Looking for PR job at charity - any advice?

SkintMonkey

I'm looking for a new job in PR/Communications and have decided to focus on job hunting within the charity sector.

Does anyone here do PR for a charity? Do you have any advice?

Doesn't seem to be much around my area at the moment which I assume is because of the summer - but in the meantime are there any good websites you would recommend me looking at for jobs.

Cheers.

LittleVoice

http://www.charityjob.co.uk/

http://www.peopleunlimited.co.uk/

SkintMonkey

LittleVoice wrote: »

http://www.charityjob.co.uk/

http://www.peopleunlimited.co.uk/

thanks, I'll have a look.

GiveItBack

also www.thirdsector.co.uk and www.fundraising.co.uk

Savvy_Sue

If you want to stay local, also worth looking at websites for your local Council for Voluntary Service (google that plus town / city / county. Ours is excellent for all kinds of local jobs.

One thing it's occurred to me to say to you and the other recent poster interested in working for a charity: please don't go into this all dewy-eyed thinking how wonderful it must be to work for a charity, how fulfilling it must be, how delightful to be surrounded by idealists etc.

Charities are staffed by people. People are people, wherever they work. Some are appalling to work for / with, and others are delightful. You MAY go home with a warm glow some days: others you will go home thinking "What the ??? did I achieve today?"

Or is that just me who's found that?

For the record, I LOVE my current job, we are appreciated and very well cared for, and there's no backstabbing. BUT there are still difficult moments, and days when I stagger out completely exhausted thinking "They don't pay me enough for this ..."

GiveItBack

Couldn't agree more Sue. You may find there are people who just don't 'get it', there are people who are set in there ways, charities can be slow moving - but then it's up to us impatient ones to drag them along. I'm not sure it's any easier in temrs of pressure - sometimes for fundraising the pressure is simply different. EG I didn't do well with one particular aspect, my boss might be understanding - sometimes no matter how well you plan things conspire against you and / or things fail, so the pressure comes not from the boss, (perhaps), but from knowing you have failed to save lives / help people.

It's not for everyone, BUT when it works, when things go as they should, it's great knowing that I've done something, not just increased some profits.

lady_stardust

Hi, I worked in marketing, fundraising and PR for national and local charities for a few years.

I don't know where you are in the country, but the vast majority of work in London. Outside of London you have far less choice and might have to take whatever's going. Most areas have a hospice charity and some local charities do have a PR department but as far as the national charities go there is very little to be had outside the capital.

It is nice to be working to make money for the greater good rather than to line directors' or shareholder's pockets and that is what I miss the most. The work is also interesting and quite glamourous - I attended lots of functions, met lots of celebrities and worked on some fun events.

On the other hand the industry is very, very competitive and PR jobs are very sought after which means it tends to attract people that are ruthless, ambitious and very difficult to work for. Because it's a charity, you are expected to go above and beyond the call of duty a lot and do a lot of unpaid overtime and generally not have a life. It did wear me down in the end and I hankered after a job where I could just go home and switch off.

The best way into it is through temping - uncertain cash flow means that a lot of charities rely on temps at every level of the business, from administrators to heads of department. Getting a few short term contracts under your belt is great experience for seeing how different charities operate and won't affect your prospects for a permenent position as it is exactly how everyone else got there!

Good luck