How to find a job in Impact - In Israel

About once a week I get to talk to Impact enthusiasts who are seeking to take an active part in the Israeli Impact ecosystem (much like myself several years ago). Israel is a relatively nascent ecosystem and so jobs that have the word “Impact” in them are rare, growing, but still rare.  

To methodically approach this challenge, I suggest using some specific key questions from two great methodologies: Ikigai and the Business Model Canvas, adapted to a Business Model Me.
From the Ikigai – ask yourself three questions: What do you enjoy? What are you good at? What can you do for others (and get paid to do it)? Translate that into the two categories of the BMC - Who is your specific target market? What is your unique value proposition and unfair advantage?

To do this I suggest using some sub-questions:
1. When examining supply-support and demand for impact capital:

• Where do you see yourself? A fund – an ecosystem building organization– a startup.
  
• What experience do you bring to the table? Are you strong in finance? A social innovation expert? A lawyer?

2. What is your “Impact” niche?

• What asset class are you interested in? Real estate/ Venture Capital/Business/ Impact bonds or a mix of all.
• What SDG are you more passionate about? Or are there specific target markets you want to be helping in your work? Is it a combination of several SDGs or are you SDG and target market agnostic?
• Are there specific innovations that you are most excited about? Particular Impact oriented verticals (e.g. AgriFood tech) or new technologies that might be socially beneficial (e.g. AI). 

Once you have answered these questions your next steps are:

1. Learn about the field both globally and locally - I personally love the GIIN report and would humbly recommend the Double Impact podcast and the Edmond de Rothschild (IL) yearly report
2. Spread the word – draft an email explaining what you want to do, for whom and how and send it to your network. Be as specific as possible and give examples of job titles and organizations that might be relevant

When you are done with phase one – it’s time to think about the three tracks to add Impact to your next job title:

1. The perfect match – your skills and experience match a new position that just opened on the market
2. Moving down to move up – you might be highly qualified but will have to settle on seniority (and salary) when migrating from non-Impact to Impact
3. Creating an Impact role within your organization

For option 1 and 2 your recommended next steps should be:  

1. Meet everyone you can in the ecosystem and join the conversation  - the beauty of a small ecosystem is that everyone is super friendly and we are all eager to see more good people join our ranks
2. Map all of the organizations (you can use the Edmond de Rothschild (IL) yearly report) and follow open positions
3. Join relevant communities such as Impact Nation

Option 3 is a bit trickier, but can be faster and somewhat easier. With many organizations starting to take into consideration strategic CSR, meaningful ESG and contribution to the SDGs. The next recommended steps should be:

1. Map your current company’s interests using these questions:

• Can Impact be a business growth strategy this year?
• Would ESG drive new capital into your company?
  
• Can the company drive serious social change through CSR?
  

     2. Ask yourself: how can I become the “Impact person” within my company?

• Do you need to become more proficient in a specific sphere combining your company’s needs with their impact potential (new models, case studies etc.)?
• Which stakeholders do you need to engage to carve out a part of your work towards Impact?   

Good luck!
 
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash