Development

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:

• Charity fundraiser
• Charity officer
• Economist
• International aid/development worker
• Logistics and distribution manager
• Town planner
• Volunteer co-ordinator/organiser

Other roles

Above are just some of the roles available within development. People working within this sector also work in a wide range of fields including:

• Administration (eg events coordinator, human resources)
• Communications (eg communications officer, marketing, information officer)
• Education (eg teaching, education advisor)
• Healthcare (eg family planning, HIV prevention)
• Management (eg project management, account manager, procurement)
• Technical (eg water sanitation, land surveyor)

See our occupations pages for role information for these career areas

Skills required vary according to the specific role but skills most employers in this sector look for include:

• communication
• relationship building
• interpersonal skills and cross-cultural sensitivity
• problem-solving
• ability to work under pressure
• project and people management abilities
• drive and determination
• ability to motivate others
• ability to manage workload and prioritise tasks
• self-awareness

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on location and the type of role.

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  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, such as 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 development:

• targetjobs: Graduate careers in international development
• bond: Getting a job in international development
• CharityJob: A Guide to Working in International Development

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

Examples include:

• BBC News - includes links to news across the world
• Eldis – news stories, country profiles and access to policy and research documents
• Guardian: Global Development
• OneWorld - news, articles and jobs
• BOND - international development news
• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry.

See the professional bodies below and industry news above for events 

An example is International Newcastle, which are local events with an international focus.

See also our recruitment events and employer & sector insights.

Joining specific student societies can help you develop skills and make connections. Joining Amnesty International could help you develop your campaigning and fundraising skills. The Team Kenya Society helps to fundraise for the Team Kenya project. You can find out more about this on Go Volunteer.

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:

• Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
• The World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO). This association unites NGOs in the cause of advancing peace and global wellbeing
• ELRHA - supports partnerships between researchers and practitioners, aiming to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian action

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.

Many charities and development organisations don’t offer experience in developing countries. However, they may have opportunities in their UK offices. These may include fundraising, administration, finance and IT roles.

These roles are vital to these organisations and will show your commitment.

Some charities, development organisations and commercial companies offer work experience in developing countries.

It is extremely important that you research the organisation and what the placement will involve.

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

In the North East

The following organisations have offices and voluntary opportunities in the North East:

• COCO - find volunteering opportunities including marketing, data and finance, and project research
• Shared Interest - opportunities include translation, data entry, administration, ambassadors and community support
• Oxfam Finance Office - volunteer finance assistant roles
• Team Kenya. This volunteering opportunity includes social media marketing and administration of fundraising events
• Go Volunteer - search for volunteering locally. Opportunities such as NEST where you can volunteer with refugees may be relevant.

UK and World Wide

• United Nations Volunteers. This gives volunteering opportunities for graduates with over two years relevant work experience
• British Red Cross - 8-12 week voluntary internships
• UNICEF - offers internships in its New York headquarters and country offices
• UNICEF UK - offers voluntary opportunities in the UK
• VSO - volunteering opportunities
• Oxfam - office, shop and events-based opportunities are available in the UK
• UN Volunteers - find online sustainable human development volunteering through the United Nations
• W4MP - offers opportunities in a range of roles working for government agencies, charities, pressure groups and think tanks
• Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English.

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. 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. These are less common in development.

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.

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. You can filter by occupational area (eg 'using languages'), vacancy type and location.
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad

• bond
• CharityJob
• ReliefWeb
• Guardian Jobs
• DevNetJOBS.org
• Impactpool

For more vacancy sources, see the finding jobs sections of Charities and Voluntary Organisations and Government, Politics and Public Affairs.

Graduate schemes and entry level jobs

• Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - opportunities in government
• Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Fellowship Scheme - for graduates with a Master's degree or PhD in economics, econometrics, statistics or a related field
• The World Bank: Programs and internships - includes the Young Professionals Programme. 
• Junior Professional Officer Programme
• UNICEF: Junior Professional Officer

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 

• 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

Use the resources below to find organisations in the North East, UK and worldwide. 

North East organisations

• International Newcastle - member directory

• targetjobs - search employers by sector eg. International development or aid worker
• Find organisations on MyCareer - log in, then click on ‘search organisations’ under the Vacancies tab
• bond – details of around 400 development organisations, which make up the Bond network
• World Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (WANGO) – worldwide directory
• Scotland's International Development Alliance - member directory

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

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:  

• staffing agencies and temporary help firms  
• executive recruiters and search firms  

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.