From climate change and mass migration to inequality and homelessness, the challenges the world faces today can often seem both countless and daunting. We know that deciding where to focus your efforts to make a difference is no easy task, so we’re hoping this section can be a useful starting point.

The Effective Altruism approach provides a helpful framework for making such a decision. According to this approach, the following criteria are useful for assessing whether it pays to invest your time or energy in a specific problem area:

  • Size of a problem:  How many people’s lives are affected by the problem? And to what extent?
  • Difficulty of a problem:  How difficult / easy is it to make (measurable) progress? How likely is it that our effort will have any positive effect at all?
  • Awareness of a problem: To what extent do experts already work on solutions? Is the problem on the "radar" of key decision makers, or is it comparatively neglected and underfunded?

The Sustainable Development Goals

If you know you’re seeking a career with a positive impact, but unsure where to focus your efforts, using the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guide to shape your choices can also be a handy first step. The SDGs are 17 goals upon which the international community agreed in 2015 and which aim to unite member states under a common strategy for sustainability. They range from the creation of sustainable cities to the eradication of poverty and gender inequality.

Organisations of all types are increasingly using the SDGs as a framework upon which they base their key objectives, so they offer a great starting point for your impact career. You can find more detailed descriptions of each goal and further useful resources here.

In the sections which follow we've outlined some of the key issue areas to which you can dedicate your career. We’ve also put together list of main UK organisations leading the charge in each area as a good starting point for finding world-changing jobs.

Looking for a first stepping-stone into the social impact sector? Check out these UK training programmes which will give you the hands-on experience you need to launch your career.