Overseas Development

From CareersWiki

Jump to: navigation, search


Contents

Sector Overview

This page has been written by Paul Brown, the relevant Careers Adviser for this occupational area. To see how you can meet Paul, or any of our advisers, go to our website to view how and when you can meet them. 


Is it right for me? - further information on this career area, including skills/attributes required and tactics for success (pdf)



If you want to work and make a contribution in this area, then you will need to build up evidence of relevant knowledge, experience and commitment. You are unlikely to get immediate paid employment directly in this field on graduation. Instead you need to work out what kind of work contribution you want to make in the future and how you will gain the necessary experience, skills and knowledge to become a convincing applicant. Whatever roles you investigate following the leads below, you will find that you need to create the building blocks of your career through a careful mix of postgraduate training, experience and networking. Evidence of commitment is vital, so if you are not already actively involved in impacting on this agenda, you need to start to do so.

There is a vast range of challenging issues to be tackled in development. They include agriculture, biodiversity, conflict resolution, HIV/AIDS, gender, education, debt reduction, impact of climate change, human rights and forced migration to name but a few. Different types of organisations address these agendas:

  • Governmental Organisations: eg. DfID – responsible for the UK's official aid programme, and the national governments of developing countries
  • Intergovernmental/multi-lateral: eg. the UN, EU, World Bank, International Monetary Fund
  • Non-Governmental Organisations: NGOs (eg. Oxfam, VSO and Water Aid). Currently the largest group of agencies working overseas, NGOs are involved in development, aid and relief work.
  • Academic Organisations/Research Institutes: the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex University, for example, often acts as a consultant to NGOs and overseas governments, whilst 'think tank' organisations, such as the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), organise conferences.
  • Private Sector Consultants: Their project management and technical skills are often needed to deliver complex projects.

Think about the role you would like to work in as well as the kind of organisation. Would you like to be involved in policy and advisory work? To be involved in an executive capacity eg as a project manager, administrator or planner? Or do you aspire to a technical role as eg a water engineer or surveyor? Finally the fields of education and health continue to offer many opportunities through which to contribute.

back to top

How to get experience

As you will have gathered, the development sector is not one where you volunteer just to 'get experience' prior to obtaining a paid and/or full-time job; volunteering is quite likely to be an integral part of your career in its early stages. For the purposes of this page, we will define 'getting experience' as what you can do on a short-term or voluntary basis whilst you are completing, or just after completing, your degree.

You can also adopt a speculative approach - see our web pages on networking and speculative applications for more advice. Also refer to our networking resources

Experience At St Andrews

Get involved whilst at St Andrews, if you can, at a local level – many organisations have networks of volunteers who are active campaigning, and raising funds and public awareness about the work of the organisation; in Oxfam, paid staff represent only 2.5% of the workforce. People and Planet organises a student campaign network taking action on world poverty, human rights and the environment. Look into St Andrews University based organisations, eg. Amnesty International and OneWorld and other student societies.

Placements/Internships Abroad

  • Department for International Development links to internships and work experience opportunities
  • ethicalcareers.org: Includes good links, jobs and internships
  • Global Service Corps International Volunteer Internships
  • i-to-i which offer gap-year style placements if, so far, you have limited skills or experience.
  • NIDOS: Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland, useful for considering/researching
  • OneWorld
  • Oxfam International Youth Partnerships allow interns to work on an international programme based within a major development organisation
  • Platform2 is a fully funded programme by the Department for International Development (DFID), run by a partnership of Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and BUNAC which aims to allow 18-25 year olds from "less-advantaged" backgrounds to undertake a 10 week volunteering placement in locations including South Africa, India and Peru.
  • Restless Development
  • The United Nations Volunteers programme offers a variety of ways in which people can volunteer either at home or overseas, but does not offer short term overseas practical assignments for students. The UN also offers online volunteering opportunities. For all of these opportunities, you need to be over 25 years old.
  • Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) recruits professionals from many fields, but also runs a scheme for new graduates to teach English (with TEFL qualification), Maths or Science overseas for two years. (American students may like to try the equivalent Peace Corps)
  • World Service Enquiry Guide
  • Worldwide Volunteering to identify agencies operating in your field(s) of interest and apply direct.

Many organisations provide advice to help you raise funds for their programmes eg. Raleigh International.

Information about various internships can be found at International Organisations.

UK Opportunities

Look also for opportunities in the UK: familiarise yourself with UK-based campaigns by volunteering with them. Remember, too, that working with marginalized communities in the UK may well have relevance for work in developing countries:

Courses

  • Getting into International Development this annual one day introductory course, organised by the University of London Careers Group, features a good list of development NGOs.
  • Development from the Inside organised by the Charities Advisory Trust, offers a four week course which aims to give participants a thorough insight into International Development from a local, grassroots perspective.
  • Development Studies Association Guide to Development Studies courses in the UK and Ireland
  • Studying Development website to search for study and training courses in International Development and Humanitarian Aid.
  • Identity Careers run various international development career workshops and coaching.


back to top

How to find a job

There is no single job search strategy in this area and you should think about what you can offer, what you want to do, where you want to do it – and what steps you'll have to take to get there. Gaining work experience will almost certainly be the first step of your career path. Have a look at the links below for more opportunities. When you have gained skills and/or training you will then be able to think about longer term paid opportunities.

For those with professional experience

There are a number of organisations recruiting experienced people to work overseas in paid jobs, ranging from 'voluntary' posts where your airfare is paid, you receive free accommodation, a small allowance (perhaps equivalent to the local living wage), and your NI contributions, to jobs where you receive a salary overseas and tax-free benefits in the UK. If you are skilled, possess a relevant qualification and have a few years' relevant experience, you could apply directly for an overseas job with a development agency. Contact the development agencies (or register with the recruitment agencies) listed in the World Service Enquiry Guide. See also the new DfID Technical Specialist recruitment scheme.

As well as the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) programme, there are some well-known UK-based sending agencies, co-ordinated by the British Volunteer Agencies Liaison Group (BVALG) and funded by DfID, who recruit volunteers with skills and qualifications for, on average, two year, paid, contracts:

You may also like to look at the following resources for possible vacancies:

  • DevNet Jobs range of job opportunities at varying levels
  • Department for International Development
  • ethicalcareers.org: Includes good links, jobs and internships
  • IDS: This IDS site includes its Yellow Monday vacancy bulletin on-line
  • My Platform2 Website aimed at students of limited means to undertake voluntary work overseas.
  • OneWorld: Excellent as a source of information, links and opportunities – paid and voluntary
  • RedR international NGO for humanitarian professionals
  • Relief Web humanitarian work
  • The Economist: Advertisements for many bi-lateral and multi-lateral organisations; the scope goes way beyond economists, but tends to be for fairly senior posts.
  • The Guardian
  • WorldWide Volunteering: Site with over 1,000 volunteer organisations; allows you to search based on how much money you can afford to spend

back to top


Key Links and Resources

Careers Centre resources

  • Books
    • Charities Digest
    • International Voluntary Work
    • Worldwide Volunteering for Young people
    • Getting into International Development
    • Working in Development

Useful Background Information

USA

For internship opportunities, please visit Internships in the US - Overseas Development

back to top

Retrieved from "http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/careers/wiki/Overseas_Development"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Practice
Toolbox