Every year we seem to go round in circles in discussing internships in the charity sector. Without wishing to sound like a typical moaning graduate (even though I graduated 3 years ago) here are my thoughts on entry into careers into the charity sector.

There is a severe lack of entry-level schemes. If you don’t have a degree you are almost certainly relegated to the disposal pile of CV’s. And in some instances, you require, at the minimum a Masters degree – and sometimes that can be just for internships.

If you have a degree but perhaps didn’t use your time as wisely as you could have at University, you are then relegated to the disposal pile of CV’s. Of course, those on the other end who are reviewing your CV perhaps failed to realise that on top of your studying you were holding down at least one, and sometimes two or three jobs to make ends meet and are still trying to cram in experience gathering in any way you can.

If you have a degree, some experience of the sector from internships or volunteering then you will often be told that you do not have enough ‘direct experience’ and your CV will be relegated to the disposal pile. If you’re lucky enough to get feedback you’ll probably be told to take up an internship to prove you can turn up to an office everyday and sit at your PC everyday whilst the passion for your charity slowly dwindles away. You have to do all of this whilst paying your ridiculous rent (especially as because the big corporate charities all HQ’ed in London). Of course, this doesn’t even envelop those that have taken a different route into their careers. We need to look more positively on those that produce the required skills set through apprenticeships, F.E or just from starting work straight out of education.

We have to get away from the minimum requirement for many roles being at least a Masters degree plus umpteen years of experience – generally before any of us have had the chance to get any experience. I understand that recruitment is expensive but we should learn from social enterprises and start-ups who hire talent even if they are likely to move on after two years – let’s embrace the natural refresh that this offers the sector – the chance to funnel people into the sector who would otherwise be enticed by other sectors. A diverse workforce provides a good workforce and it may see the end of people moaning about not being able to attract private sector staff to make the switch; it seems sensible to me to start as we means to go on.

Let me be clear, I am not an advocate for closing down opportunities to those that are able to offer their time for free. Internships are absolutely fine as long as they are structured (in the sense of having objectives and reviews), flexible (so that interns can leave at 4 to start a shift at work at 5:30) and they have to be managed properly (both on a day-day level but also in terms of managing expectations, practical skills development and ensuring they are doing meaningful work and are signposted to paid opportunities). I really don’t think a full time role for multiple months can reasonably be considered anything but a job; and as such we should pay for those roles.

Ironically, the sector often proudly blows its own trumpet in telling the outside world how we value our people, and we respect our stakeholders whilst simultaneously not responding to job applications, not offering feedback and sometimes exploiting their free labour.

And, to any young people reading this, do not give up. Keep going and you will eventually find an organisation that appreciates your skills, motivation and commitment and they will employ you. If you are a University student, try and think of ways of including the sector in your studies so that you can develop experience and I can’t advocate enough, the importance of networking.

It’s great that the sector is slowly starting to change, especially with the introduction of apprenticeships across major charities. But, let’s speed it up a notch or two and let’s lead the way.