The Corporate Social Responsibility professional: A content analysis of job advertisements

Abstract

Although many organizations have been currently implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, little is known about the required competencies for the professionals responsible for such practices. In order to fill in this research gap, based on the Stakeholder Theory, the objective of this study is to identify required competencies for a set of CSR-related professional job titles by analyzing job advertisements using the Centering Resonance Analysis technique. Besides, the study is aimed at comprehending differences and similarities among the distinct job denominations. This study found out that among the job titles analyzed, most job opportunities were found for Fundraising, Public Affairs and Sustainability. Such opportunities are usually for Mid-senior level and Expert professionals, although a considerable amount of job advertisements seek to hire interns. In terms of CSR dimensions, our study identified a predominance of Environment and Social dimensions. As far as professional competencies are concerned, the ones related to the business context and management seem to be more usual. For scholars, this work contributes to CSR research by identifying different competencies needed to perform CSR-related activities that could be used in the future to characterize professionals’ competencies in theoretical research models. For practitioners, this work could guide companies that need to recruit such professionals, who could better understand which competencies they should develop according to market demands. In conclusion, we expect this study contributes to development of CSR professionals’ competencies that will be used to overcome challenges faced by different types of organizations and the society.