Careers at NGOs & Other Organizations

Pam Perraud, UN NGO Director

For those who are interested in working in the non-profit sector – for an NGO or an international organization like UNICEF -- it’s often tough to figure out where to begin. At New York University’s new Center for Global Affairs, a panel of speakers from the field came to talk to students and the wider public about a sector many people are curious about.

Moderator Joyce Munn was a headhunter specializing in the international non-profit sector based in New York but catering to a worldwide clientele. She started her own company a few years ago and has found a lucrative niche market that most recruiters ignore.

All of the guest speakers were employed by NGOs and most had also worked for more than one UN agency so they had a lot to say about how to find a job and how to move among jobs in the sector.  Here are some things they agreed on.

Skills Needed for UN Jobs

• Patience
• Cultural understanding
• Adaptability
• Commitment to the cause
• Willingness to roll with the punches
• Perseverance
• Language skills
• Diplomacy
• Broad range of international experience
• Tact

Specific Skill Sets sought by UN or NGOs

• Fundraising/grant writing
• Technical – engineering specialties (water, energy, etc)
• Health – public health/doctors/nurses
• Legal  training
• Financial/accounting
• Public relations/communications/media
• Economic development expertise
• Management (general admin/project/logistics)

Note –  A graduate degree in a specialty area helps, as do several languages, however, it was noted that a PhD is useful for only high level research jobs.  A doctorate is often considered a handicap as recruiters view the training as “too ivory tower.”

Jobs at the UN

Many of the UN agencies, particularly at the HQ levels in New York and Geneva, are large bureaucracies and  job advancement can be slow in large bureaucracies.

• There are many jobs at the UN and its agencies which are short-term contracts which are not advertised. Once you get inside one of these institutions, working on one of these  contracts, it’s easier to prove yourself and to hear about other jobs within the system.

• The full-time employees of the UN are well paid.  enefits include some tax-free status as well as college tuition for children as well as attractive mobility allowances.

• Because the benefits at the UN are good, it is often hard to find the same level of remuneration in the private sector.

• Constant mobility requirements can put a major strain on the family.

• There is a lot of mobility between UN agencies.

• The headhunter advised that some UN experience is good, but by spending too many years at the UN, “lifers” are regarded as “out of touch” with the real world.

NGO Experience

• Several said it was better to go to a small NGO in country and find a position there where you have more of an opportunity to do many different jobs and learn more skills.

• Field experience is crucial and too much time in the HQ of any NGO does not necessarily help job mobility.

• When looking for NGO work, “follow the money.”  When there is a disaster (ex. tsunami) or a crisis (i.e. New Orleans or Darfur), there will usually be a flurry of activity and there will be jobs for NGO workers. You have to be in the right spot at the right time.

• Both  the UN and NGOs like to see  several years field experience on a resume of prospective job applicants.

The Speakers’ Own Stories

Human Rights Begins in Vermont

The first speaker, Gabor Rona worked as Legal Director of Human Rights First,  an NGO working to ensure the legal rights of those  detained by the government and assisting those working for human rights in other countries.  He originally was a litigator in a small town in Vermont for 15 years when he got involved in a case regarding Indian rights, this peaked his interest in rights of other minorities.  He went back to law school and received an LLM from Columbia, where he studied International Human Rights Law.  That degree took him to Geneva, where he worked for six years at the headquarters of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent.  There, he was heavily involved in cases enforcing post-conflict rules most specifically, the Geneva Convention.  He credits his 15 years experience as a litigator and Columbia University’s stellar placement office as the key to finding his job.

“Getting in” on a Cause

Another speaker was Afia Dash,  a young NYC native,  who had a sense of commitment to a cause.   Armed only with an undergraduate degree in psychology, she saw an advertisement on a friend’s desk about an organization, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative that was organizing fundraising for a cure for AIDS.  She decided “she needed to be a part of it.”  She went to their website; called them up and offered to work for free just to be a part of it.  She started out doing all of the lowly jobs at the office including receptionist, intern, etc.  Eventually, she was hired as a junior publicist.  Now, she is the Country and Regional Program Director coordinating AIDS programs in several countries.  Her main advice to job hunters is to go to a place you really want to work and offer to learn what you don’t know, even if you do not get paid initially.  Basically, show your commitment.

Bicycles to Fundraising for Justice

The last speaker was Eric Detiger, Deputy Director for Development of the International Center for Transitional Justice in New York.  Dutch by birth, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business and immediately set off for Asia to find a job.  He arrived in Thailand in the 1980’s when Thailand was booming.  He put an ad in a local newspaper announcing “he was available” and amazingly, he promptly got about  5 job offers.  He was hired and worked as an Assistant Manager of a bicycle factory but, after a year he decided it was time to move on.

He then decided to move to New York.  He knew no one there, but he did have the name of one person at the UN.  He contacted that person and that person put him in contact with more. Finally, he landed a short term contract job at UNICEF working on Convention on the Rights of the Child which was in the process of being negotiated.   His short term contract was renewed several times, but he realized that he would not progress further at UNICEF without real field experience.

Under the UN system, there are opportunities to transfer within the UN system. Erik found his “field work” experience working 2 years in Nepal for the ILO (International Labor Organization) followed by 2 years working with refugees in Tanzania.  While he loved the work in Tanzania, his young wife who had just given birth was not pleased with the local living conditions, so they came back to New York.  Because of his past field experience but despite no medical background, he was hired UNICEF to work on a global measles project.

After three years of that, he realized that he probably should leave the UN system because UNICEF, like many of the UN agencies, required most of the staff to rotate every few years between plush assignments (New York, Geneva) to less plush assignments in the third world.  He felt the rotation system was no longer compatible with his growing family and his wife’s yearnings for roots.  He is now responsible for fundraising and development for an NGO that deals with the aftermath of war including prosecuting perpetrators, reparations, reforming justice systems and facilitating reconciliation.

Recommended Job Sites

www.idealist.org – Thousands of jobs in the non-profit sector. Easy to navigate and for $50 you can post your resume.

www.reliefweb.org – This is where all of the professionals get up to date information on the latest disasters, proposals and jobs.

www.fdncenter.org – One can look up all sorts of information on funding, grants for projects all over the world.  Great for “following the money.”