Fundraising Recruitment & Careers Conference 2025

Sessions

Room 1: Careers

Squiggly careers: your next chapter
Speaker: Natalie Chan, Luton Borough Council

In a time of ongoing funding uncertainty and post-COVID shifts, many of us in the arts and culture sector have become more resourceful, embracing the reality of “squiggly careers.” While well-meaning advice reminds us that our job doesn’t define us, the truth is that most of us still need to find ways to earn, live, and lead.

In this session, I am sharing from my personal experience of job-hunting in September 2024 following two short leadership stints—each ending for very different reasons. I want to offer grounded, actionable steps for others finding themselves in a similar position.

This is not just a story of resilience, but a practical guide for anyone seeking to stay focused and finding ways to ‘keep going’.

Whether you’re looking for your next role, applying for funding, or building partnerships, this session will offer insights into how to focus on what you can control, tell your story with confidence, and keep your career moving in the direction you want.

Key learnings from this session:

• Practical tips on framing your story in cover letters, CVs
• How to put your best foot forward in networking, online settings whilst acknowledging your emotions and being your authentic self

Room 2: Recruitment

Inclusive recruitment for charities
Speaker: Jo McGuinness, THINK

Staff turnover and successful recruitment continues to be a top priority, and often a headache, for people managers across the third sector. In this session THINK brings our insight from across the sector to provide a temperature check on both the recruiting managers and candidate experience.

Looking firstly at how we define ‘ethical and inclusive recruitment’, and how important it is to candidates and recruiting organizations. Part data show and tell, part case study, this session will be an engaging look into what matters to job seekers. We will look at where their pain points in the recruitment process are – and what red flags they avoid. Hannah Victor from Diabetes UK will share their experience of changing their recruitment practice for the better, how they did it, barriers overcome, and ultimately – whether it improved recruitment in their team.

This session will appeal to any charity staff with responsibility for managing teams and recruitment. It will be equally as useful to those who find themselves recruiting more often than they’d like, to leaders of teams who are managing feedback from their people managers about how tough recruitment is in the sector right now.

Key learnings from this session:

• An understanding of the state of recruitment in the sector at this time.
• An understanding of how to improve their organizations own recruitment practice to appeal to job seekers.
• Insight from data and experience to inform internal reporting on recruitment, and provide context for recruitment challenges felt.

Disability inclusion in the workplace
Speaker: Kat Gower, Astriid

Join us for an insightful and practical session grounded in Astriid’s latest research, “Working with a Long-Term Health Condition”, and brought to life through lived experience examples.

This session explores the vital importance of accessibility and inclusion throughout every stage of the employee journey, beyond recruitment. We’ll highlight the barriers that individuals with long-term health conditions often face from the moment they consider applying for a job all the way through to thriving in their role. Attendees will leave with actionable tips to begin embedding inclusive approaches into their organisation, regardless of size.

The session will also offer practical advice for individuals living with long-term health conditions, including how to navigate the workplace with confidence. Whether you’re an employer or a jobseeker, this session offers valuable tools and inspiration.

Key learnings from this session:

• The current barriers to employment for candidates living with long-term health conditions.
• Why accessible and inclusive recruitment practices are integral for sustainability and retention.
• Examples of workplace adjustments for employees living with long-term health conditions

Programme

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