Volunteers are commonly perceived as young and inexperienced individuals who are eager to make a difference, but those on assignment with the United Nations Volunteers have an average of 5 to 10 years of work experience. So while some aspiring aid workers start out in the industry by volunteering, this profile doesn’t quite encompass the many volunteers — and volunteering needs — out there.
Devex hosted a webinar with United Nations Volunteers, where many participants were surprised to learn that volunteering is not just for recent grads, but in fact most U.N. opportunities require significant amount of experience and technical expertise.
You must be at least 25 years old with two years of relevant experience to be considered for a UNV assignment, but the average age of a volunteer is 38.