WORKING AT THE UNITED NATIONS
This page contains useful links for those interested in a career in the United Nations Organization and its Specialized Agencies.
International organizations are characterized by their own system of grades in which career progression is articulated. Three levels can be distinguished:
• clerical staff normally recruited in the country where the institution is located (in the UN system defined as General Staff, G);
• personnel who hold positions for which a university degree is required (in the UN system one speaks of Professionals, P, ranging from P1 to P5);
• senior management (in the UN system they are called Directors, at levels D1 and D2).
Position P1 represents the initial level for graduates and does not normally require particular work experience. For a P2 post, up to 3 years of experience may be required, for a P3 from 4 to 6 years, for a P4 from 7 to 10 years, from 10 to 15 years for a P5. They are indicative references, because the requirements vary from one Organization to another.
International Organizations are pursuing a balanced distribution of personnel by country of origin. Each Member State is assigned a percentage of staff, calculated on the basis of factors such as contributions paid or the population.
There are four key requirements to aspire to a vacancy: experience, training, languages, skills / attitudes.
•Experience. It is the most restrictive area of selection. You must have the required number of years at your disposal and know that the experience gained after graduation is considered as a professional experience by international organizations. In some cases, a brief work experience can be equated with a post-graduate degree.
•Training. In the notice the necessary qualification is always specified. In the EU, the Italian degree is generally considered equivalent to the French Maitrise and to the British Master’s degree, both equivalent to the American Master’s. Considering that the degree course is accessed after 13 years of school and that the diploma is obtained after having written and discussed a thesis, the Italian title is more similar to the Master’s degree than to the Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Science (BA / BS). For many international organizations the equivalence between an Italian degree and an advanced degree is anything but obvious.
• Languages. There are two languages preferably requested: English and French. Knowledge of a particular language may be required. It is good to pay attention to the required level: “Excellent” (excellent, fluent): implies perfect mastery; “Working knowledge”: means the ability to work independently, prepare any type of document (from a letter to a report), actively participate in professional meetings and discussions in the language indicated; “Limited knowledge” (limited knowledge) will put the official in a position to call, read work texts, write short reports, attend meetings or discussions, but choose another official language of the organization to intervene.
There are six official languages at the UN (Arabic, Chinese, French, English, Russian and Spanish).
• Ability / aptitude. Among the most requested qualities we find: flexibility, initiative, balance of judgment, ability to work under pressure, design and organize activities, establish and maintain fruitful working relationships, ability to draw up effective documents, manage meetings , public speaking; willingness to travel frequently in developing countries. Request knowledge of computer programs.
Depending on the educational qualification and experience gained, the possibilities offered by international organizations vary.
GENERAL PRESENTATION OF THE UN CAREER (GENERAL PRESENTATION OF UN CAREERS)
http://www.facebook.com/UN.Careers
http://twitter.com/un_careers
http://linkd.in/un_careers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-MEIkzPMmE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0pmqenzppc
Opportunities for young people in International Organizations
DATABASE FOR APPLICATION TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Permanent Representation in Geneva carry out an intense action in support of the presence of Italian officials in international organizations by collecting the job opportunities offered. In this way, citizens are offered continuous updates on the many job opportunities in the international field and the possibility of finding those that best suit their educational qualifications and work experiences. Through the portal for Italian applications at the International Organizations it is possible to register one’s curriculum vitae in the database so as to allow the Ministry, in the event of a vacancy deemed particularly interesting, to signal the possibility of presenting one’s application.
Join – IT portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
SEE THE OPEN POSITIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS (OPEN POSITIONS TO THE UNITED NATIONS: http://careers.un.org/
SEE THE POSITIONS OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH OFFICE IN GENEVA) OPEN POSITIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN GENEVA:
WHO: https://careers.who.int/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl
27/01/2025 WHO vacancies
GAVI: https://www.gavi.org/careers/
GLOBAL FUND: https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/careers/
UNHCR: https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html
OIM: https://recruit.iom.int/sap/bc/webdynpro/sap/hrrcf_a_unreg_job_search?sap-client=100&sap-language=EN&sap-wd-configid=ZHRRCF_A_UNREG_JOB_SEARCH
ICRC: https://careers.icrc.org/
OCHA: https://www.unocha.org/about-us/job-opportunities
UNRISD: http://www.unrisd.org/vacancies
WTO: https://erecruitment.wto.org/public/index-wto.asp
WEF: https://www.weforum.org/forum-careers
ILO: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/employment-opportunities/lang–en/index.htm
WIPO: https://www.wipo.int/jobs/en/
ITU: https://erecruit.itu.int/public/
CERN: https://careers.cern/
WMO: https://public.wmo.int/en/about-us/employment
EBU: https://www.ebu.ch/careers
IUCN: https://hrms.iucn.org/iresy/index.cfm?event=vac.showOpenList
CITES: https://www.cites.org/eng/taxonomy/term/310
UNIDIR: https://unidir.org/work-with-us
UNAIDS: Vacancies