The best places to find charity jobs

If you’re looking for a role with purpose, the charity sector is an obvious place to start. There are more than 165,000 voluntary sector organisations in the UK and many are run by paid staff. 

 

Charities need some of the same skills as commercial organisations in areas like finance, operations, HR, and marketing. However, there are also roles that are specific to the sector like program and service delivery, and fundraising.

 

 

Getting prepared for the job hunt

 

January is a big time for recruitment in all industries, including the charity sector. Before you jump into applying for roles, it’s a good idea to try and get some experience of working in a charity.

 

Getting charity experience will help you work out which sort of role might be right for you and enhance your CV for when you do start making job applications. You can donate your time as a volunteer or intern – but look out for paid internships and apprenticeships too.

 

If you’re already highly skilled in the area you want to work in, see if you can set up a couple of virtual or real-world coffees with someone already working in the sort of role you’re interested in.

 

Nick Billingham, Managing Director of Charity People says,

 

“As is the case with joining any new industry, the more you can demonstrate to a prospective employer that you have started to learn and absorb about the sector, the better.

 

Alongside that, if you can secure a trusteeship at any non-profit this will help demonstrate your commitment to making this move and act as a masterclass on the governance of a non-profit organisations.”

 

 

Places to look for a role

 

 

Indeed charity jobs

 

Indeed is a general purpose job site but it does have a great charity job section with a huge variety of roles from face to face fundraisers to senior managers.

 

It’s a good place to do a bit of searching and get a sense of the type of roles being advertised, the working arrangements, and pay. You can also set up email alerts for charity sector roles in your desired pay bracket.

 

 

Charity Job

 

Charity Job is a job site exclusively for charity sector roles - it’s a go-to site for people already working in the sector. It has all the functions you would expect on a recruitment site like filtered searches and email alerts.

 

The hidden gem is the blog. It’s under the ‘career advice’ section and contains hundreds of helpful articles on everything from ‘How to write a charity cover letter with no experience’ to ‘Tips for returning to work after a career break.’

 

 

Guardian Jobs

 

The Guardian jobs site is general purpose, but it has a very well-used ‘charities’ section. It’s organised by issue, which is useful if you’re hoping to work on an issue that you have lived experience of. You can also look at roles by specialism.

 

There are all sorts of roles on the Guardian site, but they tend to be more senior with higher pay brackets.

 

 

LinkedIn

 

Charities also use LinkedIn to find new team members by posting roles on their company pages. To find these roles, hit the ‘Jobs’ section on the platform and search “charity”. Use filters on this broad search to find the roles you’re looking for.

 

You can also make tweaks to your profile to help charity sector recruiters find you. Make sure your profile is up to date and think about the keywords a recruiter might be searching for to find ideal candidates for the roles you are interested in. Create a list of keywords and then check that they are appearing in your profile – particularly the ‘headline’ and ‘about’ sections.

 

 

Recruitment agencies

 

There are several recruitment agencies that work exclusively in the charity sector. Keep an eye on their websites for roles that you might be interested in. If you spot one, get in touch with the named consultant and be prepared to send them an up-to-date CV and covering letter, answer a few short questions, or have an informal chat. If the consultant feels you are right for the role, they will support you through the recruitment process with the charity.

 

Recruitment agencies in the third sector that you could check out include Charity People, Green Park, Peridot Partners, Prospectus and TPP. 

 

The charity sector isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s fast paced, under-resourced and filled with people impatient for social change. It’s full of purpose, but far from perfect. Expect days, months, or even years of hard grind for moments of success. But in those moments, you’ll realise that you are part of something with the power to shift the world ever so slightly towards better. If the thrill of that appeals, apply today!