Webinar: How to land a job at the UN

Recruitment experts from the United Nations teamed up with Devex in this exclusive webinar on how to land a job with the global organization. Kate Warren, executive vice president at Devex, was joined by Szilvia Nagy, recruitment associate at the U.N. Refugee Agency and Victoria Fernandes, head of strategic sourcing at the U.N. Population Fund. During this event, Nagy and Fernandes discussed different hiring initiatives across the U.N. and highlighted key profiles the agencies are currently looking for. The pair also shared tips on how candidates can highlight past achievements. Here are three key takeaways from the event: Different routes into the UN There are numerous hiring initiatives, subject to criteria such as age or nationality, which offer different pathways into the U.N. These include internships, junior professional officer programs, and U.N. Volunteers. U.N. agencies also hire through talent pools and consultancy rosters. Talent pools are designed to attract candidates with specific skills and these can be a good entry point to working with UNHCR, Nagy said. Applications are accepted year-round and successful candidates are deployed to duty stations where the need is strongest. One of the benefits of these pools, she explained, is that they offer short term appointments — a minimum of six months — which can be well-suited to professionals who are in between jobs. UNFPA also recruits its key leadership positions — representatives, deputy representatives, and international operations managers — through a leadership pool. These are rotational roles that involve serving at different duty stations. This pool is open to both internal and external candidates and UNFPA will soon be launching its annual call for applications. Consultancies can be another great way to get your foot in the door at the U.N. — these can range from anywhere between one month to two years. UNFPA looks to the organization-wide consultant roster of consultants when there are specific skill needs, Fernandes explained. Hard-to-fill positions and areas of growth Landing a job at the U.N. is very competitive but applying for positions in hardship posts — including in countries such as Yemen and South Sudan — that are “difficult to fill” can give candidates an advantage, Fernandes said. “If you are willing to work in a hardship duty station [and] to be mobile,” she explained, “these are the sorts of things that will make you stand out.” Fernandes also recommended signing up to the surge rosters, for international staff in crisis response. The agency looks to these rosters when it needs to deploy international staff to assist with crisis response in humanitarian and fragile contexts. Surge rosters need a wide range of profiles, including technical profiles, communications, resource mobilization, human resources, and monitoring and evaluation. Job opportunities in growing areas of U.N. agencies are also a good place to start. For UNFPA, this includes gender-based violence, particularly in humanitarian situations. Gender-based violence is still an emerging sector and staff have any formal training, UNFPA is looking for candidates who have transferable skills which could be applied to this type of work, explained Fernandes, including professionals who have worked in child protection or protection profiles, she added. “I don’t want to see, as a recruiter, a list of tasks, I want to see how good you were at what you did.” --— Victoria Fernandes, head of strategic sourcing, U.N. Population Fund Focus on your achievements U.N. recruiters will follow up on your application by checking your professional profiles for additional information. It is therefore important that you have a strong profile that focuses on your achievements, Fernandes said. “I don’t want to see, as a recruiter, a list of tasks,” she continued, “I want to see how good you were at what you did.” The way to stand out as a candidate is not only to show what you did but how you did it and the impact of this, she added. Nagy also emphasized the importance of highlighting achievements and tangible results when summarizing previous work experience. Candidates can do this through their letter of interest, which is also a good place to demonstrate their passion for humanitarian and development work, she explained. Nagy also stressed the importance of candidates tailoring their letter of interest to the specific position.