While many global development organizations still value job candidates with strong backgrounds in traditional areas such as working with donors and experience abroad, the sector’s landscape continues to evolve, and the definition of what makes a global development professional is expanding.
At the same time, today’s world is increasingly defined by the acronym BANI — or “brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible” — according to career coach and development expert Simone Anzböck. In response, development careers need to be adaptable and resilient amid ever-changing environments and markets. Also, more and more professionals are seeking careers that allow them flexibility, freedom, and the ability to pursue various passions over time.
“You might work in different industries and in different roles — and potentially at the same time,” Anzböck said of these new realities. “You’re basically using different skills on different projects” and building these over time, thereby developing a “portfolio career” of experience that can be tapped into, she said.