Combining a passion for a cause with earning a living is the perfect mix for some people.

Find out about working in the charity sector.

There are three different employment sectors. These are the private sector, where companies are owned and run by individuals to make a profit; the public sector, where organisations are owned and run by the government and the third sector, also known as the charity sector.

Working in the charity sector is ideal for those who are dedicated to helping others and have excellent communication, presentation and organisation skills.

Working in the charity sector can mean anything from working for a small local charity in a customer service role to being the finance director of an international charity. You could find yourself recruiting and training volunteers, carrying out marketing activities, managing door-to-door collections, creating fundraising materials or lobbying government on behalf of a charity, looking for donors and creating donor lists.

Traditionally pay in the charity sector is less that it is in the private sector but some roles with large or international charities pay pretty well.

Most people who choose to work for a charity don’t choose it for the money. People who want to work for a charity normally want to do some good, help people and make the world a better place.

Working in the charity sector makes it possible to match the work that you do with something that you feel really strongly about, whether that’s human rights, animal welfare or something like cancer research. For some people this is the perfect combination of work and doing some good.

The downside of working in the charity sector is that money is always tight, the pay can be a lot less than private sector pay. Many jobs are temporary and work can sometimes be part time when you’d prefer full time work. Also, if you work for a small charity you might find that you have to do lots of different tasks rather than focusing on just one. Working like this doesn’t suit some people.

Even charities have to keep up with the times and emerging trends in technology and fundraising are worth thinking about when considering how you could put your skills to use working in the charity sector. To compare jobs that you might find in the charity sector use our careerometer tool