Where to look

1. Job advertisements

National press

• The Guardian (Monday- PR and marketing; Wednesday - public sector and general charity; Saturday - general)
• The Voice (weekly)
• The Times (Thursday - executive and senior management)
• The Independent (Monday - media; Thursday - general; Sunday - management)
• The Daily Telegraph (Thursday - general)
• The Sunday Times
• The Observer
• The Economist

Local press

• The Evening Standard (Monday - London Jobs supplement, Wednesday - Public and Community) for London based charities
• The Metro (Wednesday - Public and Community)

Check your local and regional press for jobs in local charities and in national charities with regional offices or with head offices outside London.

Charity press

• Third Sector (Haymarket Group)
• Engage Magazine (NCVO)
• Fundraising (Plaza Publishing)
• Charity Finance (Plaza Publishing)
• governance (Plaza Publishing)
• Civil Society IT (Plaza Publishing)

Specialist press

If you have a specialist background check your own trade press - charities seeking to fill a specialist job will often advertise in the journals read by that profession eg. for PR and marketing:

• PRWeek
• Marketing
• Third Sector
• Campaign might feature ads.

Specific charities' magazines; newsletters and notice boards

Some jobs are only advertised internally and unless you have access you won't hear about them - this is one of the many advantages of volunteering.

Websites

Many organisations now use their own websites for advertising vacancies and there are an increasing number of recruitment websites which advertise voluntary sector jobs. See the weblinks on this site.

2. Charity recruitment agencies

You may want to call them first to check which particular areas or levels of experience they require - and whether your skills mix is of interest to avoid wasting CVs and postage.

Often they recruit for a charity by placing an advertisement as well as trawling their own database. In addition to those listed below some individual consultants offer recruitment advice to their clients and some of the major recruitment consultancies operating in the commercial sector will also occasionally have briefs from charities - usually the big ones.

For web links to specialist charity recruitment agencies, visit our links section.

3. Direct approach

You can also select a few of your favourite charities and write to them or email them directly. Always send a covering letter with your CV in which you outline clearly what your skills are (don't forget to include IT skills) and the type of work you feel you can do for them.

Find out the name of the person to write to rather than use Dear Sir /Madam and DO enclose a stamped address envelope as it tends to ensure a speedier reply and shows you are sensitive to the limited resources of your chosen charity.

Useful organisations

For a list of links to the organisations below, visit our links section.

• Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)
  Provides services to help donors make the most of their giving and charities make the most of their resources - in the UK and overseas; it publishes an extensive range of reports and directories on the voluntary sector and runs the annual charities conference each Autumn.
• Charity Commission
  Central regulatory body for charities in England and Wales
• Directory of Social Change
  Publishing and training organisation for the voluntary sector - it also has a library, a bookshop and runs the annual 3 day Charityfair event each Spring.
• Institute of Fundraising
  Membership organisation offering training, information and advice to fundraising professionals and those wanting to become fundraisers.
• National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)
  A membership organisation which provides information, publications, training, conferences as well as legal, financial, IT and fundraising advice.
• Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA)
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)
• Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA)