Charity officer : Employers and vacancy sources

Tweet

More in this section

1. Job description
2. Salary and conditions
3. Entry requirements
4. Training
5. Career development
6. Employers and vacancy …
7. Related jobs

Print all pages in this section

Case studies

• Administrative assistant: Allison

Featured advertisement

The NCYPE is the leading national charity providing specialist services for children and young people with epilepsy and related neurological conditions. We provide high quality information, training and support on childhood epilepsy for professionals, parents and young people across the UK. Find out more about the NCYPE.

Aside from philanthropic organisations, the charity sector includes housing associations, trade unions, educational institutions and even think tanks. Charity organisations are, however, the largest employers of charity officers. This includes local, regional, national and international charities, ranging from small-scale groups consisting of a few paid staff and volunteers to large, prestigious, international charities with thousands of employees and volunteers.

The government’s Big Society policy aims to give voluntary and community organisations a greater role in public services so that citizens can achieve change in their local area. This may give rise to more small and local charities, but they are unlikely to be sufficiently well funded to employ many staff.

In recent years, opportunities within this sector have increased in areas such as social/community work, housing, disability, diversity-related issues and environmental campaigns.

Increasingly, large and multinational commercial companies are fulfilling their corporate social responsibility by having at least one designated person to liaise with local charities and community groups, advise on internal fundraising activities and staff volunteering, and deal with media enquiries on community-focused initiatives.

As more sectors are encouraged to address the significance of sustainable communities and the need to give something back to the community, the number of charity officer positions may increase.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Guardian Jobs  
• Independent Jobs  
• The Times Jobs  
• The Daily Telegraph Jobs    
• The Big Issue    
• CharityJOB  
• Community Care   
• Goodmoves    
• Prospectus  
• Voluntary Sector Jobs  
• jobsgopublic  
• National and local press.
• Careers service vacancy lists.

Some charities advertise jobs in their own newsletters and on their own websites.

Temporary and permanent charity positions are often advertised through charity recruitment agencies such as Charity People , whilst specialist roles are also found in professional journals. Networking is also helpful in finding out where opportunities exist. Voluntary sector exhibitions and recruitment fairs are a useful way of finding out about organisations and available positions. Fairs include People Unlimited’s Forum 3  event in London and The Gathering , Scotland’s voluntary sector fair in Edinburgh.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.