Worthwhile - Building a Career in the Third Sector

www.worthwhile.org.uk
Building a Career in the Third
Sector

What we’ll cover
• Who are Worthwhile?
• Busting stereotypes: what does a career in the
charity sector looks like
• Identification of own values, drivers and career
aims through experience mapping
• Confidence in job research skills
• Top tips for securing a great career in the charity
sector

We have a number of problems in
society today that are pervasive, and will
not be solved with status quo solutions

Worthwhile – an introduction
Worthwhile’s mission is to create the conditions for
young people to do their best work in social
impact, from the start of their careers
We think there is a real need for this for a number
of reasons….

The working environment for socially engaged
millennials is characterised by insecure employment
and fragmentation
Insecure
employment
Social impact
careers
Fragmentation
of Work
Growth of short term
project based work
Shift from employing staff long
term to maintaining continual
conversations with alumni/ ex-
staff who can come in and out
for short term pieces of work
Recruitment process is
becoming a community
building function
Young
professionals
value freedom and
engagement over
stability and
security
Transition to
‘shared economy’
learning – mutual
learning
opportunities for
network members
and organisations
New measure of success for
young people: the extent of
their social influence and
personal networks
Danger of rising unemployment
for many, as traditional roles are
replaced by technology.

But what does a ‘career’ in the
social sector look like?

Admin, Advice, Information, Advocacy, Business
Development, Campaigning, Care Management,
PR Finance, Engineering, Fundraising, Housing
Management, Human Resources, International
Development, IT , Legal, Management, Marketing,
Nursing Operations Policy/Research, Practitioner,
Project Management, Retail, Social
Care/Development, Social Work, Support Worker,
Teaching, Training Vocational/Services, Volunteer
Management….

How can you go about finding a job
that suits you?

DOTS model of career planning

What am I good
at?
What do I enjoy
doing?
Which bit of
previous jobs/
experiences do I
remember fondly/
negatively?
What are my
hobbies/ passions
and how do they
map against what
I think I want to
do in the future?
Experience Mapping
What am I not good at?
Where in the world do I want to
be?

Thriving at work

Be like Sherlock Holmes

Good job websites
• Charity Job
• Dev.net
• Guardian Jobs
• Escape the City
• Elevator Café
• The Golden List
• Envirojob
• London International Development Network
Facebook Page

Social Impact Graduate Schemes
Worthwhile: www.worthwhile.org.uk The Worthwhile Graduate Scheme seeks to
provide a clear career path from university into the social impact space. Through
the facilitation of ten-month meaningful work placements, support networks, training
and networking events, the Worthwhile Graduate Scheme is the strongest starting
point for those passionate about a social impact career.
Year here: http://yearhere.org The Year Here programme is a full-time
postgraduate course in London designed for smart and curious graduates. Unlike a
traditional Master's degree, Year Here is immersive and experiential with those on
the programme working towards building creative and entrepreneurial responses to
social problems
Charity Works: http://www.charity-works.co.uk/for-individuals/ Charity works is a
paid, 12 month graduate scheme which gives you all the tools you need to build a
career in the UK social sector. As a Charity works Graduate Trainee you will deliver
a full time job in a partner charity or housing association, and take part in an
acclaimed leadership programme which will introduce you to all aspects of working
and leading in the social sector.

Social Impact Incubators
• Hub Catalyst: http://www.hubcatalyst.org/: Whether you're an innovative charity
or a disruptive social enterprise, Hub Catalyst can help you scale up your social
venture to create long lasting impact. Through a mixture of one-to-one
mentoring and training boot-camps, their programme is designed to support you
in taking your venture to the next level.
• Alt:Gen: http://www.altgen.org.uk/: AltGen supports 18-29 year olds to set up
workers co-operatives as a way of reclaiming control over work and creating a
more equal and sustainable economy.
• Kitchenette: http://www.wearekitchenette.com/: Kitchenette is a food start-up
incubator. They run a year-long programme, giving food entrepreneurs top
industry mentoring, the pick of our residencies at some of the best sites in town,
and support developing a business plan and landlord deck to secure your first
site.
• Bethnal Green Ventures: http://bethnalgreenventures.com/ Bethnal Green
Ventures is an accelerator programme for people who want to change the world
using technology. They invest in and support great teams with new ideas to help
build solutions to social and environmental problems through an intensive three-
month programme.

Reading List!
• DIY Toolkit: http://diytoolkit.org/
• Business in the Community – Sustainable Business Tool
Kit: http://sustainablebusiness.bitc.org.uk/node/130659
• How to be a Productivity Ninja: Worry Less, Achieve More
and Love What You Do by Graham Alcott (book)
• Unltd: Change the World: A young Persons Guide to
Social Entrepreneurship https://unltd.org.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2014/04/Beginners-Guide-First-
Edition.pdf

• Social sector graduate scheme – we match graduates with small
and innovative charities. Our placements are characterised by
interesting and challenging work and high levels of responsibility
from day 1.

Worthwhile creates the conditions for
young professionals to do their best
work in social impact

Success Stories
• 96% of our graduate scheme
alumni are in work or full time
education
• 80% are working in the social
sector (16% in further
education, others have one on
to set up their own
organisations
• This year, we have twenty three
graduates working with our
partner organisations
• Combined with our social
impact internship scheme, our
experience of recruiting,
placing and developing young
people is significant
• Within 2 years of leaving the
scheme, 6 of our 54 alumni
have ended up in senior
management positions

Our graduates feedback on the scheme
has been very positive
Being on the Worthwhile graduate scheme has been a
fantastic opportunity to access training and support and to be
part of a community of graduates working in similar
organisations. Working for Student Minds as part of a staff
team of only three people, it is so valuable to be able to access
training covering a wide range of topics. The productivity
training we received at the beginning of the year has been
especially useful in helping me to adapt to a complex and
constantly changing workload, and I have been able to take
many of the skills I have learnt in training back to the office,
sharing techniques such as action learning sets and project
management.”
Being on the Worthwhile graduate scheme has been
a fantastic opportunity to access training and
support and to be part of a community of graduates
working in similar organisations. Working for Student
Minds as part of a staff team of only three people, it
is so valuable to be able to access training covering
a wide range of topics. The productivity training we
received at the beginning of the year has been
especially useful in helping me to adapt to a complex
and constantly changing workload, and I have been
able to take many of the skills I have learnt in training
back to the office, sharing techniques such as action
learning sets and project management.”

What’s next?
• Applications will open in early December and will be rolling
until May/June. We will be filling roles on a rolling basis as they
are confirmed.
• To apply go to www.worthwhile.org.uk
• The application process will consist of an initial application
form, an interview with Worthwhile and then, if you are
successful, interviews with host organisations.

Contact us!
twitter.com/WorthwhileUK
Facebook.com/worthwhilechange

Worthwhile - Building a Career in the Third Sector

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