International Organisations: useful information for potential candidates

http://www.ahrmio.org/index.cfm
Go to members page and this will link you with many international organisation Web sites.

http://www.unsystem.org/jobs/job_opportunities.htm
UN Website for searching vacancies


http://www.unstaffmobility.org/home/
UN Website for dual-career couples


www.who.int

www.theglobalfund.org

The first two are for general research on the organisations and what type of jobs are available. You can apply directly for jobs through these Websites, but they are not very user friendly. The bottom two are of course examples of organisations I know well. You will see that they are very different from each other, because The Global Fund, who used to come under World Health Organization administration, have formed a private Swiss foundation. These are some of the differences, just to give you a flavour of how their recruitment systems work:

  • WHO structured into Professional positions which are internationally recruited and require a minimum of a degree qualification and two years work experience, and General Service positions, which are locally recruited and require a minimum of completion of secondary school, a commercial qualification (usually) and two languages.
  • TGF have installed one stream of international employment for all categories of staff.
  • WHO salaries are paid in Swiss francs for local staff and in USD for Professionals: this is because they come under the UN system, which has always been run centrally. In order to compensate for fluctuating changes in currency and therefore local costs of living, a post adjustment sum is added every month to the salary, which allows the salary received to remain constant. The post adjustment is monitored monthly and added as a percentage on top of the basic salary. General Service staff receive their pay in local currency, so don’t need a post adjustment.
  • All these organisations provide excellent health insurance, pension schemes, and education allowance for children of professional staff, as well as other favourable conditions of employment.
  • NB General Service staff, because they are employed locally, need an address within 50 kms of the organisation itself. Professional staff are internationally employed, and as such can be employed from anywhere in the world but there are geographical quotas which make it harder/easier for some nationalities to get professional positions than others. If your country nationality is under-represented you stand a better chance of succeeding!
  • Vacancies are usually published as temporary or fixed-term, misleading terms since fixed-term is more permanent than temporary. It is much easier to get a temp job than an FT one, and the shorter it is in duration, easier still. Length of jobs is often determined by departmental budgets which fluctuate, but once you get a “foot in the door” it is easier to apply to and be considered for other jobs.
  • If you look at a vacancy, consider the grade (P1 and P2 are junior professional entrance grades and G3 and G4 are GS entry grades) and check required qualifications. Make sure your application reflects these as if you don’t have them, your application will be screened out. Competition for positions is great, but they are always looking for excellent staff. Make your application stand out!

European Union organisations in Brussels and ECJ etc in The Hague are other areas worth considering.

You can find out more about any of the above by contacting Blue Sky Reflections.