Graduate Careers at Oxfam

If you want to work for Oxfam you must be passionate and dedicated to the causes it works on. Jobs are available worldwide, ranging from being a shop manager to humanitarian support personnel, administration or promotions.

Job opportunities can be found at www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/work_with_us, where jobs can be searched in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Each profile will contain information about the role, salary, location and the type of skills and experience necessary. Oxfam receives thousands of applications for each post, so the more exactly you can match job requirements, the more of a chance, you have of scoring these sought-after positions.

Oxfam offers unpaid internships lasting between three to six months, and long-term ones between six to 12 months. Interns are expected to volunteer for between two to four days per week. The short-term internships usually involve hands-on experience in working on specific projects while longer internships are mainly reserved for candidates on gap years or postgraduates, and are more involved, with opportunities to work on different projects. The programme is divided into three intakes throughout the year: January, June and September.

Oxfam tends to recruit staff locally when working on projects overseas Oxfam tends to recruit staff locally. If you are committed to working abroad, contact the Volunteer Development Agency (a department of Volunteering England) at www.volunteering.org.uk for further information. Oxfam does not accept speculative applications.

Oxfam Graduate Recruitment Info

UK: 0300 200 1292

Overseas: +44 (0) 1865 47 3727

Oxfam Profile & Stats

Oxfam started nearly 60 years ago and has grown into one of the most successful brands in charity. What began in Oxford as a group of concerned citizens collecting money locally to help the Greek victims of World War II has developed into more than a chain of charity shops. It’s now a worldwide campaigning and development organisation with affiliates in 13 countries.

Founded in 1996, Oxfam International consists of like-minded independent non-government organizations who wanted to work together to achieve greater impact in poverty reduction collectively than they could through individual efforts. As of 2008, there are 13 Oxfam organisations based in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Quebec, Spain and the US. 

The charity aims to secure long-lasting change, including policy change. Among the many global issues Oxfam works on are fighting climate change, improving human rights, helping to ease conditions in areas of conflict and natural disasters, campaigning for the eradication of debt, increasing aid, improving education and promoting equal gender rights. However while many of its relief efforts are focused on countries like Africa and Bangladesh, Oxfam maintains focus on problems closer to home with a programme for tackling poverty in the UK. It is also well-known for its support of fair trade.

Oxfam’s income is drawn from individual and corporate donations, gifts and wills as well as from major donors such as the EU. The organisation maintains high visibility by running shops around Britain, as well as an online boutique, frequent communications and updates to its members, a strong media presence and partnership in big-name sports events. It has benefited from celebrity endorsement and through reaching out to a younger demographic.

Though pay is obviously not fantastic, working at Oxfam includes many perks, from childminding services to opportunities for job sharing and flexible working hours. Other benefits include a pension scheme, life assurance, personal accident cover, London weighting allowance, paid sickness absence, professional association fees, loans and staff discounts.