By Maya Bhose, Founder, Charity Interns.
A narrated version of this blog is available at the bottom of the page.
Often the best ideas appear when you can’t find what you are looking for. I was looking for a job, but at 61 I had become invisible to hiring managers. Meanwhile, the Chancellor is asking the over-50s to get off the golf course and back to work; the truth is that many would love to do just that, but they are being ignored. I decided to hire myself and fight this injustice.
The charity sector has an older-skewing workforce than private or public, but what percentage of the staff were hired over the age of 50? Age is the characteristic of diversity that is most often overlooked. 65% of all employees feel the jobs market is closed to them applying for roles over the age of 55 and they are right as only 30% of all employers are motivated to hire in this age category.
The idea behind Charity Interns is simple. There are thousands of people over 50 outside the sector who want to work inside the sector. Over half of charities have hard-to-fill vacancies. Why not bring the two together and solve both problems in one go?
The sector faces a challenging operating environment, from funding to regulatory to resource management. It is hardly surprising that many prefer to hire people with previous charity experience who understand the landscape. But with such a significant recruitment problem could there be an opportunity to open the door even further to those who have built their careers in the corporate world or public sector? Tapping into a wider talent pool could not only address the sector-wide skills shortage but also improve diversity in the workforce.
There will be myths to bust on both sides. Often perceptions of what a career in the voluntary sector looks like do not match the reality. It is also worth noting that workplace culture and ESG are priorities in both corporate and non-profit organisations.
So, what next? We are running a pilot this autumn matching talented people with transferable skills with empty, budgeted roles within charities. These six-month internships will be paid at the rate of the vacancy. There will be training to support interns and line managers before and during the internship, and all our learning and insights will be shared with the sector and used to evolve and improve the experience for a hard launch in late 2024.
We can only see an upside. People can extend their careers into more meaningful work, and their age will not be a barrier. Organisations will fill vacancies and benefit from the sharing of ideas across co-generational teams. Managers and their direct reports will ask what they can learn from each other. These new perspectives could increase creativity, innovation, and performance across the organisation. The pilot, which is being incubated within and supported by NCVO, will run from this October to March 2024 and will focus on marketing roles. In time we will broaden to other disciplines. We still have some places available to host an intern. If you’d like to know more, please contact maya@charityinterns.com.
Narrated by a member of the ACEVO staff
