and how different social movements, both grassroots and political, have reshaped human history and have combated against violence. When engaging in social justice work, and especially in social movements, belief in the movement and passion for equality drive people to seek action. Oftentimes, it is also one’s social network and connections with people who are already involved in a movement that propels them to fight for social change.

In the Brandeis class “Protest, Politics, and Change: Social Movements,” which I took during the spring of my junior year, we read from a book that discussed this very topic. Our relationships with our personal networks truly shape how we act and behave, and it is often a person that initially guides us towards social change, rather than an overwhelming belief and passion for a movement.

This is a challenging thing to recognize since we want to believe that our agency and lived experience propels us to seek social justice, which is true, but the networks around us have a strong influence on our decisions as well. This may come in the form of a friend taking you to your first protest, going with a group of your friends to join a Waltham Group at Brandeis, or in my case, seeing my cousin work at the sexual violence prevention center at Brandeis—the Prevention, Advocacy & Resource Center or PARC—and wanting to join that team of people. It was that team of people that got me through the door at PARC, but it is my developed passion for sexual violence prevention that has kept me in the room, working towards anti-violence practices on college campuses.

You may be wondering: what do social networks and social justice have to do with being a recruitment intern at Avodah?

In my short time working at Avodah and seeing the recruitment process, one aspect of the process that really sticks out to me is the need for relationship building, networking, and the utilization of current networks. Avodah’s recruitment strategy utilizes the technique of “word-of-mouth” advertising. The majority of people who participate in the Service Corps program, as well as people who are connected to Avodah, have heard about Avodah from someone they know, or have known someone who did the Service Corps program. Yes, I also message people on LinkedIn and Handshake and send out emails to connectors around the Jewish community, but the recruitment team asks staff to really dive into their own personal networks and refer people to our program.

Visit https://avodah.net/stories/ to read the stories of past Corps Members, and how Avodah shifted their social justice trajectory.

Why is this technique so much more effective than other forms of recruitment? Well, it is exactly about what I shared earlier: social networks and relationships with the people around us guide our decisions and passion for social movements. People may not be as inclined to join the Service Corps if they do not know about someone else’s experience participating in the program. People may be way more excited to join Avodah if they know someone they trust and admire who has raved about the experience of working with an Avodah placement and living communally with members their age. Sometimes we just need someone to get us in the door, and recruitment at Avodah recognizes that.

Social justice work can be exhausting and time-consuming, but also extremely rewarding. And when you have a community and support around you, the work feels much less daunting and more enjoyable with the right social network. Avodah offers young people the opportunity to expand their networks with like-minded people, encourage the continuation of social justice work, and influence more and more social justice leaders.