Development Sector Is Evolving As A Preferred Career Choice Of Professionals And Young Minds

Gaurav Shah Dec 27, 2018

The development sector has evolved as a vibrant, exhilarating place to work in, full of opportunities and the flexibility to shape your career. It is no longer just synonymous to ‘The kurta pyjama (or jeans & dhoti), sandal wearing NGO professional with a jhola on their arm’.

Over the last decade, the social sector has witnessed a paradigm shift. The sector is now much more diverse in terms of opportunities and thereby more open to accepting and providing these opportunities to people from different backgrounds, with different hopes, aspirations, skill sets and visions of change. The rise of a Professional Social Sector in India has opened a plethora of opportunities, especially for the millennial generation. All the young minds, bright students and even experienced professionals can now build a meaningful, satisfying and financially sustainable career in this field. You are no longer required to ‘sacrifice’ your life or work only as volunteers or contractual staff.

Today, Development organisations have evolved from ‘just grass root NGOs’ to a variety of categories ranging from international NGOs, social foundations, CSR/Corporate foundations, social enterprises, social consulting organisations, funders, ecosystem creators and research organizations etc.

Social sector has seen a significant growth in the past decade and is witnessing the emergence of numerous job profiles and a wide array of viable career options to fulfill the huge shortage of professional talent. The sector has career opportunities for a varied range of professionals as job profiles include Strategy building, Communications & Engagement, Fund raising, being part of the CEOs office (strategy, data based decision making, planning), Managing M&E, Programme leadership, CSR, Partnerships & Alliances, Social Entrepreneurship, Operational Leadership etc.

Within this landscape, people looking to build lives and careers in this sector should keep certain things in mind and the decision to make this transition must be thoughtful and rational. It is critical to know and analyse a few things from an individual’s point of view before planning a career in the social sector:

Passion is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition

Working in the development sector definitely requires a combination of the Head (the ability to think), the Heart (the ability to empathise) and the Hand (the ability to do). Unlike the corporate space, where a lot of people continue working for their whole lives without having any emotional connect with what they are doing, this is just impossible in the social sector. If you want to build meaningful and sustainable careers in the social sector, then invest your time in preparing yourself to work in this sector.

You don’t need to sacrifice your Life

While money can be the primary driver for work in the corporate space, it cannot be the main and continuing motivation to work in the social sector. Having said that the development sector does not require you to ‘sacrifice’ your whole life, work pro-bono and have uncertain careers (contrary to the general outdated belief). A fresher from the Post Graduate Program in Development Leadership at ISDM last year got a salary in the range of Rs 4 lakh to 6 lakh per annum depending on role and organisation. The average salary across all students was in the range of Rs 7 lakh per annum with the maximum ranging around Rs 12 lakh to 13 lakh per annum.

You should join the sector for the Right Reasons

The most enduring reason to work in the development sector is what it does for you. If improving the lives of the underserved and underprivileged is what gives you happiness, then the sector is for you. This desire should be based on your need to live in a society that is caring and compassionate; social justice, equality, liberty; not with the mindset that you are doing something great. Don’t do it out of a misplaced sense of power (Doing it will make me great), competence (I am so good, if not me then who?) or guilt (I have got so much, I must give back)

There is no ONE kind of person required in the sector

Just like any other sector, the development sector requires people with multiple skills and aspirations to play multiple roles. Given the complexity of social issues (education, health, livelihoods, environment etc.), we need people who understand what development means and are able to approach it more systematically and not just through ‘common sense’ - it is not only about 'doing good'. There is a need for a professional approach that is particular to the development sector and grounded in the context of this sector.