Seeking a job with a meaning in the non for profit sector? Frustrated because your job search is going nowhere? Your resume is not properly noticed or it is not given the value it deserves? Ads are too expensive ?
Do not despair! A Scottish successful recruitment service for NGO’s, Good Moves, made a grand entrance in Brussels and revealed its success which has created massive efficiencies and financial benefits for NGO’s through its sector focused approach. The event took place at the Thorn Hotel in Brussels on October the 6th. Vita International was media partner of the launch.
Now partnering with European civil society agencies, Goodmoves is growing into a European portal designed to replicate the proven benefits on a continental platform.
As outlined John Ferguson, Director of Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) , the impact in Scotland of Goodmoves has been enormous with 90% of all civil society recruitment using the service.
Over 1000 agencies repeatedly use Goodmoves and constantly report high quality applications from job seekers and successful recruitment outcomes. The company takes pride in having saved the sector in Scotland over £15m in actual advertising costs alone. Good Moves estimates the administration efficiency savings amongst recruiters totals another £20m.
After the presentation of Good Moves’ services, the conference participants sat together to address the challenges that employers and job seekers in the NGOs sector are facing when it comes to recruitment, with a focus on information availability. Here below some takeaways.
* Existing online job portals that advertise jobs in the third sector have a limited range of filters a job seeker can apply in his/her search.
* Existing job portals, probably due to high costs, mostly advertise jobs posted by big organizations. However, jobseekers, especially entry level ones, would like to see more jobs in small and medium organizations as well;
* A more proactive approach is requested by users: to find in the same place not only jobs but tips for jobseekers, additional support actions like informal meetings with potential employers, networking opportunities;
* The NGO sector could benefit from a professional networking platform of its own;
In another session called ‘Recruitment for NGOs context and sector specific’, participants addressed the forces that impact the recruitment process in the sector, the trends, and how participants perceive the process and existing tools. Some of the discussions' findings were:
* The sector is still perceived as less professionalized compared with business and public affairs sectors, incomes are less attractive;
* Although the jobs in the sector increased (note we are specking Italy, Germany and partially Belgium) and the development jobs sector is perceived as booming, issues were raised in respect of unpaid internships used as full time jobs, and number of project-based and temporary contracts increased. Situations were mentioned where in order to be accepted as intern/volunteer you have already have to be financially sustainable, leading to a squeezing of the entry level jobs in the sector;
* The need for more connectedness within the sector was highlighted, as in line with car sharing, food sharing, but not yet fully HR/staff sharing;
* The sector needs data and statistics related to the NGOs recruitment process and a dedicated platform could achieve this and provide relevant information for policy making at EU level;
* Gender and age related issues were identified as well: majority on staff in NGO sector are women, and the older the staff of an organization the more difficult to get the most of the social media.
There are more inputs and findings. You will be able to access them by keeping you eyes on Vita Internatinal, Good Moves, Enna, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and DeVerenigdeverenig.
Cover Photo: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
