We kick off Careers for Social Good with this guest blog post from Harry Cole, General Manager for the UK at Humanitix. Harry talks about the work of Humanitix and presents an alternative career in social impact.
As part of the University of Edinburgh Careers for Social Good campaign, I wanted to share my own, slightly unconventional journey into social impact tech, and what I’ve learned along the way about purpose, careers and the many routes into doing meaningful work.
Like many students, I left university without a perfectly mapped-out career plan. I studied Agricultural Economics at University, but my degree title has never neatly matched the roles I’ve ended up doing. That used to worry me. In hindsight and in the world we now live in, it’s been one of my biggest advantages.
Your degree is not your job title
One of the biggest misconceptions I see among students and recent graduates is the idea that your degree locks you into a narrow set of roles. In reality, most careers – especially in tech and social impact – are built on transferable skills rather than subject-specific knowledge.
My early roles spanned finance, startups, journalism, and sales. At the time, this felt messy. But each experience taught me something valuable: how to communicate clearly, how organisations make decisions, how to sell ideas and how to build trust. These skills turned out to be just as important as technical expertise.
What “social impact tech” actually looks like
Today, I’m the General Manager for the UK at Humanitix, a not-for-profit ticketing platform where 100% of profits are donated to charities providing life’s essentials. Since launch, Humanitix has donated over £10 million (yes that much) to causes including education, disability support, and humanitarian aid, simply by powering event ticketing.
What attracted me wasn’t just the mission, but the model. Humanitix creates impact through infrastructure and scale. Every event organiser who switches platforms contributes to social good automatically, without extra effort from the end user.
This is a pattern you’ll see across many “tech for good” businesses and social enterprises in general: the impact comes from designing better systems, not just running individual programmes.
And, we all need young, bright and interesting minds like yours!
Tech isn’t just for engineers
Another common myth is that you need to be a developer to work in social impact tech. In reality, these organisations need the same functions as any other business – often more so.
At many purpose-led companies, roles in sales, partnerships, marketing, operations, customer support, finance and content creation are what enable the mission to scale. Without people building relationships, closing deals, supporting customers and making the business sustainable, the impact simply doesn’t happen.
Commercial roles often get a bad reputation, but they are essential. Selling a product that creates positive outcomes (literally millions of pounds every year) is one of the most direct ways to contribute to change.
Purpose that gets you out of bed
Purpose doesn’t usually arrive fully formed on day one. For me, it emerged when I found out that a social enterprise like Humanitix could combine it all together in what I later found out is the Japanese concept of Ikigai.
Key Components of Ikigai:
- Passion: What you love.
- Mission: What the world needs.
- Vocation: What you can be paid for.
- Profession: What you are good at.
Working in social impact hasn’t meant sacrificing ambition or professional growth. If anything, it’s raised the bar. Purpose-led organisations still care about performance, results and accountability – because real impact depends on them.
Advice for students interested in social good careers
If you’re curious about working in social impact or tech for good, here are a few things I’d encourage you to think about:
- Broaden your definition of impact. Not all meaningful work happens in charities or NGOs. Platforms, tools and systems can create change at scale.
- Don’t rule out commercial roles. Sales, partnerships and growth roles are often the engine behind impact.
- Use university experiences strategically. Societies, part-time work, volunteering and entrepreneurial projects all build skills that employers value.
- Let your career evolve. You don’t need to have it all figured out — just keep learning and adjusting.
Finding purpose in tech isn’t about following a single, perfect path. It’s about staying open, building useful skills, and choosing opportunities that align with the kind of impact you want to have over time.
