Volunteering with the UN: A mid-level career strategy

Volunteers are commonly perceived as young and inexperienced individuals who are eager to make a difference, but those on assignment with the United Nations Volunteers have an average of 5 to 10 years of work experience. So while some aspiring aid workers start out in the industry by volunteering, this profile doesn’t quite encompass the many volunteers — and volunteering needs — out there. Devex hosted a webinar with United Nations Volunteers, where many participants were surprised to learn that volunteering is not just for recent grads, but in fact most U.N. opportunities require significant amount of experience and technical expertise. You must be at least 25 years old with two years of relevant experience to be considered for a UNV assignment, but the average age of a volunteer is 38. “The right expertise is critical considering the core responsibilities of our UN volunteers,” said Rita Tsering, UNV recruitment associate. Volunteer conditions can vary from difficult to stable based on duty station and assignment length, and you can find United Nations Volunteers serving as civil affairs officers, air operations officers, human rights officers, medical doctors and youth advisors, to name a few. The program is currently seeking health professionals — which are almost always in demand, according to a UNV recruitment associate — as well as those with a legal background and volunteers with political science or finance experience. Want to seriously stand out? Language combinations are also highly in demand, according to Manuel Brakaj, UNV recruitment associate. UNV recruitment associates also spoke about their online volunteering program, where professionals with experience in writing and editing, design, translation, training, IT development, research and project management can contribute their skills and knowledge from the comforts of their own home. See more: Volunteering: It’s not just for college students and recent grads Volunteering in a post-2015 environment Check out more career advice and analysis online, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news.