5 tips for applying to WFP's Junior Professional Officers program

Every year, highly talented young professionals join the World Food Programme as junior professional officers, a first step to pursuing a career in humanitarian assistance and development. Candidates are selected on a highly competitive basis, and they are one of the most valuable resources for the organization. They bring expert knowledge and fresh ideas from their countries, along with innovative solutions, according to former WFP Human Resources Director Prerana Issar, at the headquarters in Rome. Prerana, who recently met with and answered questions from JPOs about their careers, shared some of her top tips with Devex. We’ve distilled the tips into five key messages for applicants aiming to kickstart their career. Prerana’s advice has been edited for length and clarity. 1. Clarify your vision The first advice I would give to young people is to have your own vision, a vision that other people can follow and would like to follow, a vision that makes a difference in the world. It requires a bit of time and nurturing to articulate what your purpose and sense of vision is. Of course the mandate of the organization that you have joined is part of that, but you need to have your own individual vision of how you want to shape the world. Wherever we grow up, we always have a vision, a dream of how we want our community and our world to be. We see the problem and we see the opportunity. Sometimes people wonder: “Who am I to have this dream, who am I to create this vision?” Actually, it’s each one of us who is shaping and creating the world. From your vision, you get a very clear idea of what kind of work you want to do. So have a vision, say it out loud, tell others about it. Because when you voice it, it becomes more real. 2. Accept there will be challenges Give yourself the space to build [your vision] and be proud and unabashed about it. Then, be a little bit possessed by it, because there are so many obstacles in the complex world in which we operate. People from outside the U.N. say: “It’s all bureaucratic.” The vision is the fuel that you need to get through all of this complexity without feeling at some point that this is too hard, and that you are going to give up half of your the goals. It’s really a matter of saying that “there are going to be obstacles, but I’ll keep going.” [You need] that fuel to keep cutting through the challenges. Don’t forget to always look at how you can inspire and bring other people into your vision and have them join your journey. 3. Seek learning opportunities on the job Lots of people ask what skills are needed. If you look at the world that WFP is operating in and at the political situation, in Syria for instance, nobody could have predicted what has happened in the last eight years and what is still happening there. How can you have the skills when you don’t know what the world will look like? Statistics say 30 or 40 percent of the jobs that we have today didn’t exist 10 years ago. The only skill that will enable all of us to deal with future challenges is agility, which is the ability to shift and learn new skills and new information as the need arises. Always set up a learning opportunity for yourself. Choose jobs where you are constantly challenging yourself, and choose managers who will stretch you and say: “You can do better, and this is how.” The ideal job to make you grow as a professional is one where you have 70 percent of the skills needed, and 30 percent are new skills to learn. After a few months, if you feel a little stuck, it means you haven’t learned something new. Learning gives us tremendous energy. Go to your supervisor and say: “I would like to do a new project, or please take me to a key meeting because I want to learn how to engage with the donors or community leaders in the refugee camps.” Be proactive and try to create further learning opportunities for yourself. 4. Don’t play it safe Especially in the early part of your career, do not play it safe. This is the time to really test yourself, see where you want to work and what kind of contribution you want to make to the world. Don’t let any kind of established rule get in the way of pursuing your passion. After joining an organization, bear in mind that the organization you work for can’t read your mind, so always put your hand up and say: “I would love to do this job inside the organization.” I am really addressing myself a lot to women. We need more humanitarian leaders who are women, because women bring different skills and perspectives. We need to have 50 percent men and 50 percent women. Our beneficiaries are 80 percent women and children in most of the conflicts and camps. We want to have more women as humanitarian leaders, to be more effective in our work. I think that women are not putting their hands up as much as they should. I think they need to demand a bit more from the organizations they work for in terms of flexibility, balance and support, and in turn, organizations need to do more for them. 5. Building your employability for the long term When you apply, don’t think about a job as a job. Think about how you will be employable for your entire career for 50 years. Employability is really about having strong learning skills and working in an area that interests you. Whatever work experience you are gaining, whether you are doing an internship, a project or studying, do that really well. That is what positions you to be employable in the long term. In today’s war for talent, the best way to get your next job is to be very good at your current job. Looking to make a career move? Visit our career center for expert advice on how to navigate your job search — all you need is a Devex Career Account to get started.