ADB entry- and senior-level staffing: A conversation with Rajat Nag

The Asian Development Bank’s hiring focus may be on mid-level professionals, but it remains an attractive employment opportunity for entry-level as well as senior professionals. One of the latter is Rajat Nag, an ADB veteran who joined the bank more than 24 years ago and currently serves as managing director general. Nag has occupied 10 different positions at the multilateral donor, and has been in the engine room of change particularly when it reorganized regional operations in 2001. Devex spoke with Nag shortly after ADB unveiled a new human resources strategy in 2010 about how the bank seeks to attract recent graduates, independent consultants and senior-level professionals. What advice would you give to those who want to establish a career with the ADB? Consider this opportunity as a privilege to work for the poor. Work to make a difference. Work to bring whatever human capital you have. We are very fortunate to have had a university education. Of course, enjoy the work. We travel a lot. But most importantly, have a sense of purpose and that sense of purpose is to fight poverty in Asia-Pacific because there are so many that are wanting and underprivileged and we’re very lucky to have had the privilege. So, see if somehow we can bring our own skills, our own abilities to bear on these challenges. It’s a great opportunity to combine a career with something that is larger than one’s self. So my advice would be for the youngsters to come in here with a sense of purpose, sense of mission and enjoy! What is the best way in as a consultant? I personally don’t make a distinction whether someone is coming as consultant or staff. It’s an internal arrangement but exactly the same principle. But I think when we bring in consultants, we’re looking for some specialized skills that we do not have. And that’s the benefit to us. For the consultants, I think it’s a great opportunity to bring their specialized skills to bear on a particular problem in Asia within this context. We have often taken in staff from our consultants and they can decide whether this is where they want to be or not. So it works very well, a testing period for both of us. What motivation would you give students and recent graduates eager to work in development? We certainly very much welcome them. I’ll invite them to join ADB – a great place to be, great place to work. More than that, I would encourage them to think of development because that’s the big challenge. We can always think to stay in our little corner of our own bubble of affluence but that is not what life is about. Life is about helping others – bringing our own skills to help others lift themselves out of poverty. So I would tell the youngsters [that] there’s a huge challenge in this world of development, of poverty. So they should be a part of the solution and do whatever they can – and enjoy. We have a young professionals program [and] young economists program. I would say for youngsters, after they get a good academic training, they should just get into the development work, whether in ADB or as a consultant or with a [non-governmental organization] in civil society. As a matter of fact, working in an NGO at the ground level is extremely a good experience and a good way to build your skills to join ADB at the later part of your career. We are very keen on getting good, committed fresh graduates. What opportunities does ADB give high-caliber professionals who decide to work for the bank later in their career? When I joined the bank 23 years back, there was an expectation, I suppose, that you’d come in and stay for a long time. That was the hope. It has changed now. Youngsters coming in don’t have to think of being here in the next 20 years. They can come here for the next three years, for the next five, contribute, learn and move on. For the more senior people, equally, I think it gives [them] great opportunity to change careers midstream to bring their experience [from] elsewhere to Asia, and then again after five years time move on to something else. We are now very actively looking for people to come at various levels not just at the entry levels. And in the process, it does two things. One, it’s good for the bank. It brings in new blood. It’s also good for the individuals to come. It gives them an opportunity to work in a very challenging set of circumstances. Then they can decide whether they want to stay in the bank. Are there a lot at ADB still serving beyond their normal retirement age – or does your case rather serve as the exception? At the moment, the process is that the president decides if he wants to ask somebody to stay on or not. I’ve just been very lucky. But there are other people in the bank who are over 60 [that] have retired [but been] brought back as a consultant, or retired and [been] brought back on a fixed-term employment as staff. Nothing prevents them from doing that because all of them are skilled, experienced people. As consultants, there are many who come back to the bank. I was talking actually about people who come back to the bank on a longer-term basis but as consultants, there are many who come back after they retire. So we’re becoming now much more flexible and it’s really up to the president to ask who he wants to stay. Read more ADB career advice: - Top ADB Jobs Categories: Who’s the Bank Really Hiring? - ADB’s Work-Life Balance for Staff - ADB to Define its Ideal Employee - ADB Jobs: What You Need to Know - ADB Unveils New HR Strategy - ADB to Hire Hundreds - Development Banks’ Young Professionals Programs: What You Need to Know Read more career advice articles.