The social sector is one of the many industries that require extensive research and fieldwork. Today’s youth is open to explore different career paths and the social sector is one that holds very exciting and promising opportunities that can help in building a financially sustainable, meaningful, and satisfying career.
The job profiles include strategy and planning, behavior change communication, collaborative partnerships, government advocacy, value-based fundraising, systems thinking based program design and management, mission first social entrepreneurship, holistic decision making, corporate social responsibility, ethical and pragmatic M&E, among others.
Here are a few job roles that might be of your interest if you wish to work in the social sector.
Research and Knowledge Creation
If you have an academic bent of mind and enjoy teaching and/or research (knowledge creation and dissemination), the social sector now has a lot of opportunities for your skill set. Like any other space, this sector continuously needs to refresh its knowledge base. It allows you to develop and disseminate new theories and ways of working.
Consulting/Investment Banking
If you like looking at the broader picture and not getting into actual operational roles (on the ground or the organization level), or if working on a variety of different problems gives you satisfaction (width versus depth), then social consulting roles could be for you. If a preference for number crunching, developing effective storyline presentations, and engaging with donors and investors sounds like your thing, then social investment banks might be a good fit for you.
Social Work
If you are basically a technical person then this is a great idea for you. You can enjoy delving into the meat of social issues to get an in-depth understanding of the reasons behind them. This profile is also an ideal fit for those who love working at the grassroots level with communities to ideate and implement solutions.
Mission First Social Entrepreneurship
If you are excited about the idea of building a world-class mission-driven social organisation, then you should go down the path of Mission First Social Entrepreneurship. As an aspiring entrepreneur, there are immense growth opportunities available today in the development space. A new breed of impact investors is emerging to fund such ideas at a large scale. Starting up a purpose-driven social business allows you to leverage your entrepreneurial skills. It offers unique experiences to create, mobilize and manage a platform that supports social transformation.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
With the hike in CSR spending, there is an increase in jobs with good salary packages. The corporate sector is encouraging the hiring of professional leaders and managers for their work in the development sector. The demand for such talents is high so as to achieve the objectives of CSR programs and initiatives in the most effective and sustainable manner. CSR offers a variety of roles including sustainability, auditing, monitoring, reporting, community investment, program collaborations, partnerships and events, marketing and communications, employee engagement, strategizing and planning etc. So if you want to pursue a career in the corporate sector but with a meaningful purpose, choose your desired role in CSR.
