Which charities offer paid graduate training schemes?
A. You need to start preparing for entry into the few graduate training schemes or paid internships that do exist, as they will be highly competitive. The charity sector is rapidly professionalizing but doesn’t offer a large number of paid schemes. Some are listed in the chapter on trainee schemes and internships in Working for a Better World, which costs £5 and is published by the UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Hub (www.ukworkforcehub.org.uk). They include Cancer Research UK, Barnardo’s and World Vision. Graduate recruiters in this sector have plenty of choice, so they will be looking for a good academic record, and, according to Cancer Research, evidence of work experience where the candidate “has shown they are commercially aware or has held a position of responsibility”. So the wisest thing to do is to become a volunteer either while you are still at university, or just after graduation. It might be difficult to work for a long period without money but remember unpaid internships la
