Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Have a look at careers websites including Prospects, The National Careers Service, Glass Door and Green Careers Hub to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:

• Compliance officer
• Corporate philanthropy manager
• Corporate social responsibility manager
• Corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioner
• Sustainability Analyst
• Supply Chain Sustainability Manager
• Sustainability consultant
• Volunteer coordinator - role can be done in a corporate context

Because CSR involves a range of sectors and jobs, there is not one single list of skills required by all employers.

Technical skills required will depend on the specific role.

However, evidence of the following will usually be necessary:

• communication skills
• business/commercial/political awareness
• leadership
• problem-solving
• decision-making
• empathy
• adaptability
• team working

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 recruitment events 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:

• What are the best ways to prepare for a career in Corporate Social Responsibility?
• ENDS report - A Day in the life of a sustainability consultant

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

Examples include:

• Blue and Green Tomorrow
• Corporate Watch
• Edie
• ELDIS
• Ethical Corporation
• Moody's

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

See our recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Join CSR related student societies. Newcastle University Students' Union has societies that campaign for humanitarian causes or charities. Examples include Friends of MSF Newcastle and Students for Global Health.

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:

• Business in the Community (BITC)
• Business for Social Responsibility
• CSR Europe
• Ethical Consumer
• Ethical Trading Initiative
• Fairtrade
• Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)
• Institute of Business Ethics
• Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS)
• New Economics Foundation
• Scientists for Global Responsibility
• Shared Interest
• Social Enterprise UK
• SustainAbility
• UKSIF
  

Finding professional bodies worldwide

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

Apply for advertised opportunities 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.

Employers in this sector will be looking for evidence of your interest in CSR. This might be through, for example, undertaking work experience in a related field or shadowing.

Formal internships and placement years specifically in CSR are rare. They tend to be advertised only when a business requires it. Companies that sometimes offer internships in this area include:

• BSR
• Cisco
• PwC

You can develop skills transferable to a CSR role by gaining experience in a charity or NGO. You could also get them in a corporate organisation.

Use our resources to get started:

• 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
• Charities and Voluntary Organisations has more examples of relevant work experience.
• Other Occupations pages also list work experience. This can help you develop transferable skills to take into this field.

Other sources include:

• Student Ladder - lists internships in the charities and voluntary sector
• Bright Green Placements - provides paid 8–12-week environmental internships. These are for student and recent graduates in small and medium businesses. (They are only available in Scotland)

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.

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. Specific CSR graduate schemes are rare. CSR may feature more as a part of your role within a more general graduate scheme. For example, this could be in a management role.

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.

Large private sector companies sometimes have CSR departments. They can also have CSR functions located within other departments.

Some large accounting and consulting firms are competing with niche CSR firms. They sometimes offer their own CSR client services. See accountancy and tax and management consultancy for vacancy sites.

Public sector CSR careers are found in national and international government organisations.

Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engage in CSR advocacy. Some think tanks and academic institutions do too.

These groups promote the use of CSR within the private and public spheres. Examples include: Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International and Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition.

Examples of graduate schemes that state they commit to CSR include:

• NatWest Group. They allow graduates on its schemes to participate in CSR activities
• Fujitsu’s recruitment has a strong CSR focus
• Samsung highlight their CSR mission in their recruitment information
• BRE group highlight sustainability in their graduate programme
• Jaguar Land Rover have a community relations department

Search with the term 'CSR' or 'sustainability' on a graduate scheme's website to see their CSR commitment.

See Researching Employers for more ways to research companies.

Use our resources for more vacancy sites:

• 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

See also the vacancy sections of:

• government and politics
• charities and voluntary organisations
• development

Vacancy sites for CSR roles

• Edie - sustainability related vacancies
• Guardian Jobs
• Greenjobs - includes CSR and sustainability opportunities.
• Indeed - advertises CSR positions.
• Regeneration Jobs

See International jobs for 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

Many larger companies now publish information on their CSR activities on their websites. The following list companies recognised as having a good CSR record:

• Business in the Community
• BITC’s Responsible Business award winners
• FTSE4Good
• The Global Good Awards

You can also:

• 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

Below are examples of organisations who have a North East base. They have specifically highlighted corporate responsibility/sustainability.

Check their websites for advertised vacancies. They may also be worth approaching speculatively to ask about work experience or graduate level positions.

• AkzoNobel - international chemical company, has a base in Gateshead.
• Berghaus - clothing manufacturer based in Sunderland.
• DEFRA - UK government department. Responsible for environment, food and rural affairs policy and regulations
• English Heritage - bases across the UK, including the Northeast.
• Gentoo Group - housing group based in Sunderland. They have a strong sustainability and social responsibility focus.
• Groundwork NE & Cumbria - offer CSR opportunities to companies.
• Newcastle Building Society - has a clear CSR focus.
• Northumbrian Water - describe themselves as a socially responsible company.
• Northern Powergrid - Northeast based electricity supplier, offering sustainable energy solutions.
• Port of Tyne - contributes 1% of profit to a community action fund on an ongoing basis. Support community events, business and cultural institutions.
• Shared Interest - co-operative lending society based in Newcastle.
• Sustrans - sustainable transport charity with Newcastle office
• TSG (Technology Services Group) - has bases in Tyne and Wear
• Terra Infirma - Environmental and sustainability consultancy based in Newcastle.
• Transform Trade UK fair trade organisation, based in Gateshead.

You can also use the following site to find organisations to approach:

• Northeast Chamber of Commerce: Business directory

See North East jobs for more useful websites, in particular, public sector links.

• targetjobs - search employers by sector
• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers.

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