9+ Best Places To Find Grant Writing Jobs
Finding Grant Writing jobs
One of the biggest challenges of finding grant writing jobs is knowing where to look. If you do a quick Google search, you’ll quickly be bombarded with a ton of job sites.
I’ve compiled the best websites to look through when you are searching for grant writing jobs. I’ve separated this list into 2 sections: remote-only and normal grant writing jobs. The first three sources I’ve listed for you to check out are if you’re looking for remote grant writing jobs only. The rest are a mixture of remote and in-office jobs.
Checking out the resources on this list will help maximize the number of grant writing jobs you see, so you can choose the listings that best suit your skillset and experience.
Remote-only
1. FlexJobs
FlexJobs is one of the best remote-friendly job sites. All of the jobs listed on FlexJobs are either fully remote or partially remote. FlexJobs offers remote jobs that you will not find anywhere else on the internet.
To actually apply for jobs on FlexJobs, you’ll need to sign up for a paid account. It costs $14.95 and you can get a refund if you’re unsatisfied. Since there’s only paid members on FlexJobs, the pool of applicants is significantly less than other job sites; this dramatically increases your chance of getting an interview or a job.
There are also a ton of other remote writing jobs on FlexJobs you can apply for. They also offer resume reviews and coaching to help you land remote jobs. I’ve personally used FlexJobs for several months and enjoyed it. If you’re serious about finding a remote job, it’s definitely worth trying out.
You can check out the remote grant writing jobs on FlexJobs here. There’s a remote grant writing job posted on FlexJobs almost every day. If you want to apply to them, you’ll have to sign up for an account.
2. Virtual Vocations
Virtual Vocations is another remote-only job site. They also post remote grant writing job opportunities, but it’s free. Some remote jobs on there are posted for only members, so you may need to sign up for one of their programs to see it.
Although Virtual Vocations is free, there’s 1-2 grant writing jobs posted every week or every other week. There’s maybe 5 or so remote grant writing jobs posted each month on the site.
It’s still worth a look from time to time to see if there’s a new remote grant writing position you can apply for. You can check out the remote grant writing options at Virtual Vocations here.
3. Cold emailing/freelance
If you have previous work experience grant writing and you really want to work remotely, freelancing can be a great option.
As a freelance grant writer, it’s completely on you to find clients, set your rates and do work for clients. Instead of applying to jobs like most grant writers, you can use cold emails to intro yourself and find clients.
Cold emailing is basically finding the email information of a company you’d like to work for and sending them an email introducing yourself and your services. If you cold email a few hundred companies that need grant writing services, you can land a grant writing position on a freelance/contract basis.
If you’d like to learn more about how freelance writing works, you can check out this blog here where I detail how I make my living as a remote freelance writer. You can follow the same steps and build your freelance grant writing business.
In-office and remote
4. Indeed
Indeed is the largest job site, so it has the most grant writing job opportunities by default. On Indeed, you need to be able to filter out the job results to find which opportunities are relevant and relatively new.
Applying to a 30+ day old grant writing position will likely lead to no interviews and job offers. Make sure to sort by date and apply for two types of grant writing jobs on Indeed:
- Grant writing jobs in your area
- Remote grant writing jobs
This will maximize the chances of you landing several interviews and getting your desired role.
Another tip that can accelerate your job search process is to upload your resume and cover letter on Indeed. This will make applying to jobs much faster and easier.
5. ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is another great website with tons of grant writing jobs. It’s very similar to Indeed and it has dozens of grant writing jobs posted every day.
You’ll have to sort by date and location to find the grant writing jobs that you are eligible for.
I’ve linked the grant writing jobs on ZipRecruiter here; feel free to check it out.
6. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the best platforms to build your network as a grant writer and to find grant writing jobs. As a grant writer, having a LinkedIn profile is a necessity.
Not only does it help you showcase your skills, education and experience, it also shows employers that you are a real person with a real professional network.
Almost every employer or client I’ve ever worked with asked me for my LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile is basically your online resume. The more you can optimize your profile, the more easily employers will find you.
On LinkedIn, you can utilize two strategies to find grant writing jobs. They include:
Building your professional network
Building your professional network is crucial to having a successful grant writing career. Unless you live in a big city, it’s hard to come by other grant writers that can help you along your journey.
With LinkedIn, you can literally connect with hundreds of grant writers each week. Connecting with these grant writers will open up new opportunities for you. You’ll see a ton of grant writing opportunities on your LinkedIn page simply because you’re connected to many grant writers.
