Finding a Job Overseas

by Michael Kleinman

Published October 05, 2008 @ 07:47PM PST

It took me almost a year to find my first overseas position – a year of unreturned emails and phone calls, and a rather ego-damaging number of rejections. The rejections were mostly variations on a theme, that agencies simply weren’t interested in hiring someone without previous overseas experience. This, in turn, presents something of a Catch-22 to anyone looking for their first job.

I recently took a rather unscientific poll of people working in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as in headquarters positions, to get a sense of how they overcame this dilemma. The responses are included below.

First, it’s all about who you know, or who you can meet. As a colleague said, “network, network, network.”

Another friend provided more detail: “Network with alumni from your school who might be involved in similar work to see if they will help you get a foot in the door in an agency. Go online and do a search of the kind of work you want to do and the place you want to be to get names. Contact info is almost always available on the internet and you can send unsolicited emails. This doesn't always result in a response but it's worth a shot. Talk to HR at humanitarian agencies.”

Second, it’s easier to get your foot in the door by volunteering or through an internship – organizations are far more likely to accept someone without experience if they don’t have to pay for the privilege. Being a volunteer or an intern allows you to start building the network that will eventually, hopefully land you a job. As a friend who works abroad noted: “seems there are two ways: 1) blind luck or 2) slog it out as a volunteer until you get your own network.”

Third, there’s also no substitute for being there. Given high turn-over in the field, it’s often easier to find a position the closer you get to an emergency: “It seems to me many of the people who do the interesting stuff just go somewhere and find some interesting opportunity after they're there,” one field worker told me.

That said, volunteering – much less going overseas to volunteer – aren’t options available to everyone, especially if there’s the small issue of earning a living in the meantime. Which is why, at the end of the day, there’s no substitute for persistence. As the man said, “luck is probability taken personally.” Network and send out enough CVs, and eventually the law of averages tilts in your favor. At least, that’s what worked for me.

Another useful source of information is the Aid Workers Network advice page on finding a job, which also includes a comprehensive list of job-posting websites.

Quotes from the Field on Finding a Job:

Volunteering / Internships

“Be willing to take a voluntary job or internship in a head office to get a foot in the door with an agency and then see if you can get hired on for an entry level position in the field. Good positions to look for as a first-timer are reports or grants officers or logistics, as these are the easiest to apply non-humanitarian experience to. Reports and grants is also a good place to start because you get a really good overview of what an agency is doing, how the projects function and how they are managed.”

“In terms of how I got started - well, it was the old nut of wanting to go in the field but being ineligible for any jobs because I didn't have any field experience. So, eventually, I simply quit my job in [Europe], took out all my savings and got on a plane to [West Africa] to volunteer for a local organization out there. I had to pay for my own ticket, I had to pay a monthly fee to the organization for the pleasure of working for them, most of the time I had to pay for my own food, and at times I even had to fund the projects I was working on. It was hard to swallow sometimes, but the way I tried to think of it was that I was making an investment in my career in the same way I did when I forked out thousands of dollars for my graduate degree…[That said], while in the end I had an awesome adventure and was exposed to a very broad range of challenges and experiences that have been useful later on in my career, I would suggest to people starting out in the field that they seek out volunteer organizations with proper credentials.”

“I started by volunteering in Amnesty International just to get my foot in the door - and that way, I was able to see their job bulletin board so I applied to all the paid jobs with other orgs until finally someone took me on.”

“My dad's friend worked at [an NGO] and got me in touch with someone who would take me on as an unpaid intern. The job sucked but by being in country 6 months later I blundered into a better job.”

“In terms of getting started overseas, for me it was an internship…[then,] having come to Kabul and Nairobi without a job, the trick was to identify the sector that I wanted to work in (human rights/gbv) and then target a person that knew the sector and interview them (in a manner of speaking) to learn about the terrain (who is doing what) and get names/contacts.”

“I interned and basically worked nearly for free for a year for [a large NGO]. What I found amusing was that I came to humanitarian aid work from my work in [LA], so I did not expect the same type of fierce competition in the aid world that I found [there]. I'm not sure how I would've gotten my foot in the door without working for free.”

