[Foundation-l] Wikimedia "Storyteller" job opening

[Michael Snow]

On 3/1/2011 4:31 PM, SlimVirgin wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 18:06, Sue Gardner<sgardner at wikimedia.org>  wrote:
>> On 1 March 2011 15:54, SlimVirgin<slimvirgin at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> Michael, I wouldn't underestimate the "I'm being exploited" feeling for
>>> people either leaving, or failing to join up. In Wikipedia's early years, we
>>> were exploiting ourselves, as it were. But the more of a corporate structure
>>> the Foundation assumes, the greater the sense that we're working for
>>> something in which we have no input. There will be a tipping point that
>>> differs for each individual, and they may not even express it in those
>>> terms.
>> Ah, Sarah, I don't think that's particularly fair. Bear in mind we've
>> just published a strategic plan that 1,000+ Wikimedians helped create.
>> I'm not denying that some Wikimedians may feel alienated from the
>> Wikimedia Foundation: I'm sure it is true for some. But "something in
>> which we have no input" is, IMO, not a fair characterization.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Sue
> I accept that, Sue, but it's a matter of perception. I can see a lot of
> effort on the Foundation's part to reach out to new communities, but a
> similar "in-reach" program to keep current editors feeling invested would
> help a lot.
I appreciate that, and would renew my suggestion to have some kind of 
communications staff dedicated to internal relations, as distinct from 
external.
> Every time one of these new jobs is announced it does add to the feeling
> (rightly or wrongly) of corporate expansion that we're not part of.
It's interesting that these feelings should attach to job openings in 
particular. In contrast to how it was put earlier - "Nobody likes being 
exploited, in particular volunteers" - actually, in my experience it is 
people who work for pay that most resent being exploited, not people who 
work for other reasons. While volunteers can feel that they have been 
taken advantage of when their work is abused, in general employees are 
much more sensitive to inadequate compensation for their labors, 
overwork, or being underappreciated. Volunteer motivation is important 
to understand, of course, although I'm not a big fan of "volunteer 
management" as a phrase because our environment is geared more toward 
self-organization and self-management. The foundation can try to 
influence things to motivate people up to a point, but one of the 
wonderful things about volunteers is that we supply our own motivation, 
and largely regulate it as well. Here we happen to be touching on a 
sensitive area, partly because balancing volunteer and staff effort is 
one of the factors in motivation, but there's also a factor here that's 
beyond the foundation's control, and where volunteers have to figure out 
their own motivation.

I realize that economic conditions in much of the world are not the best 
these days, and I sympathize with people who are personally affected. To 
get to one of the points underlying this discussion, I would like to 
offer some advice. Volunteers who happen to also be looking for paid 
work should not focus on openings at the Wikimedia Foundation as their 
solution, as it can't possibly hire all the diligent wiki editors who 
might want to work there, no matter how successful the next fundraiser 
is. For people looking to add volunteer work to boost their CV, I would 
expect that Wikipedia is now widely-recognized enough to give about the 
same benefit as volunteer work with various other well-known charities. 
But if someone is really focused on working at the Wikimedia Foundation 
specifically, then my advice is the same as it would be for anyone 
targeting a specific employer - demonstrate that you have the skills and 
experience that employer is looking for, or go get them, quite possibly 
by going elsewhere first. Experience in our particular community may 
figure as an advantage among similarly-qualified candidates, but it 
doesn't substitute for having other qualifications that the foundation 
needs for a position. Nor, as I expect current staff who started as 
editors could confirm, is working for the foundation the solution to all 
of your problems, just exchanging one set of challenges for another.

--Michael Snow