Improving graduates' careers advice will help charities' recruitment
Howard Lake | 17 September 2003 | News
Charities’ recruitment difficulties could be eased by improved careers advice for
graduates, argues NCVO.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) is concerned that
careers officers, schools, universities and parents are failing to promote charity work as a viable career option to school leavers and graduates.
The umbrella body’s criticisms have been prompted by a recent report from the Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation (VSNTO) which shows that 70% of voluntary organisations suffer recruitment problems due to a lack of interest in the positions they advertise.
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Despite more graduates now expressing a desire to work in the public sector
than the private sector, just 6% plan to apply for jobs with charities (Mori). NCVO has claimed that young people are receiving misleading advice about the nature of the modern UK voluntary sector due to careers advisers’ and parents’ out of date perceptions.
Many voluntary organisations believe that recruitment is hampered by potential candidates misperception of working in the sector. The majority of organisations reporting difficulties in recruitment said this was primarily because they get few or no applications, this problem being closely followed by a lack of suitably experienced, skilled or qualified candidates. NCVO
believes that the voluntary sector itself, with support from the Government, must address this problem directly.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.