In my case, I use LinkedIn to connect with my potential employers. I’m a freelance writer and I work mainly with content managers, marketing managers, etc. Over time, I’ve connected with hundreds of these type of professionals. This helped populate my LinkedIn feed with opportunities for freelance writing and content writing.
Apply for jobs on LinkedIn Jobs
You can apply for grant writing jobs directly on LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs is one of the biggest job platforms because it utilizes LinkedIn’s powerful business network.
You can see hundreds of grant writing jobs posted each day. Make sure to filter by date, city, etc to find the jobs that you are eligible for.
You can apply for the jobs directly on LinkedIn or you can go to the company’s website and apply directly on their careers page.
Additionally, LinkedIn shows the recruiter who posted the job and exactly how many applicants the position has. You can use this to figure out if a job is worth applying to and whether or not you should reach out to the recruiter.
7. Twitter
Yes, you can find jobs on Twitter. The reason why I love Twitter and always include it when looking for jobs is that it’s an extremely underrated social media platform.
Many people use Twitter for the viral memes, but there’s one of the strongest online business communities on Twitter. This means that there are many employers who post jobs on Twitter.
You can find grant writing jobs like the one I have above by going to the search bar and typing “hiring grant writer”.
You will see many results, so filter by date to get the latest Tweets on who’s hiring grant writers. Once you find a tweet, you have two options:
- Follow the tweet and apply on the link in the tweet
- Direct message the person who tweeted to learn more about the role
I’ve been able to land a $7,500 contract gig for freelance writing directly of Twitter. It’s a great platform to build your professional network and find jobs.
8. AngelList
AngelList is one of the highest quality job sites on the internet. On AngelList, you’ll find well-funded companies that are looking to hire the best employees. The compensation is generally good and some companies even offer equity in the business to some employees.
As you can see from the screenshot above, that grant writing position offers a 1% stake in the overall company.
Although AngelList doesn’t post many grant writing jobs, the best companies are looking for employees on there. It’s a good site to check out occasionally to see what grant writing positions are available.
In order to search through AngelList, you’ll need an account. It’s easy and free to set up; all you need to do is search for grant writer in the search bar of the jobs section. Remember to remove the location to see all of the possible grant writing jobs.
9. Lensa
Lensa is not a well-known job site, but there are some grant writing job opportunities. If you go to Lensa.com, you will be able to search for grant writer jobs in your city.
Before you click on any specific job post, it will ask you to put in your name and email. By doing this, Lensa will send you updates each time there is a grant writing position posted.
There are about a few dozen grant writing positions posted each week. If you are finding no luck in the city you live in, try searching through bigger cities like New York City or Los Angeles.
Tips to maximize your chances of getting a grant writing job
I’ve experienced months of applying to literally hundreds of jobs and not hearing back from employers. Unless you really take a look at why you’re not getting the results you want, you’ll continue repeating the same cycle.
Let’s break it down simply. There are only a handful of factors that help you go from where you are right now to landing a grant writing job. These factors are:
- Resume
- Cover letter
- Experience
- Ability to interview
That’s it.
If you are not getting a grant writing job, there’s a very high chance that you’re falling short in one of these areas.
For most people, it’s the first stage of getting through the application and getting a response from the employer. If you’re struggling in this stage, your resume and cover letter are not up to par.
You can either start looking at resume writing services or fix your resume yourself. Either way, you’ll need to ensure your resume and cover letter make you the most attractive candidate possible.
Polishing up your resume and cover letter will help get you through the door, so you can show your employer what you can do in your interview.
Example of polishing resume and cover letter
When I first started my writing career a few years ago, I applied to hundred of content writer and freelance writer jobs. Guess what I heard back? Nothing.
Although it can be very demoralizing, it was a wake up call to change what’s not working. Looking back, I wasn’t qualified for most of the jobs I applied for and I didn’t know how to communicate the value I would bring to an employer.
Two weeks ago, I applied for my first job in over 2 years. When I didn’t get word back from all the writing jobs I applied to, I started my freelance writing business. Over the last two years, I’ve worked with dozens of clients and built my confidence and skills as a writer.
I saw a SEO content writer position at Hubspot and applied. Honestly, I did it for fun and didn’t think I’d hear back, but I got an invite to interview the next day.
How did I go from applying to hundreds of jobs and getting no response to applying to one job and getting an interview invite the next day?
The simple answer is I got more experience and I learned how to describe my value to an employer. Here’s my exact cover letter I used for the job.
This is vastly different from the cover letters I used to use where I’d say things like “I’m willing to learn/work hard”.
Make sure to focus on what you can do for the employer, polish your resume and cover letter and the chances of landing a grant writing job will go up dramatically.