Career opportunities in CSR

Career opportunities in corporate citizenship are as varied as the companies in which they can be found. Unfortunately, whether the position focuses on corporate community involvement – managing the company’s corporate contributions or volunteer program – or a wider arching corporate citizenship program with strategic ties to the company’s business strategy, there is no clear path to get there.

With few undergraduate programs offering courses directly related to corporate citizenship, let alone a formal degree program, the path to a career is often through other functions or experience. According to Center research, typical pathways into the field are from non profits, public or governmental affairs, public relations, corporate communications, human resources, marketing, EHS (environment, health and safety) operations and the government sector.

In the past few years, as the array of stakeholders has expanded and their expectations have grown, companies have restructured old jobs and created new positions. During this time we have also observed more movement in the field, with seasoned executives moving from one large company to another as opportunities become available. For recent graduates and people just trying to break into the field, the path is even less clear.

Net Impact‘s Social Impact Career Handbook says that there are more CSR jobs than ever available to MBA candidates, but the growth in candidates’ interest exceeds the growth in positions available. Because “a number of current CSR professionals report that many CSR positions are filled internally and that these positions require significant experience,” the authors suggest that job seekers should also “consider non-CSR jobs as a potential in-road.”

Key competencies for careers in corporate citizenship. What is clear is there are certain key competencies necessary to be successful in this field. The Center has identified seven:

Strategy: Ability to align corporate citizenship or community involvement with social and business priorities to deliver value to both the company and to society Issues Management: Ability to identify and track emerging issues and to implement effective resolution strategies Relationship Building: Ability to build mutually beneficial, trust-based relationships with internal and external stakeholders Communications: Ability to communicate effectively both inside and outside the company Program Design and Execution: Ability to operationalize strategy through the development of executable initiatives Performance Management: Ability to establish and track performance targets and drive continuous improvement Change Management: Ability to mobilize and shape organization-wide action and involvement

Management development through the Boston College Center If you’re already in a corporation, one of the best ways to advance your career is by getting involved with the Center through one or more of the following offerings:

•  Education programs: Our management development programs will help you develop the skills, strategies and competencies to be successful in this field. Whether you enroll in a single program or pursue one of our certificates, this experience can increase your value to your company and, ultimately, enhance your opportunities for career advancement.
   
• Conferences: We provide many opportunities to meet face-to-face with your peers. Our biggest event is our annual International Corporate Citizenship Conference, which draws hundreds of professionals from around the world.
• Professional development and leadership: Speak at a conference, contribute an article, or provide advice and mentoring as a way to grow and demonstrate your leadership.
   
• Community Involvement Leadership Roundtable: The CI Leadership Roundtable is an ongoing forum to identify and discuss social and community development trends, review changing public policy and public expectations for corporate engagement on social issues, discuss trends, share experiences and benchmark best practices.
   
• Webinars: The Center hosts monthly webinars that feature the latest research and information from experts on a variety of topics.

Job listings and networking sites. There are a few search agencies that focus on the corporate citizenship field, including:

• Acre A CSR and climate change recruiting firm based in the UK
• Allen&York - UK base Environmental Recruitment Specialists
• Ellen Weinreb creator of Sustainability Recruiting, one of the first recruiting firms in the United States
• Martha Montag Brown & Associates
• Bright Green Talent UK and USA based recruiting firm for the environmental sector
• BSR jobs Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) is the largest single employer of US-based CSR consultants.
• BSR  BSR lists external international CSR jobs 
• CSRJobs.nl Internation CSR Jobs, based in the Netherlands
• CSRJobs.de German CSR jobs
• Clean Edge  A source for clean-tech jobs
• CSR International A community of professionals
• Cool Climate Jobs These jobs have the word “climate” and “carbon” in the title
• DoGoodJobs Sustainable and Social jobboard
• Duurzamevacaturebank Dutch jobboard for sustainable jobs
• Eco Employ Stronger on nonprofit environmental jobs that corporate 
• Eco job Dutch jobboard mainly environmental engineering clients
• EthicalCareers.org Based in the UK, this site has a few job listings and promotes a book entitled “The Ethical Careers Guide”
• Ethical Performance Ethical Performance is a social responsibility newsletter
• Environmental Career These jobs are more for people with environmental degrees than MBAs
• Environment Jobs UK  Several nonprofit and public sector environmental posts in the UK
• Evergreen Resources Evergreen Resources, an environmental recruitment company, UK based
• Grist Eenvironment news site with job offers
• Green Dream Jobs Also known as SustainableBusiness.com
• GreenBiz.com A resource for information about environmental sustainability and business
• Green Jobs This is the one stop shop for solar related jobs
• Green Jobs International German-based meta site
• Isaacson, Miller Executive search for mission driven organizations 
• Just Means – A newer player, combines social networking with well-populated jobs listings
• Low Carbon- mostly UK jobs around mitigating effects of climate  change
• Net Impact – Net Impact, an association for business leaders
• Recluta – a search and selection consultancy out of the UK.  
• SVN Job Listings – Social Venture Network is a membership organization
• Social Investors Forum – The best site for Socially Responsible Investing jobs
• Sustain Jobs – A new site focusing on renewable energy and climate change jobs
• StopDoDo-  A portal for environmental and NGO related jobs
• TreeHugger-  US based, similar to StopDoDo but more

A number of organizations, including the Center, also provide online networking and job listings:

• Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
• Business for Social Reponsibility 
• Corporate Responsibility Officer
• Ethical Corporation Magazine
• Ethical Performance
• Idealist
• JustMeans
• Lifeworth
• Net Impact

University Programs

Boston College’s Carroll School of Management is well represented in corporate social responsibility by Professor Sandra Waddock, one of the world’s leading experts in corporate responsibility. She is the Galligan chair of strategy at the Carroll School of Management , former editor of the Journal of Corporate Citizenship, and the author of several books on corporate citizenship, including her most recent, “The Differencemakers: How Social and Institutional Entrepreneurs Created the Corporate Responsibility Movement”.

Boston College is also the home of the Leadership for Change program, which uses a multi-disciplinary academic approach to leadership development and the interplay among responsibility, accountability and profitability. The yearlong program provides credits in the MBA program and is also available as an executive learning program for mid-career professionals meeting eligibility criteria.

Only two universities offer a master’s in Corporate Social Responsibility – the London Metropolitan University and the Nottingham University Business School – but many MBA programs offer a CSR component. (It is also possible to speak individually with schools to investigate designing a custom program in CSR.) This is a growing field so this list may change quickly:

• Bentley College Alliance For Ethics And Social Responsibility
• Columbia Business School
• Cornell University Johnson School
• Fletcher School at Tufts University
• Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative 
• Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative
• Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management
• Program on Social Enterprise at Yale School of Management
• Schulich School of Business at York University
• Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management
• UC Berkeley Walter A. Haas School of Business
• UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler School
• University of Michigan Ross School of Business
• University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business
• Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western University
   

Finally, the following universities offer online resources about careers in corporate citizenship:

•  Georgetown 
• George Washington   
• University of Edinburgh

Please let us know if you’re missing something

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• Corporate Social Responsibility and the Job Hunt (csrjobs.nl)
• Career opportunities in CSR (csrjobs.nl)

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Tags: Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, Business, Business and Society, Career, Corporate social responsibility, Education, Employment, Job Market, MVO, Net Impact, Recruitment, Social responsibility, Sustainable