The Five Lenses framework

Read the full description of the Lenses framework in Chapter Three of the Idealist Guides to Nonprofit Careers for First-Time Job Seekers and for Sector Switchers.

The Five Lens Framework approach, developed as the Four Lenses Framework by the Office of Career Services at NYU's Robert. F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, aims to help you think more clearly about your career prospects by narrowing down what exactly you mean when you say "I want to work in education," or "I want to work for the environment."

The lenses refer to the primary frame you look through when viewing your own career path:

• Organization
• Role
• System
• Issue
• Population

If you come to your public service career through the issue lens, for example, you're likely to be committed to a cause you care about — anything from women's health to urban education to organic farming.

You can start there and explore:

• What organizations are effecting change on this issue?
• What role can I best play in furthering this cause?
• What system do I see myself working within — a small, informal, grassroots organization in start-up mode? A large, national nonprofit with a strict hierarchy and a significant budget? A university? A hospital? A public school district?
• Likewise, whom or what do I want to help? Kids? Refugees? Single moms? College students? Penguins? Rivers?

Read more about the lenses in Chapter Three of the Idealist Guides to Nonprofit Careers for First-Time Job Seekers and for Sector Switchers.

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