5 Reasons a Community Development Career is Perfect for You

Why study community development?

When it comes to communities, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. For that reason, there’s no one set of steps to follow when working in community development. Instead, you’ll take a community-led approach, with these principles as your guiding star:

Sources: International Association for Community Development & What is community development?
Child Family Community Australia

How does it work?

Community development seeks to:

• Identify common problems
• Connect private and public issues
• Enable people to find solutions together
• Support community development programs

What it isn’t:

• Charity programs
• Outside experts or agencies designing solutions
• Consulting with community members – consulting does not go far enough
• A rigid process that’s the same each time

3. The skills you learn will open doors

Want to use your career to make a difference, but unsure of what to study? Community development is an excellent place to start. Studying community development can open doors into the community and public sector. It can also lead you to a wide variety of roles you may not have considered – or known existed – before.

In community development, you’ll empower your own career, too, building a versatile skill set that will enable you to follow your interests and take your career anywhere. Study options are flexible and stackable, so you can start off with a low-cost Certificate and upskill once you’ve got a job. And once you’re in this growing sector, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to build a career that truly reflects your values.

Where do community development professionals work?

As a community development worker, you’ll get a deep understanding of how to organise people, facilitate group conversations, and make things happen. The soft skills you develop while training in community development are worth their weight in gold. 

For instance, the ability to connect with people from different backgrounds is highly sought after across the community sector. But it’s also valued in other sectors too — an ability to communicate and collaborate with many different types of people is crucial to many roles in the business sector, in nonprofits, and in governments.

Employers love seeing community service experience on resumes because it translates so well into many areas of work. This means there are plenty of jobs to choose from where you can apply your skills and experience.

So if you don’t like one job, or you just need a change of pace, you can apply for a different job without having to do another course or going back to university.

Working in the public sector: great pay, job security, and benefits

Starting out in community development

Meet Sarah Liberty

5. You can walk your own path

Want to get out from behind the desk? While there’s some administration work involved, you’ll be anything but stuck to your chair. Community development involves travelling to communities and talking to lots of different people. Building relationships face-to-face and facilitating meetings are the most crucial parts of the job.

If you want something flexible that can accommodate your future plans, such as starting a family, or making a tree change, community development and community services more broadly could be the perfect fit. Part-time work in this sector is common, with 63% of workers part-time.

Study options are flexible, with many people choosing cost-effective TAFE or VET courses. You can also use these qualifications as a pathway into university.

As a profession that seeks to help people help themselves, community development is a rewarding, meaningful career. Studying community development opens up myriad opportunities and broadens your horizons. If you’ve been wanting to make a change and make a difference, this could be the path you’ve been looking for.

Take the first, small step towards a bright new future by browsing community services courses today.