We don’t. In our experience, we find that these practices aren't particularly useful at highlighting the traits we are looking for in our organisation. They often either exclude people who would be a good fit or give us very little information about a person. Lots of skills can be gained easily and many things you learn during a university education transfer only minimally. First and foremost, we want compassionate, motivated and driven activists. Particular skills or knowledge come second. We do not want to focus all our attention towards your current knowledge or background.
While this is a semi-specialised role, we don’t require you to know a lot about fundraising, campaigning or communications. But the truth is that knowing these topics a little will help you score higher in some of the recruitment tasks.
Not having an understanding of the below listed topics could put you at a disadvantage if you are new to the job market or haven’t yet had the opportunity to work in places where you could pick up relevant knowledge.
We want to level the playing field by providing a list of topics, knowledge and skills that may help you in the recruitment process. By familiarising yourself with these materials you will gain the needed understanding and context which may help you navigate the process.
We recommend looking through the topics that are not familiar to you. We also place higher value on skills like reasoning, intellectual humility and making judgments, so we think you should prioritise them if you are short on time.
Remember that we put together these materials with the aim of helping those who may be new to animal advocacy or to roles like fundraising. You should still consider applying for the role even if you aren’t familiar with everything listed.
If you need any guidance or have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us - [email protected]
Note: Some links will direct you to a “Resource Library''. Open Cages is part of Anima International and the Resource Library is the organisation’s database of materials which are free to use for any animal advocate around the world. We have included these materials because they are real pieces of content and information used within our organisation, so they tell you a bit more about how we think.
Relevant topics: theory of change, effective altruism, pragmatism, veganism, animal welfare, animal advocacy movement, animal advocacy strategy, interventions within animal advocacy, prioritisation, impact, cost-effectiveness.