top of page
3.2. The downsides and benefits of working in the sector
In this Unit we will explore some of the downsides of working in the sector, and what the benefits are of working in the sector. Again, this will be done by dipping into the lived experiences of people who work or have worked in the sector.
“You believe in the charity and you want to work super hard” but it is important to know “when to stop and look after yourself, because you can’t pour from an empty cup.”
Rosie
A caveat worth noting here, is that because there are so many types of organisatins in the sector, using different funding models, the feelings around job security may very well be a symptom of a particular funding model, and so not all people across the third sector will have experienced this issue.
"It feels much more kind of cuddly. I feel a lot more comfortable disclosing problems that I’m having and asking for time off, things like that."
Steven
QUESTION TO REFLECT ON
Based on your studies, degree qualifications, work experiences and/or wishes for your career – do any of the experiences of the people from the interviews resonate strongly with you?
"The biggest challenge is that the values and the ethos are to help people. Lots of organisations feel obligated to help everybody, to always be doing more. And I think what we’ve seen during the pandemic is that actually, in a sense, the job is endless. You know that there will always be more people that need help, particularly when we have our current social structures and economic structures. And so the risk there for organisations is that they keep trying to help everybody, and actually there is an ethos there that it’s the right thing to do, and I think there is a little bit for me increasingly, which is I think as a sector we need to push back on that a little bit, push back on ourselves a little bit and go, actually, there is an amount that you can do in a working week, and that well run organisations probably need to think about where they stop helping people externally, so they can focus on their internal capacity. How do they make sure that they’re spending time and money thinking about how their staff are supported and developed, how they invest in new systems, how they test new ideas. These are the things that we don’t always make room for if what you are trying to do is respond to the avalanche of demand."
Ian
bottom of page