Jobs in International Organizations

Have you ever imagined for the work of international organizations such as the United Nation (UN) or in a non-governmental organization? How to start a career in International Organizations? A job in international organizations is very challenging and interesting. If you are accepted to work in institutions such as the United Nations, you are likely to be assigned overseas. Salary and benefits offered by international institutions is also very interesting, especially for the younger generation who want to crave international experience.

There are various ways to start a career in International Organizations. First, following the recruitment process the positions of General Services, which is usually done locally with the announcement posted on the internet and local media. Second, following the recruitment of Professional Services positions are conducted internationally and highly competitive selection process. In addition to professional qualifications, the deciding factor to consider is the representation of the region, age, gender and language skills.

In general there are two kinds of candidates for the Professional Services, and the means and opportunity to obtain these positions vary according to categories: i) a recent graduate (fresh graduate) with limited work experience, and ii) professional who has had considerable work experience. Here is a translation of a variety of ways to start a career in international organizations for the two categories above.

A) Graduates with limited work experience (fresh graduate)
College graduate with a Bachelor, Master and Doctoral have the opportunity to work in international organizations in the following way:

Internship or Trainee Programs

The majority of international organizations have internship or trainee program that started several times a year and lasts for 2-6 months. The programs are open to students of Master or Doctoral program. Some OI have a maximum age limit between 30-35 years. In addition to the requirements of minimum education requirements are also English language skills are very good and also the possibility of mastering another language.

Internship (Internship) or trainee is an excellent way to gain work experience and build networks (networking) that can be useful to facilitate job applications at international organizations in the future. But the internship or trainee cannot be used as a benchmark to get a job at the International Organization in the future. Some of international organization such as the United Nations even has rules that do not allow internal staff to apply for positions listed in the United Nations during the internship program lasts six months and thereafter.

For those who have aged over 25 years and have little work experience may also join to become a UN Volunteer (see below).

Young Professional Programs

Young Professional Programs intended to attract talented young people and provide opportunities to gain work experience in international organizations. Such programs usually last for 1-3 years.

Although this type of program does not guarantee the continuation of work in an international organization automatically, but these programs are very competitive. As an illustration, in 2004, OECD received 2.500 applications for seven positions on offer. Have work experience and / or PhD degree will be very helpful.

Direct application

Applications can also be done directly. Most of international organization, including UN agencies, NGOs, OECD and financial institutions and research job opening on the internet. The UN has a special e-recruitment system known as the Galaxy.

It should be noted, especially for the Secretariat of the United Nations, the majority of vacancies for entry-level positions were not announced because recruitment is usually done through a special mechanism such as the National Competitive Recruitment Examination (NCRE). There should also be emphasized that for the positions being announced the competition is very high given the nature of the global recruitment. Although called entry-level, but relevant work experience and / or doctoral degree would be helpful.

B) Professional who has had work experience
Professionals who have relevant work experience can join the OI through the following ways:

UN Volunteers
One other way to work in international organizations is through the volunteer program (UN Volunteers). UN Volunteers program currently employs approximately 8.000 employee’s worldwide experience. The volunteers are usually employed in overcoming the problems of humanity, support human rights, peace missions, UN agencies, development banks and NGOs. Assignment usually lasts between 1-2 years.

A person over the age of 25 years and have at least 5 years work experience can apply for a volunteer. Candidates who are selected will be included in the roster for 2 years after being elected. There are various kinds of qualifications are required, and at its current roster covering 115 professional categories including agriculture, health, education, communication technology, medicine, etc.. As with the general requirements on the vacancy of other international organizations, the need for English and French language skills are very good, but other language skills is a plus.

UN Volunteers are very attractive for mid-career professionals. Although this position does not guarantee continued employment, but this type of work can provide an excellent opportunity to gain experience in OI and can be taken into consideration when applying for the international organization in the future.

Direct Application

Vacancy for the position of director of professional categories and published widely, especially through the internet. This process is highly competitive and a variety of factors such as language skills, regional and gender representation is considered. Relevant work experience to be one key to success in order to be elected.

After the reform of the Office of Human Resources Management held in 1998, the UN has a centralized recruitment website, the Galaxy, where all the vacancies available in the Secretariat be announced via the website. UN agencies and other OI announced position vacancies that exist in their organization on their website.

Source of information: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.