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 (thousands of dollars per month), 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
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.
Volunteering for development work
Template:Wikipedia p Beware: There are sites which ask you to pay to volunteer! It's normal that you pay your own airfare, and perhaps pay a reasonable amount for food and accomodation, but some Western agencies charge volunteers well above the usual local rates in third world countries. It may be wiser to deal with non-profit groups or arrange things yourself (taking proper precautions, of course).
- Global Hand
- VolunteerMatch
- Charity Guide
- Global Volunteers
- Nabuur Foundation - connects local communities in need of help with online helpers. *Online Volunteering (a United Nations Volunteers service)Assignments Search
- Linking websites and agencies in the Wikipedia Volunteer article.*CharityJob.co.uk, offers both volunteer and paid positions. This link is for outside Europe, but most of the openings are in Europe
- Amizade [1]
- Engineers Without Borders Australia- have two intakes for international volunteers per year, working on engineering-related development projects throughout SE Asia. They cover airfares, living allowance and insurance, and provide pre-departure briefings plus on-going support.
Volunteering in developed countries
- SERVEnet - a program of Youth Service America (YSA), for USA-based volunteers.
- VolunteerMatch - for USA-based volunteers.
Other volunteering information
- Volunteers - techsoup.org - The Technology Place for Nonprofits - finding and working with volunteers.
Online volunteering
You can help without leaving your computer:
- Nabuur Foundation - connects local communities in need of help with online helpers.
- Online Volunteering (a United Nations Volunteers service) Assignments Search
- Murphy's volunteer project: http://www.keyfarmers.org
- Siebert's volunteer project: http://spear.org.bz
- Elder Wisdom Circle: http://www.elderwisdomcircle.org
- Myths: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer/ovmyths.html