Anyone who's worked in global development knows just how competitive the sector is — and if you’re completely new to this world, now you know. But whether you’re a recent graduate trying to land your first job or an experienced professional looking to advance, there are ways to get a leg up during the application process.
This edition of Devex Career Hub is all about the CV. I’m sharing insights from recruiters at top development agencies to hear firsthand what they expect from candidates. You’ll also learn what not to do when compiling your application, including specific tips to avoid overwhelming the reader. Plus, explore job opportunities at the United Nations Office for Project Services, One Earth Future Foundation, and more.
P.S. While I’m sharing a lot of great CV advice here, I also know that many of you have picked up a few tips of your own during your career. You can email me your thoughts at justin.sablich@devex.com, and I’ll share some in a future edition.
Change Management Coach
Tetra Tech
Remote
Monitoring and Evaluation Senior Manager
UNOPS
Myanmar
Grant Specialist, Future Labs
One Earth Future Foundation
United States
Bid Manager
Scope Impact
Remote
With a single job posting receiving hundreds or even thousands of applications, a candidate's CV must make a strong first impression to move forward in the hiring process. Recruiters at some of the top development agencies tell Devex what they are looking for:
• “[The candidate] has to make a compelling case and not have one standard CV for everything they apply [to].” — Prasun Chakraborty, head of human resources, UN Women.
• “CVs need to be very clear. We see CVs that have five or six, even 10 pages with a lot of details. But the CV needs to be very focused.” — Anne Favreau, human resources partner team chief, UNICEF.
• “We are not looking for creative people when it comes to writing CVs — we want these to be fairly structured.” — Peder Apall-Olsen, head of recruitment and development unit, Norwegian Refugee Council.
• “A lot of people don't even upload a cover letter but motivation is one of the first things we assess and is really crucial and important.” — Yana Makaveeva, talent acquisition manager, International Committee of the Red Cross.
Read: Top recruiter tips for development CVs
Watch: How to write your CV if you’re new to development
+ More recruiter insights from: UNICEF | NORCAP | ICRC
“Recruiters like to see achievements and results, so rather than listing the impact of each project, describe the overall impact you created.”
— Kate Warren, executive vice president, DevexWhile the one-page resume rule does not apply in global development, most recruiters advise keeping your CV to two or three pages. So how do you show the depth of your work history in a traditional CV format without overwhelming the reader?
• Create long and short versions. Include all of your projects and assignments in the long version, which can be as many pages as you like. But a shorter “highlights reel” of your CV should be what you use to apply.
• Refine your employment history section. If you held a full-time position but worked on many different projects, pick out those most relevant to the job you are applying for as illustrative examples, rather than listing each one.
• Put a “summary of experience” or “key qualifications” section at the top. Here, you can highlight your most relevant work, plus give a quantitative and qualitative summary of your experience, without listing every single assignment.
Read: How to fit decades of experience without taking up pages
Partner, Business Development
Sustainability consultancy
France
Program Assistant (Asia)
Nonprofit foundation
United States
Campaigns and Political Engagement Manager
International humanitarian organization
Ireland
Advisor: Digital and User Success
Global HIV charity
United Kingdom
There’s plenty of advice out there on what not to do when applying to a job. But beyond getting the length of your CV right, several common mistakes are unique to global development hiring. Make sure you don’t do any of these things either:
• Don’t use the wrong template. Many employers in development have a specific resume template they prefer or even require to streamline their reviews of potential personnel in a uniform way.
+ Pro tip: Refresh your CV with our recruiter-ready templates
• Don’t forget to list the names of project donors. Because donor experience is so important to global development employers, not including this key detail may give the impression that you lack specific experience that you actually have.
• Don’t leave out country specifics. While the names of your city and state or province may be well known within your country, employers based elsewhere may not understand where you worked, studied, or lived.
Read: 5 common global development CV mistakes
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