Careers with social impact

Source: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/sectors/social-impact/ Parent: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/sectors/

If you are looking at this page, you may want to work for an organisation you feel has a positive effect or influence on society, nationally or globally; or you may be looking for a career focusing on environmental or social responsibility.

You could put these aims into practice in many (if not all) of the job sectors on the Careers and Placements web pages, in non-profit, public and private sector organisations.

The roles that would enable you to make a positive impact are many and varied. For example, within the area of human rights, you could be a human rights lawyer, representing political prisoners; a PR professional, promoting the work of a water charity; working in a think tank to influence policy making; a research assistant working for the United Nations…

Here we highlight some particular aspects to consider, and useful resources in the areas of ethical careers, human rights and social research.

Find out about careers with social impact

• The UN's 17 sustainable development goals and definition of human rights
• Look at what the organisation does, what it supports, how it is funded, organisation values and code of ethics.
• Organisations such as Business in the Community can be helpful as they include over 800 members committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
• Companies, charities and public sector organisations can be members of the Good Business Charter, providing accreditation for responsible business practices. It measures behaviour over 10 components: real living wage, fairer hours and contracts, employee wellbeing, employee representation, diversity and inclusion, environmental responsibility, paying fair tax, commitment to customers, ethical sourcing, and prompt payment.
• An increasing number of organisations in the UK are Certified B Corporations, businesses meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and accountability.**

More resources

• Think about what is important to you when looking at a company to work for. This article from Prospects Luminate has some pointers: Sustainability increasingly important to young talent (July 2021)

• Find out about many job sectors where there is potential for social impact, particularly

• Charity and Voluntary Sector
• Civil Service, Central and Local Government
• Criminal Justice
• Environment
• Healthcare
• International Development
• Politics and Public Affairs
• Social Care and Social Work\ \
• University of Oxford: Careers beyond profit
• Ethical Consumer for information on the ethical integrity of various companies
• Impactful Government Careers
• Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability
• 80,000 hours careers advice around "effective altruism" and how to choose a career that has impact
• Probably Good career guide - American guide to help you choose a meaningful career
• Social Enterprise UK
• Social research: read about the variety of sectors and organisations employing social researchers and think about where your interests lie.
• The Social Research Association is a good starting point for information on careers in social research, and offers student membership.
• The Market Research Society information on roles in market and social research
• Government Social Research profession
• Prospects job profiles: social researcher and Government social research officer.

What skills do I need?

Specific skills and qualifications will vary depending on the roles or organisations you are considering. See individual sector pages on this website, and job profiles on Prospects. In addition you are likely to need

• Self awareness
• Communication and relationship building skills
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• Resilience
• Research skills

For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the York Strengths Professional Skills page.

Work experience

• Many large charities and organisations involved in human rights work have volunteering opportunities or internships - check their websites for details
• Careers for Social Impact - help professionals grow in their careers, find work they love, and expand their impact.
• Centre for Social Justice - work experience placements
• Human Rights Lawyers Association annual bursary scheme
• Human Rights Watch - internships and volunteering
• Idealist - internships and volunteering
• York Internships

Find jobs and further study

When job hunting, take into account the organisation’s: 

• Environmental impact – of operations, products or services
• Marketplace and business conduct – responsible behaviour in developing, purchasing, selling, marketing
• Social or community impact – local or global
• Ethical governance – conduct and ethics at all levels in the workplace
• Workplace practices – equal opportunity and anti-discriminatory practices

Look at companies’ activities in the light of your own definition of ‘ethical’ practices. The Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, the UK’s professional body for this area, offers free student membership.

Don't forget to look at the Finding jobs sections on the other job sector pages, and the application resources on the Apply for jobs pages.

General jobs boards

• 80,000 hours - careers advice and jobs board
• Acre - jobs in Sustainability, Corporate Affairs, ESG, EHS and Energy
• Idealist - non-profit organisation advertising jobs, internships and volunteering
• Women in International Affairs Network (WIAN) offers free membership, and advertises roles across a range of sectors, regions and experience levels

Specific sectors and organisations

• Amnesty International
• Centre for Social Justice
• Human Rights Watch
• On Purpose offers a one year programme consisting of two six-month placements, training and mentoring, in organisations with social and environmental impact. They are looking for potential leaders, with three years’ previous work experience.
• Arcadia Impact - seeking to empower people to create meaningful positive impact in a range of areas, with an emphasis on AI safety
• UN careers, including job networks and career paths
• The Right Ethos - external affairs jobs in the not-for-profit sector
• Social research
• Government Social Research profession
• Local Government departments such as social services, housing, education and chief executive departments
• National Institute for Health Research
• Academia, teaching departments and specialist departments such as the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York
• Independent research organisations, eg National Centre for Social Research or Economic and Social Research Council, Institute for Public Policy Research, including think tanks, market research organisations

Further study

• You may want to consider further study in Ethics, for example in the fields of ethics and law, healthcare or cybersecurity.
• Some people move into human rights work later in their career, after some years of experience with a professional qualification, eg law.
• It is possible to work as a social researcher after completing a degree in a relevant discipline, especially if your course includes social research methods and statistics. However many employers now expect entrants to have a more detailed knowledge of research techniques, which may be acquired by taking a taught Masters course in social research methods, or by doing a research degree (MPhil, PhD).

What can I do at York?

• Volunteer to show your commitment to making a difference
• Get involved with a human rights organisation; sign up for newsletters; follow relevant campaigns and activists on twitter; join campaigning groups and events, such as Amnesty, or People and Planet
• Join a York Students’ Union society- use the filter,  'Campaigning and Political' to find your fit.
• Try the UK Public Service virtual experience programme on Forage (2.5 hours) to find out more about making a difference in your community (and then put it on your CV!)
• Look for internships with York Internships to gain experience and relevant skills
• Do you have a business idea driven by a social or environmental purpose? Look into how you could set up a social enterprise and see your business make a difference. As a student at York, you can get support to help launch your idea
• Explore the York Interdisciplinary Modules (YIMs) and develop key skills and competencies in working across disciplines on local, regional and global sustainability challenges.
• Recent graduates may begin in administrative positions to gain experience in an organisation, so take opportunities to develop good IT and administrative skills while at university
• If you’re interested in working abroad or for an international organisation, learning additional language(s) may also benefit you (see the Languages for All courses).

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, event recordings

Connect with York graduates

Join York for Life to connect with our global network of alumni. Start building your own network - find people from your course, look at different careers, ask questions and request a mentor.

Use LinkedIn to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about using LinkedIn and networking.

Podcasts

Listen to relevant episodes of our What do you actually do? podcast series, for example:

• A career in corporate social responsibility with Daniel Arda
• Making people's lives healthier with Sam Thomas
• Making medicine with Tom Ronson
• On the beat (Thames Valley Police) with Ross Gehnich
• Making a splash (environment sector) with Tom Pagett
• Prison officer (Unlocked graduate scheme) with Dan  (Note: the Unlocked scheme has suspended recruitment for 2025.)

• Climate Communications Consultant with Cass Hebron

• BBC Radio 4 podcast What's the best job to do good? with Ben Todd, founder of 80,000 Hours ethical careers service, and others (August 2021)

Events

• Transform society events (usually October), advertised in Handshake

Attend relevant careers events as these can be great networking and information gathering opportunities – our sector events and the Global Opportunities fair give you the chance to hear from and meet professionals working in these sectors. In many departments we also run smaller alumni events, giving you another opportunity to meet graduates working in a range of sectors including Foreign Office, journalists, researchers, lawyers, charity campaigners, PR professionals. There are more details on these and other events in Handshake.