I want to preface this by saying that I’m writing not as an expert, but as someone who manages to make a living working for an NGO. In this role and others, for the past couple of years, I field calls and emails about once every two weeks- asking how a friend, relative, friend of friends cat can break into the sector. So here is my two cents, written hopefully in a way more articulate than my usual rushed reply. 

My first response when fielding these queries is: “Why?” Why do you want to do it? You will work more and get paid less. All charities and NGO’s are different. What organisations do you support already and why? What are you interested in? I would urge you to think about what you can contribute- what do you actually want to do within the organisation? For example, there are more roles in fundraising than in the supposedly “sexier” roles.  What do you want to achieve for yourself and what difference do you want to make in the world? I would suggeast putting time into answering these questions for yourself first.

Still keen?

Breaking in

Once you have broken in, if you’re good, usually, you’re in. As I see it, there are basically two pathways to getting your foot in the door. They are volunteering and skilling up.

Volunteering is great for several reasons: seeing what an organisation is like from the inside, building relationships with people within an organisation, finding out specifically you might want to do within a relevant organisation and gaining a (hopefully) glowing reference for your resume.

Make yourself indispensable! It can still be a “who you know” game, so never underestimate the value of professional relationships and impressing people that may one day help you out.

Gaining specific skills in a specific, relevant area is a longer-term view of getting a job in an NGO. Already being qualified and experienced probably means that you could enter an organisation at a higher level initially and progress further up the ladder. Here are a couple of examples from my work; where a colleague was working as a journalist before working in communications, or gaining experience as a social worker before being an aid worker overseas.

Checking websites such as ethicaljobs.com.au  and http://www.acfid.asn.au/get-involved/job-vacancies (for the aid sector), staying on employment lists and keeping up to date with job ads at key organisations will keep you in tune with opportunities and also give you an idea of what roles are out there. Also, do your research, don’t just look at organisations that you’ve already heard of, there are plenty more out there.

And I could continue, but I guess the main thing is turning up.

Radio is such a great medium for telling stories. Here are a few tips for making the most of the time that you are on air.

From my experience cringing listening to my own interviews and guiding people through the basics, and some advice from radio journalists, here are some dot points to help you out.

1. Know what you want to say. Have the key points that you want to communicate in your mind or even have them written down in front of you (although not a script- how much do you hate people that read out speeches word for word?). So often we know so much about the subject that we forget which are the key messages we need to convey. If you don’t know what you want to get out of the interview or what messages you want to get out there- reconsider doing the interview.
2. Talk to the interviewer- use their name, engage with them like a normal converstaion- it’s more interesting to listen to. Think of them as your audience and don’t get caught up thinking of how many people could be listening. 
3. Be yourself! An audience can smell insincerity a mile away. Don’t feel like you have to use big words or all of a sudden be a rocket surgeon.
4. Use a landline phone and be in a quiet, uninteruptable place. It sounds obvious, but it makes a big difference. Or ideally go into the studio if you can (it helps with the converstaional feel and the sound quality is much better).
5. You are going to make a mistake. Don’t stress. If it is a pre-recorded interview you can ask to stop and say it again.  
6. If the interview is live just keep going! It’s like any conversation, we are all going to trip over a word- don’t stress about it, just keep going and make sure you are conveying what you want to be saying.
7. Limit your main points to no more than 20 seconds so that they can be used for soundbites. Try to avoid words like “firstly” and “secondly” that would mean your quote couldn’t be used for soundbites.
8. Use concrete examples and case studies- people relate so much more to these than abstract big ideas.
9. Answer the question, well, at least acknowledge the question that was asked, and get those key messages out there. “Jim, that’s a great question, I would say…”
10. Why is the journalist speaking to you? Who else are they speaking to? Chat to them as much as possible before you go on air to figure out how they view you and what they expect from the interview.
11. Know what it is you have to offer- Unless you are an uber celebrity- the press aren’t interested in you but what you have to offer. Make sure you convey this in the interview- whether it is new knowledge, an opportunity to get involved or a specialist opinion. 
12. As painful as it may be (yes, your voice sounds like that) listen to the show- give it even further reach by tweeting, facebooking and spreading that message far and wide.