Job Hunting in CSR, Part II: Connecting Corporate Responsibility with Career Objectives - A blog by Aman Singh

This is the second excerpt from a series of interviews I conducted with four MBA candidates who graduated—or expect to soon—with a focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR). [Read the first part on Vault's CSR blog: In Good Company] In this portion, the graduates discuss their myriad backgrounds, and how they came to focus on CSR as a career choice.

None of the graduates started business school with CSR in mind: Ashley Jablow's* background is in nonprofit fund raising; Geetanjali Singh worked in technical training and communication; Whit Tice specialized in project management and quality testing; Larry Furman spent almost three decades in IT and database administration.

For each of the four, the motivation for attending business school stemmed from a recognition that they needed to expand their skill sets. But what prioritized their focus toward CSR was the realization that its core principles were the necessary bridge between civic and corporate good. As Jablow put it, "My initial thoughts were in the direction of corporate philanthropy. It was really through all the core classes and business training I realized that CSR is an incredible opportunity for there to be alignment between business, community and environmental goals—that there really are opportunities to create those win-wins, where a business can be about making money and be a good corporate citizen."

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