Introducing CharityJob’s new Research Manager

Hello and welcome to the new research section of the CharityJob website. My name is Martin Rogers and I am the new Research Manager at CharityJob. I have written this blog post to introduce myself and my role. 

Why has CharityJob employed a research manager? 

CharityJob has introduced the role of Research Manager to conduct research with a view both to improving CharityJob and to offering guidance to the sector. My work will see us getting better feedback from our customers to help you use our products and services. The research will support us in our mission to become a research–led organisation offering thought–leadership and insights on all areas of recruitment, including EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), and skills. 

About me

My background is varied, and I’ve worked in many different sectors. I have worked for charities recently, but I started as a wine taster, before working for a trade association and in several government departments. Entering the labour market in the aftermath of the financial crisis was difficult and for years I took whatever job I could get, so I can sympathise with those who will find themselves out of work this coming year as the furlough scheme comes to an end. 

London School of Economics 

I worked at the London School of Economics with world class academics such as Professors Tony Travers and Martin Lodge. I organised events involving high profile politicians including Boris Johnson and the then head of MI5, ran a series analysing UK politics and hosted the HotSeat video series with academics to discuss their work, making it more accessible to non-expert audiences. Whilst at the LSE, I studied a Master of Science in Social Policy (Research). 

Public Policy Research 

I was made redundant from the LSE and took a job at The British Academy, a charity and the United Kingdom’s national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. Whilst there, I worked on Governing England, looking at identity and governance in England. I wrote for the Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer, the Fabian Society’s Fiscal Alternative report, and The Independent among others. I also compared the four UK nations’ approaches to child poverty. 

Education and Careers Research 

Most recently, I worked for Education and Employers, an education charity where my first publication was ‘Disconnected’, on the gap between career aspirations and jobs in the UK. Sadly, like many others, my time there was disrupted by Covid and I was made redundant towards the end of last year. I started at CharityJob in December. 

Why CharityJob? 

The move to CharityJob was one that gave me pause for thought. I worked in the charity sector to make a difference. The reason that charity employees put up with the long hours and smaller salaries is the cause. So, I had to ask whether I would get that at CharityJob. After all, I quit my job as a wine taster because I wanted to do something more useful. 

To see whether CharityJob was the kind of place I wanted to work, I looked through some past publications. The Diversity Hiring Guide was one document that convinced me that the organisation cares about making recruitment fairer. I was also impressed by the reports on the gender pay gap and Diversity & Discrimination. In fact, one of our values is  

“Fairness. We will help charities to reduce bias and discrimination from the recruitment process.” 

I need your help to make our work a success 

I have been tasked with helping to drive progress through research. As well as using my research skills to try to improve the user experience, I will be leading work on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion around hiring practices as well as skills and other areas. CharityJob is looking at exactly what to do on this topic, and we would love to hear from you. 

Our new research work will become visible on the website shortly, so keep an eye out for the new insights. If you are interested in any of these issues, please contact me at [email protected].