Working for UNICEF: Insider tips on landing a role

As is the case with most United Nations agencies, landing a job at UNICEF is highly competitive, and a single vacancy can receive hundreds of applications. Technical expertise and a clear résumé are key to standing out, Anne Favreau, chief of the agency’s human resources partner team, told Devex. Before applying, candidates should also make sure they understand the agency’s needs. “If a job is posted with very specific requirements, that means we need these requirements,” Favreau said. She discouraged “serial applicants” and advised any job seeker to apply where their experience is a strong fit and to make this clear in their application. The COVID-19 pandemic has created demand for specific profiles at UNICEF, primarily around WASH and supporting vaccination efforts. Favreau told Devex which technical and soft skills the agency is looking for and how candidates can make their résumés stand out. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. “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 Which technical skills are in demand at UNICEF? The biggest needs that we have seen have been around WASH … and supply … precisely supply and cold chain. Operations and human resources, as well, are two other areas where we have a big need. ... And the last one is C4D — communication for development. All of these areas are very much linked to COVID, vaccinations, sensitizing on COVID. So HR and operations [are in demand] because we have been very much on the forefront in informing [about] new policies, new measures to advise staff. [In terms of] areas that are emerging as well … one of them is cash [transfers], and we have a lot of needs [there]. This is a quite new area, and it would be great [for interested professionals] to get trained and have this knowledge. Access to local populations is another emerging trend, [and] the environment. Then also languages [such as] French — this is such a huge skill that we need. We need a lot of Portuguese as well, more and more, then Arabic and Spanish. So if somebody has technical skills plus the language, that's definitely a big asset. What can consultants do to stand out and land those shorter-term roles? One skill that I don't find all the time in consultants, but that I find extremely important in addition to the technical skills, is the ability to project manage. Very often, consultants have very strong technical skills and some of them have project management expertise but not all, and that makes such a difference when somebody is able to juggle the two. What advice do you have for candidates in making their applications stand out? 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, have the achievements [clearly stated] so that we understand what it means. And avoid the jargon that we don't know, especially if [you are] applying from a non-U.N. entity, [as] sometimes we are not necessarily familiar with the jargon. Another piece of advice is to apply to the field [to gain experience]. The first [reason] is I think the work and the job is much more interesting [and] impactful. It's also a tiny bit less competitive than Geneva or New York [posts]. It doesn't mean that the job is less difficult. On the contrary, it's very difficult, but it may be a bit less competitive [for applicants]. Which soft skills are sought by the agency? Soft skills [can] be difficult to assess, [but we are looking] for that agility and flexibility — especially if one wants to embrace an international career, since we have a rotation policy at UNICEF whereby international staff are expected to move around. [Sometimes] we see staff who are very not keen on moving around and want to stay where they are, but it's not good for the organization because one becomes very outdated and doesn't bring any new ideas. So agility, flexibility — and flexibility in terms of thinking as well — [are critical]. Another soft skill that is sometimes missing is the ability to keep oneself up to date. Once in a job, we tend to feel very comfortable but it's important to be very edgy, to keep ourselves updated, to know what's going on, what are the trends outside of the U.N. and outside of UNICEF — [for example] in the private sector — and to bring this knowledge so that we can really remain innovative as an organization.