Thursday, November 29, 2007

Careers in Development and Humanitarian Aid

More than 30 students attended the program that IPE Senior Drew Cameron organized Monday afternoon on Careers in Development and Humanitarian Aid. The program featured commentary by a distinguished panel with diverse experience in peace keeping and development projects:
  • Monica Dehart: Professor of Comparitive Sociology
  • Andrew Sherriff: Consultant and former manager of the Development and Peacebuilding Programme at International Alert
  • Leslie Sherriff: Volunteer coordinator with Learning for International Non-Governmental Organizations (LINGOs), and was the Country Director of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) for Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia
  • Erica Nelson: 2004 UPS Alum; MPhil in International Peace Studies at Trinity College, Dublin
The discussion included practical information about life and work as an "international" advisor or worker in this field and the importance of both real world experience and graduate study as key elements of professional development. Andrew and Leslie stressed the importance of gaining useful experience, either foreign of domestic, before graduate study.

Students with serious interest in careers in these fields are welcome to contact Andrew Sherriff at andrew_sherriff@ipaar.org and Leslie Sherriff at lcsherriff@yahoo.com

Here is a handout prepared by Andrew that was distributed at the event, which provides information for students seeking more information. Thanks to Drew Cameron for organizing this event!

Job Places on the Net for International Development / Conflict Jobs

Here are some places to look for jobs on the web. It should be noted that very few of the jobs advertised here are ‘entry level’… generally they are for experience practitioners. However, it does give a sense of what kind of organizations and jobs are out there and what type of pay and terms are available.

  • Official UN Jobs

The job site for official UN jobs.

https://jobs.un.org/Galaxy/Release3/vacancy/vacancy.aspx

  • International and UN Jobs
Privately run jobsite for mainly UN, and other international inter-governmental organisations jobs

http://intjobs.org/ http://unjobs.org/

  • Idealist

US website with primary US non-profits jobs, but also quite good international coverage

http://www.idealist.org/

  • The Development Executive

US consultancy company jobs, big US NGOs but many opportunities not found in other places. Very comprehensive in terms of the US market.

Http://www.developmentex.com/

  • Altertnet

Humanitarian jobs for NGOs (primarily, UK, European and US)

http://www.alertnet.org/thepeople/jobs/index.htm

  • Reliefweb

UN run humanitarian and development agencies (NGOs and some UN contracted posts)

http://www.reliefweb.int/vacancies/

  • Foreign Policy Association

US Foreign Policy Association jobs – international and US (think tanks as well as humanitarian and development).

http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact.htm

  • Electronic Library of Development Studies (UK based)

Consulting jobs, NGO jobs, bilateral agency jobs

http://www.eldis.org/go/jobs

  • Oneworld Job List (US organizations)

http://us.oneworld.net/section/us/latestpositions

Finding Information on NGOs

- Alliance for Peacebuilding

The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) is a primarily US based coalition of diverse organizations working together to build sustainable peace and security worldwide. Members of AfP are directly engaged in applied conflict prevention and resolution.

http://www.allianceforpeacebuilding.org/

- InterAction

Interaction is the largest coalition of US NGOs. You can visit it to see details of hundreds of US headquarters NGOs from the largest to the smallest operating all over the world

http://www.interaction.org/

Intergovernmental Bodies and United Nations Agencies

Many UN agencies (UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP) and the World Bank have Young Professional or Junior Professional Programs. These are highly competitive, and usually require a Masters degree and between 2 to 5 years world experience. But recruitment is by open examination. It may be worth researcher lesser known international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), or regional organizations such as the Organization of American States.

No comments: