How to get a job with the World Food Program

In the global fight against poverty and starvation, the World Food Program is a relatively small but important player. WFP has lately taken a new approach to addressing global hunger, moving away from food aid to food assistance. But the United Nations program continues to accepts interns and volunteers, and offers a variety of career paths for junior professionals. Devex spoke with Ruth Grove, WFP’s deputy head of human resources, about entry-level job opportunities and how to build a career with the Rome-based program. Here’s Grove… On WFP internships: We don’t want to put interns in some of our most hardship assignments, but we do want to give them an opportunity to see what WFP is really like. In our regional offices, in our headquarter offices, we do have quite a number of interns. [Interns must be enrolled in college or a university, and receive a small stipend.] On volunteering with WFP: We also have a volunteer program where people at any level [can apply]. [Those who want to apply] can send an email to us providing their interest … for a volunteer or for an intern or for a consultant [position]. More or less, the way that we make that available [is the same]: We try to keep a pool of candidates and then, when the managers are in need of someone, they have a relatively available pool or roster of people. On basic requirements for full-time staff: Because we’re a mobile organization, we do require a second U.N. language. So, those languages would be French, Spanish, English, Arabic, Chinese. We also recognize Portuguese as a working language of WFP. You [must] have a university degree. In terms of experience, we do require postgraduate experience in a related field to what the person is looking towards. … To come in at the entry level, we already expect someone to have at least a year or so postgraduate experience. On common mistakes applicants make: I don’t think we find too many of those because our form is pretty structured. So, we’re getting the types of information that are critical for us. We do ask for competencies and I think it would be important candidates refer to those and try to provide some examples of how they have demonstrated these specific skills we are looking for in a roster. As I said, the rosters are a little bit generic, so it makes [it] hard for candidates … to actually specify and target their CVs, but I guess it’s probably better to put more in than to put less. On the junior professional officer program: [That] is where a donor government sponsors young professionals — usually at the P1 or P2 level — for two years. The selection process is done in tandem, usually initiated by the government that shortlists the candidates and then WFP is involved once the shortlisting is provided to us to identify the candidate. Applications are actually to the government. On full-time employment after completing an internship: It is not … a guarantee. If someone wants to come in as intern or as a volunteer, we would anticipate they are doing it because they are interested in gaining that type of experience with the United Nations or the World Food Program. But certainly being more aware of the program and aware of the types of [our] needs might give them an opportunity, when there are openings, but it’s certainly not a requirement or a criterion for future employment. On WFP’s work atmosphere: We are very action-oriented. Results really matter. I think that’s obviously due to our mandate. People are very aware that if you can get food aid quickly, it does mean people live — that can transit [from field] all the way up to headquarters location. The fact that we are mobile does make the culture very strong … WFP really has a very family-focus type of culture. Find WFP jobs on the WFP website, by emailing wfprecruitment@wfp.org or browsing the Devex jobs board, the most comprehensive one in international development. Read more international development career advice.