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A series of events and resources for students, postdocs and alumni from all disciplines.

See below for upcoming events, you'll be able to register via Handshake from 1 January 2025.

Discover, connect and explore the sector - wherever you are in your career planning.


Follow us for information, advice and inspiration:

Events

Date   

Event name   

type of event   

Monday, January 27th 2025

17:30 - 19:00

Careers in Charities & Development Panel

 

virtual 

Monday, February 3rd 2025

17:30 - 19:00

Careers in Policy Panel

 

virtual 

Tuesday, February 4th 2025

14:00 - 15:00

Speculative Applications in Charity & Development

 

In-person (Student Services Centre) 

Tuesday, February 4th 2025

17:30 - 19:30

Networking Speed Meet - Policy, Charities & International Development

In-person (Student Services Centre) 

Tuesday, February 11th 2025

17:30 - 19:00

Careers in International Organisations

 

virtual 

Highlights from previous festivals to help you prepare

The International Development and charities festival provided a wealth of tips and advice from Cambridge alumni and others working in the development and charities sector. We've gathered some highlights for you to learn more. 

Getting Work Experience 

A common question our students wanted answered was how to get meaningful work experience in a sector where formal structured internships can be difficult to find. Our speakers’ answers covered a range of different types of experience they have had themselves or have seen when they're recruiting for roles. 

  • Volunteering 

  • Short courses/online learning 

  • Informal research, perhaps from networking or following social media 

  • Formal research (e.g. a dissertation) for good 

  • Related internships/paid work- including opportunities at university to get involved in research projects as an assistant or in widening participation and outreach 

  • Internships/paid work outside of the charity and development sector. That could be casual work building your administrative skills in an office or interacting with members of the public in a shop or bar. It could also be something more typically considered  ‘professional' work, perhaps an internship in the private sector

 

 

There was also an interesting discussion around unpaid opportunities and what to look out for. 

Skills 

This patchwork effect of different experiences makes it even more important that you're able to give a coherent narrative about the skills and qualities that you have developed over time and how you will be able to apply them too work in the third sector. The second highlights video as examples of people talking about the skills that they see as having been crucial to their career. There's such a wide variety of different roles within the sector that it's impossible to give the definitive list of essential skills. However, listening to people talking about what's been important for them should give you some ideas of what might form part of your own skills to develop and find evidence for. 

  • Working in diverse teams and communities 

  • Data gathering, analysis and communication 

  • Languages 

  • Project management 

  • Flexibility 

Networking  

people sometimes think of networking as a fairly corporate endeavour but in the sometimes niche world of charting development, it can also play an important part. Perhaps you want to learn more about the skills that are vital in a particular role or charity that you want to target, perhaps you want to find opportunities to gain work experience, perhaps you've got more questions that haven't been answered here and you want to get answers straight from the horse’s mouth! This last video offer some examples and suggestions of how you could go about it including 

  • Reaching out to people you don't know, also called the ‘speculative’ approach 

  • Expanding your network through referrals and friends of friends 

  • Getting your foot in the door with volunteering or early-career jobs 

  • Social media, including LinkedIn 

  • Events, including those run by the careers service. 

 

YouTube Videos and online resources: More insights and experiences

 Getting Work Experience 

A common question our students often ask is how to get meaningful work experience in a sector where formal structured internships can be difficult to find.

Find out more through our  Careers in Charities and Non-Profits playlistCareers in Government, Policy and the public sector and International Organisations Playlist 

Other resources
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