How to change your career

Are you looking for a career change? Perhaps you work in volunteer management and want to move to charity marketing? Or maybe you work in communications and want to move into policy work?

 

Switching specialism requires perseverance. To change careers, you may have to take a job at a lower level and work your way back up. This may mean taking a pay cut.

 

Here are some tips and advice for changing charity specialisms.

 

 

Review your current career

 

Before changing careers, CharityJob recommends auditing your current career and looking at what you enjoy and what you don’t enjoy. This will help you to decide what area of charity work you want to move to and put together an action plan for how to get there.

 

 

Focus on transferrable skills

 

Think about the skills you have and how they can be used in the specialism you want to move into. For example, a LinkedIn article about how to move from a volunteer management role to another specialism says that managing volunteers gives you a lot of transferrable skills. These include communication skills, problem-solving, creativity, and empathy, which are all important in other areas of work, such as comms and marketing roles.

 

Another example is events fundraising. It gives you skills in project management, budgeting, marketing, and stakeholder engagement. These are important skills in other areas of charity work.

 

 

Update your CV

 

To get a job in a new specialism, it’s important to update your CV. This means tailoring it to the role you want to move into. CharityJob says to focus on your transferrable skills and highlight the experience that aligns the closest with the specialism you want to work in.

 

 

Update your social media

 

Once you have updated your CV, look at your social media presence. Connect with and follow people on LinkedIn who work in the specialism you want to move into. Also, follow charities you are keen to work for so you can look out for new jobs.

 

 

Get a mentor

 

Whichever specialism you want to move into, finding a mentor can help. Our article gives useful advice on how to find a mentor, including finding someone who works in the specialism you want to move into and asking them for a virtual coffee. You could also look for mentoring schemes, such as the one organised by CharityComms.

 

 

Network with others

 

Networking can help you to make new contacts in the specialism you want to move into. Building connections and having conversations with new contacts may help you to switch your career in the charity sector.

 

Read our article on networking and meeting charity peers. You can also read our introvert’s guide to networking, which offers tips and advice to help charity professionals network and collaborate.

 

 

Research training opportunities

 

Think about doing some training to build your skills and knowledge in the area of work you want to move to. Organisations that provide training in the charity sector include: the Directory of Social Change, Media Trust, and the NCVO. 

 

 

Find relevant volunteer experience

 

If you have the time and are financially able to, volunteering for a charity in your area of specialism may help you to switch careers. For example, helping a small charity to write a regular newsletter to build skills for a communications role.

 

 

Speak to your manager

 

If you want to stay with the same charity, have an honest chat with your line manager. Be open about what you’re looking for. They may be able to initiate a conversation with the department where you want to work.

 

It can be harder to move specialisms in the same charity if it’s a small organisation as there will be fewer jobs available. If this is the case, you will need to look for a job in another charity which may make it more difficult to speak to your current line manager.

 

The benefit of working in a small charity is there may be an opportunity to take on a diverse role and try out different disciplines. For example, a fundraising and communications officer role.

 

This will give you experience of different areas of charity work, so you can decide what you enjoy best. You can then find a role where you can focus on that.