Employment in international development: Difference between revisions

Advice and resources for jobs and volunteering opportunities in international development.

Suggestions for finding work

• Some aid agencies (such as AusAID) don't employ many people directly, but have subcontractors who employ people. Go to the aid agency's website and look for public tenders, and see who has recently won tenders in an area that interests you. Do your research, have your resumé ready, and contact the company directly.
• Don't rule out volunteering positions, even if you need the money. Some "volunteer" positions actually include a comfortable payment (hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month, which goes a long way in a developing country), even if it's nowhere near as much as consultants' wages.
• Consider your financial needs. There are sites & organizations which ask you to pay to volunteer - this may be legitimate (especially for an NGO on a tight budget) but check it out carefully. It's normal that you pay your own airfare, and perhaps pay a reasonable amount for food and accomodation. However there are also businesses which charge well above the usual local rates in third world countries.
• Join mailing lists and subscribe to newsletters in your field of interest, as these often have postings for jobs (though these usually assume several years of experience).
• Post your CV/résumé on job sites - see External links at bottom of this page.
• Is it possible to set up an alert on a specific web page, to detect changes? E.g. if the word "water" or "architect" appears on a certain jobs vacancies page (e.g. this one, it should send an email. (Google alerts won't do this - is there something that does?)

See also

• Preparing your resume (CV)
• Useful sites

External links

• Sussex University's Career Development & Employment Centre - International Development - useful links.

Advice

• Aid Workers Network Blogs by aid/development workers. Includes pages of posts listed by topics such as Your Career in Aid Work and Advice for first-time aid workers.
• Don’t forget your shovel - Be an Aid Worker!
• Interview tips from SKM Consulting (major Australian development firm).

Registries

These are sites and organizations which allow you to register yourself for volunteer and/or paid work.

• ^W, and home page. Maintains a register of professionals in engineering and logistics with several years experience, to contact for volunteer work in case of emergencies. Only those who meet the criteria can register.
• Humanitarian Relief Register, with ^W Australia. A register of professionals (similar to RedR, but broader than just engineers).
• Engineers Without Borders: Humanitarian Engineers Registry

Job sites

• The Development Executive Group
• ReliefWeb - Vacancies
• World Wide Project Management Services Australian-based. Register and post your CV/resume.
• International Job Center - a job site focusing on development jobs (recently linked by EWB-I)
• DevNetJobs - also post your resume
• Job opportunity postings at One World
• Links on ACFID's site. Australian and international.
• AlertNet jobs page.
• Eldis jobs page

Australian

• Austraining International - company owned by Australian government. Register and post your CV/resume.
• Search job vacancies at the Australian Development Gateway - jobs in the Asia Pacific region. Not many jobs listed, so it's best to search with broad criteria, e.g. selecting Any for location and/or category. However, must select alternatives for Type otherwise only contract jobs are shown.
• List of Vacancies by ACFID (Australian Council for International Development) member agencies.

Specific agencies

• Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development - French organization, working mainly work in Africa.

See also

• Category:International volunteer opportunties
  • Much content that previously appeared on this page has been moved to the above page

These are NGOs who are looking for employees and will at least pay for your trip

• AIDG has an internship program through which they place volunteers at their various projects.

• The Borneo Project Is currently looking for someone with a Civil Engineering background. (Added 4-21-8)

• Ecosystems Nepal Is looking for 2 Mechanical Engineers or aspiring students to help them in the construction of their wire bridges (Added 4-21-8)

• Worldbike Is looking for a project manager to work at their bike fabrication facilities in Kenya. (Added 4-22-8)

• Cummins Engine in Minneapolis is looking for an ME/PD/EE to lead technical development of rural electrification project. (Added 5-2-8)