WWYD? Private sector lawyer to charity

[JengaJenny]

I am a City lawyer (10+PQE) who has worked in the City for my whole career. I am finding it increasingly soul destroying - the emphasis on profit above everything, the tick box D&I initiatives, the constant pandering to the egos of partners and clients and excusing bad behaviour because they bring in the money, and the work itself is pretty dull. On the plus side it pays well, my team is (mostly) nice and my working pattern is generally pretty flexible.

I have held several trustee roles over my career and volunteered in other capacities with a number of charities. I feel as though the third sector is where my heart is and can’t ignore the nagging voice telling me to give it a try.

I have just been offered a job with a fairly large charity for a cause I am passionate about - the team seem lovely and relatively stable and the work sounds fascinating. It would involve a 50% paycut but we can just about afford it. My parents think I am insane to even consider it but my husband is supportive.

I really don’t know what to do - I have heard many horror stories about moving into the third sector and the thought of leaving my team at what is a very difficult time makes me feel ill, but I’m worried I won’t get this opportunity again.

Any advice/stories would be greatly appreciated!

I have undertaken a couple of in-house secondments with clients and enjoyed the dynamics which is another reason why in-house at a charity is something I would like to try.

I made exactly that move 10 years before retirement (different profession but Private to Third Sector)

Mh experience was

• I loved the Charity I worked for
• And finally felt I was doing something worthwhile

BUT

• I found it very difficult dealing with Trustees decision making. I was a Director of the Charity but my decisions would often be vetoed without good reason.
• Simikarly Trustee demands. Don’t expect a lighter workload. I lost count of how many all-nighters I had to work because of sudden, ad hoc deadlines for copious amounts of information needing to be wrestled and analysed from a 20 year old, not fit for purpose, IT system.
• Recognise that funds will always (and should) be focused on Charitable purpose first and foremost. That 20 year old IT system might need replacing urgently, but it wont be.
• In my experience there is also a very different dynamic with staffing. My team comprised of 3 paid members of staff and 30+ volunteers. You learn a whole new level of management skills when your staff are volunteers. You have to accept and manage workloads around volunteer availability and recognise that if your team don’t like your management style, they will just walk out. In total my organisation had over 500 volunteers and there was an enormous amount of effort put in to keeping them motivated and happy.

i could go on and on describing the differences, but looking back I know I would make the switch again, in a heartbeat, just because of my feelings about the Charity. I would hopefully be less naive though, about the very different challenges such a role would involve.

Sorry, have tried removing the big spaces in my post but the edit function is not playing ball

Thank you @Tremblingmadness - that’s such a helpful insight! I thankfully (?!) won’t be working directly with volunteers in this role but having had some involvement managing them in one of my voluntary roles I can very much relate to your experience. The workload will definitely be a consideration - I’m no stranger to hard work but there is a limit…!

It’s a real head vs heart decision!

@JengaJenny

My decision was definitely a heart decision. It was the result of me wanting to ‘give back’ for something the Charity did for a member of my family.

But, I was definitely naive. The workload far exceeded my previous City FTSE 250 role and I also took a 50% pay cut to do it.

iI am still paying the price for the move. I left that specific Charity after several years and went to work for an equally worthwhile Charity. My salary never recovered and my Pension provision took a real hit.

I would still do it again though, in the same circumstances.

Thanks @Tremblingmadness - it’s so lovely to hear from someone who has done this. If you don’t mind me asking - did you find that working for a great cause makes it easier to deal with day to day frustrations? I am under no illusions that working for a charity will not be all unicorns and rainbows but I am hoping that the fact that my efforts will be contributing to a great cause I am passionate about will help keep me going (unlike where I am at the moment which is effectively all about making more profit to line the pockets of the senior partners).

Sorry - I’m under no illusions that it will be all unicorns and rainbows…

I did a similar move (Big 4 to a Charity). The pay cut and lack of benefits is a lot but luckily my DH is supportive and a high earner. It also gives me a fair amount of flexibility that I didn't get in the corporate world. I realised it I had got very use to the support services in a big firm - design, IT etc and just having budget to do stuff! I also find the slow pace of it frustrating at times. We have an ex corporate lawyer who has just joined me time and she's struggling with that a lot too. Overall though, I'm glad I made the move. My work is interesting and valuable and it's actually enhanced my career prospects significantly in the long term.

