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Are United Nations agencies really that much different than most other NGOs when it comes to consulting roles?
“There might be a few more box-ticking exercises that U.N. agencies do in terms of having requirements to post something publicly,” Loksan Harley, a veteran consultant who has done extensive work with the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, said Monday during our latest event for Career Account members. However, “I don’t think there’s anything exceptional about how U.N. agencies recruit consultants and work with consultants,” he added.
In fact, many elements of the recruitment process for U.N. consultants can be surprisingly casual.
In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing a few key takeaways from my discussion with Harley and fellow veteran U.N. consultant Nicole Hosein. Speaking of the U.N., we also spoke with a recruiter on how UNDP applicants can stand out. Plus, featured job postings from the likes of USAID, World Vision, and more.
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Top jobs this week
1. Director of Finance & Operations
Global Health Corps
United States
2. Senior Development Program Specialist (Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning)
USAID
Germany
3. Data Analytics Officer
Caribbean Development Bank
Barbados
4. Organizational Capacity Building Specialist, USAID Regional Resilience Activity for Sahel
World Vision
Senegal
Behind the curtain: Consulting for the UN
“Networking is so incredibly important in consulting, whether it’s for the U.N. or other NGOs. You’re just much more likely to be [hired] because of how the work is structured [and] because of how long recruitment processes can take for some U.N. agencies.”
— Nicole Hosein, former consultant, UN WomenTwo veteran U.N. consultants shared insights on their experience with various agencies, shedding light on what it takes to land roles and succeed.
Recruitment can be fast and informal. Recruiters often need to move quickly to fill short-term roles and may lean more heavily on referrals. This makes effective networking even more vital. “Direct hire is often much more the modality they will go with, especially for short-term contracts,” Hosein said.
Networking can be enjoyable, and scalable. Harley spoke of the migration podcast he hosts as “a scalable way to reach people and to demonstrate my expertise to people, and also I enjoy doing it.” It’s also a much better “excuse to contact people” than sending cold LinkedIn messages that are framed just “for the sake of connecting.”
Contracts can be fickle things. Hosein explained how she once “started off as a U.N. volunteer” and ended up on a consulting contract, without her role really changing. But its how she started what was the first of many U.N. consulting gigs. “You can start off one way and go another way, and a lot of it has to do with funding issues and priorities,” she said.
Watch: How to land U.N. consulting roles and deliver results (Career)
Recruiter Insights: UNDP
Building on the advice offered by Hosein and Harley above, Lykke Andersen, the head of talent acquisition and people programs at UNDP, says they want consultants “who can hit the ground running” and echoed the sentiment that “reputation and networking” can make a big difference. Here are some more tips and insights for all applicants with an eye on UNDP.
Are you a good fit? Prove it. “Make sure that your application fits … the position and not the other way around. Many people present themselves in a vacuum. You need to say what and why you fit the job,” she says. Use keywords in the job posting as a guide “and relate to them.”
Data and digital are in demand. Beyond roles related to “our signature solutions and corporate operations, new cross-functional areas such as systems-thinking, digitalization, data analysis and management, as well as portfolio management, are increasingly in demand,” she says.
Spend your time wisely. “Invest time into preparing a targeted application. Do not start your job application the night before the vacancy deadline,” she says. “Do your homework, and immerse yourself in the job description of the position to which you are applying.”
Read: How to land a role with UNDP (Career)
More recruiter insights from: UN-Habitat | UNICEF (Career)
Members-only jobs this week
1. International Consultant - Support to the Skills Gap Analysis
United Nations Agency
Ethiopia
2. (Associate) Project Analyst
Regional development bank
Philippines
3. Communications and Content Officer
Relief and development agency
United Kingdom
4. Senior Economist
International development organization
United States
The rise of the global south expat
Did you know that the modern-day NGO expat worker is far more likely to be from the global south, working in their home region but not their home country, than from the global north? In many cases, these workers would prefer not to leave home, but what they can earn as an international worker is so much more.
“We’re stuck. We want local candidates, but we reward people for going outside their home countries,” said Laura Wigglesworth, senior director of global talent acquisition at CARE USA, tells Devex.
Wigglesworth and other recruiters say this is a sector-wide problem holding back the localization agenda. What, if anything, can be done to lure nationals back while fairly compensating staff no matter where they work?
Read: The rise of the global south expat — and why it's bad for localization (Career)
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• Child advocates open up. Former youth advocates talked to Devex about how their work came with consequences that NGOs didn’t always appreciate, including online harassment, mental trauma, and even death threats.
• A ‘bottom-up’ approach to climate finance. Mahmoud Mohieldin, the U.N. special envoy on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, told a Devex audience in London last week that the world could only chip away at climate finance targets by engaging the communities most affected by climate change.
• Inside USAID’s business forecast. The world’s largest bilateral aid donor plans to spend $23.3 billion in the coming months. Here’s what the data says about its priorities. [Pro]
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About the author
Justin Sablich
Justin is a contributing writer and editor who previously led Devex’s careers content strategy. Before joining Devex, Justin served as the managing editor of Springwise, covering sustainable and climate-tech innovation across all business sectors. He also spent over 13 years as an editor and writer for the New York Times, specializing in digital content production and strategy while producing written and multimedia content on a range of topics, including travel, sports, and technology.
