Charities and Voluntary Organisations

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

• Advice worker
• Charity fundraiser
• Charity officer
• Community arts worker
• Community development worker
• Community education officer
• Volunteer coordinator/organiser

Other roles available in the sector include:

• International aid / development worker - for more information on this role see Development
• Marketing executive - for more information on this role see Marketing
• Prospects - for more information on this role see PR
• Social researcher - for more information on this role see Governement, Politics and Social Research
• Youth worker - for more information on this role see Community, Advice and Guidance Work

Skills required vary according to the specific role but some of the most sought after include:

• communication, relationship building and interpersonal skills
• problem-solving and the ability to operate effectively under pressure and to tight budgets
• project and people management abilities
• drive and determination to achieve results, initiate action and motivate others
• the ability to manage workload, prioritise tasks and delegate when necessary
• self-awareness and organisational awareness

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources:

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers.

• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed
• use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13]
• attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates
• sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting
• attend events, including recruitment fairs and employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process:

• RateMyPlacement placement year reviews written by students.
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Prospects: charity and voluntary work
• targetjobs: charity
• The Guardian: voluntary sector careers
• Institute of Fundraising

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews.

Examples include:

• Third Sector
• The Guardian
• Civil Society

Attending conferences and charity and volunteering events will give you the opportunity to :

• find out more about the work of the different organisations
• speak to existing staff and volunteers. Do your research before attending any event so you have some informed questions to ask.

Search for events on websites such as:

• NUSU
• Eventbrite
• individual charity websites
• professional associations (listed below)

See also our events, including recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

NUSU has several societies you can join to campaign and fundraise for humanitarian causes.

Use social media to find industry insights

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on X and TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate.

Find out more about how to use social media for your career.

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network

Professional bodies often:

• run networking events
• have specialist groups you could join
• post vacancies on behalf of their members
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications

Key organisations include:

• Association of Charitable Foundations
• Charity Commission
• Chartered Institute of Fundraising
• National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
• National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

By volunteering you can:

• acquire new skills
• learn more about the sector
• pursue opportunities within your chosen organisation

To find volunteering opportunities:

• check our Volunteering page
• visit Newcastle University Students' Union's (NUSU) Volunteering
• search for voluntary opportunities on MyCareer

You could also consider becoming a Young Trustee.

You can also gain related experience through part-time jobs, eg in fundraising, admin, IT or finance. A background in these fields can offer an alternative entry point into the charity/voluntary sector. See our Part-time Jobs section for vacancies.

A few organisations offer internships - often open to graduates as well as students. These are often voluntary, meaning that they aren’t paid. Despite this, internships in this sector are highly competitive.

Applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Placements and summer internships are usually aimed at undergraduate students in and above their second or penultimate year of study. Some companies will also consider first and final year students.

Examples of organisations that provide internship opportunities include:

• Cancer Research UK - paid internships and placements
• British Red Cross - UK and overseas volunteering placements
• Oxfam - part-time voluntary office roles
• Macmillan - 12 week summer internship

Use our resources to find opportunities:

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

Search the following external sites for more opportunities:

• Student Ladder
• Charity job
• Bright Network

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage.

Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.

You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March.

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank.

You may also be interested in our information about gaining experience in the Development sector.

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them.

For graduate schemes, apply as early as possible.

UK applications typically open early in the academic year from September or October. Some close as early as November-December. Many employers close applications as soon as their places are filled.

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies.

The following organisations offer graduate schemes:

• Cancer Research UK
• CharityWorks
• IntoUniversity
• Wellcome Trust

Use our resources to get started:

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites

Search the external sites below for more opportunities

UK Vacancy sites

• Voluntary Organisations' Network North East (VONNE)
• Third Sector Jobs
• CharityJob
• Guardian Jobs
• Good Moves – jobs in Scotland
• Fundraising jobs
• Chartered Institute of Fundraising
• Jobs Go Public
• Charity People

Worldwide vacancy sites

Some of the resources above also include international opportunities.

See International jobs for more details of overseas vacancy sites.

Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:

• additional vacancy websites
• CV, application and interview advice
• advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities:

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in.
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company.
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying!

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you:

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin

• find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’
• use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page
• search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working
• browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed

North East organisations

• VONNE Member directory

You can also find details of North East charities on the NUSU volunteering pages

UK organisations

• Charity Commission: Find charities
• NCVO – Volunteer Centre Finder
• Institute of Fundraising: Suppliers directory - agencies, consultancies, technology vendors and fundraising consultants
• targetjobs - search employers by sector

Worldwide organisations

Search GoinGlobal's employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.