I've done this - commercial sector in-house to charity in-house. I echo what other posters have said about workload and resources, especially if your charity's income is skewed towards restricted (ie project-specific). I'm expected to deliver miracles with a tiny staff and few tools at my disposal, and the workload is always more than I can realistically achieve. But what keeps me there is the variety of work, the feeling that my job is meaningful, and the colleagues. I worked with some right arseholes in the private sector, and there seem to be mercifully few of them where I am now.

Plus, pay isn't great but I can work very flexibly, which is worth cold hard cash to me.

Thank you @mynameiscalypso and @moggerhanger - really interesting insights. The thought of fewer arseholes is very appealing!

@JengaJenny I wasn't expecting fewer arseholes but it's turned out to be a definite plus! Where I work at least, there seem to be fewer egos to stroke. I can't imagine going back into the commercial sector, for all the downsides that the third sector undoubtedly has.

Thanks again for all the input. I keep reading the job details and am so excited about them in a way that I have never been about anything in my private sector career.

@JengaJenny

The cause definitely made it easier to deal with the frustrations, especially as I was in frequent contact with recipients of the services we provided.

I also had massive respect for a lot of the colleagues working alongside me.

However, the frustrations were very real. There is nothing like building a business case for changes that can deliver massive savings or income improvements to an organisation, just to see it knocked back by Trustees without discussions or explanation.

But such is life. I too, was sick of the profit driven focus in the Private sector, but had to recognise that Projects which previously would have been approved because of their impact on Profit were suddenly much more difficult to implement. It taught me a lot and I spent a lot of my time and energy on Trustee relationships.

I am not trying to put you off in any way. Just ensure you are aware that the Unicorns and Rainbows are few and far between.

I am more proud of my achievements and the changes I delivered in my Charity roles, than anything I delivered over 20+ years at Board level in the Private sector.

Not a lawyer/in legal but I made the move from working in tech in finance/insurance to the charity sector and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
I took a fairly substantial pay cut (not 50% though) but I have a huge amount of flexibility and work 4.5 days in 4. I find the atmosphere completely different to working for corporates, everyone is ultimately there because we’re passionate in one way or another about the cause. I will say the charity I work for though is bigger than some of the previous companies I’ve worked for, but they are keen to remind us we are a charity and spend accordingly.

Thank you to everyone on this thread for your insightful comments - I am really grateful that you have each taken the time to comment and share your experiences. I have accepted the offer. I am both terrified and exhilarated!😀

I was hoping you would! TBH, what's the worst that can happen - you hate it and pack it in to go back into private sector work. But I bet you enjoy it, highs lows and all.

Thanks @moggerhanger - you’re completely right. I am expecting much incredulity from my boss and colleagues when I give my notice, but I know I am making the right decision for me.

Is there any way you can find out more about the culture at the charity?

There can be such a huge variation in in house jobs. Some have a lovely culture and while you are paid less than private practice you are also given less workload and more flexibility. Others can be frying pan to fire, you’re expected to work just as hard as pp, be on call all the time, but with a fraction of the pay. And some can have awful politics - there can be a lot of jostling for position in a way there isn’t so much in pp, because you are a cost centre and management might decide they don’t need you if you’re not visible enough.

I wonder if you have any contacts there via your trustee work or otherwise who could give you an honest insight?

Thanks @minipie , really good points. Unfortunately I don’t have any contacts or of verifying this but the people I have met through the various interview rounds have been at pains to emphasise how flexible they are with hours/out of work commitments and they seem genuinely lovely (and culture is rated highly on Glassdoor, Indeed etc). I honestly don’t think it could be any worse than some of my private practice jobs which were extremely toxic and left a lasting impact on my mental health.

Ok sounds good! Had forgotten about Glassdoor.