“Well, for that first job the real issue is experience. For Brits, nearly every one I've met overseas has been a VSO volunteer. Many Yanks were Peace Corps. The issue isn't that these are the only ways to get experience, but without experience why would an agency hire an expatriate when there's no evidence that you can handle the stresses and cultural differences? So, volunteer post first to 1) make sure you like working overseas, 2) gain appropriate experience. Other route is by working in HQ of organization, then doing TDY, then get posted. One friend of mine in the UN told me that he was at a conference and asked in plenary whether anyone had got their UN job through sending an application to NY. The answer was.... not a single one. Most UN jobs come through consultancies first, then getting offered posts. Don't bother trying to get in through applying to NY HQ.”

“Getting a start: ha, seems there is two ways: 1. blind luck or two - slog it out as a volunteer until you get your own network - cause there ain't no getting in from the outside! You better know someone. not cyncial but honest, right?”

“What do I tell kids - to join the Peace Corps - to volunteer, get on a teaching program or something - and get their hands dirty first - because they ain’t going to get a job. Actually quite a lot of local NGOS take on foreigners so that is always a good way - but they have to pay their way.”

Graduate Degrees, Peace Corps, VSO and other Qualifications

“In terms of how people got started: I got a one year master's in IR.  Most of my cohort at [a for-profit development agency] either had a similar master's or Peace Corps under their belts.  That was enough to gain attention in the application pile to a big contractor.”

“Although I occasionally check in on Reliefweb, one thing that worked for me was dropping out of grad school!”

“First-Timers with no background in aid or fieldwork - Voluntary organizations are a good way to go because they don't require a lot of experience and allow you to apply other types of work experience to international posts. Peace Corps and VSO are good places to start but you need to be willing to make a long-term commitment. For those interested in real fieldwork later on, I think this is a great place to start for a couple of reasons. First, if you can hack it for two years in a very remote or difficult posting by voluntary organization standards, it gives you a leg up later on in that it's clear you're not faint of heart. Second, I value people who have started in these types of jobs because, generally speaking though not all the time, they have a really good sense of communities in a grassroots kind of way because of having lived as a community member for a long time without other expats around. For those unwilling to make such a long-term commitment and eager to get started in humanitarian work more quickly, some NGOs will take on interns or volunteers to work for a few months at a time, but they generally want to see a reason for you to be there other than trying out the field....”

“For my part, got the old foot in the door through Peace Corps.”

“I think a lot of people start from the bottom up in assistant type positions and then progress to project management and overseas assignments. I've also seen many people who were consultants become permanent staff of organizations. It's really a matter of luck and depends on the pool of candidates you happen to find yourself in. Sometimes you get these over-qualified people (3 PhDs, speaks 5 languages and has 10 years of experience) applying for rather low-level jobs in humanitarian work (like project assistant or something) and you just can't compete. Then again on the other end of the spectrum sometimes you find unqualified people because nobody else wants to live in a mud hut in Sudan for 2 years turning dung pellets into bio-fuel.”

Just Go

“It seems to me many of the people who do the interesting stuff just go somewhere and find some interesting opportunity after they're there. Lots of times it seems like people accept bad money on short term contracts to start.”

“My advice for anyone wanting to do the kind of work we do is ‘just show up to an emergency. You'll get a job in two weeks.’ This has never failed in my experience.”

“[The] most important thing is that people get out to the field as soon as possible, even if (in places where security permits) that means going without a job and finding one on the ground.  [My] experience was less about going through traditional school channels and more about having an expertise that folks wanted at the time that I was ready to travel, so I'm not a usual suspect.”

One Final Word of Advice:

“In general, I would say humility is a really important factor for anyone who wants to go out to the field. There is nothing that jaded field staff hate more than young and inexperienced people trying to sell three weeks on mission as ‘real’ field time. Explain why you want to do it and why you think you're equipped to do the job but don't make more of limited experience than it is because it'll bite you in the end. Always remember that you're probably dealing with people who have spent a fair share of their lives in some fairly nasty places and they don't warm well to the idea of greenhorns pretending to play in the big boys club. But they do like humble people who have a good reason for wanting to be in the work and who seem able and competent.

Everyone has to start somewhere so if you don't have a huge amount of experience or little to no field time, I would recommend trying out somewhere fairly tame the first time around. In other words, I'm not sure Iraq or Somalia is a great place for those on their first mission. The last thing an agency wants (and the last thing that you want as someone trying to get into the business) is to find yourself over your head and unable to deal with insecurity and other difficult situations.”