r/UNpath

I am ~30, working in communications for a major humanitarian INGO in Europe after a career change, and starting to feel stuck for ways to deploy to the field in the area I'm targeting, which is protection, access, security and field coordination.

My plan has been to try and go on mission visits to the countries where my INGO is present, but unfortunately senior staff and managers tend to see my role has quite limited in terms of the contribution it can make to national staff/to the national bureaus. They have told me before that while it would be useful for me to go visit a few missions, I am more valuable at HQ. It feels like them agreeing to me visiting a national bureau for a few days is more like a favour they're doing me rather than a real visit like those done by other colleagues who are not in comms.

The trick here is that I've only recently entered the humanitarian sector after a career change - not something totally unrelated but which people often pigeonhole as one specific kind of job. The average humanitarian or average colleague doesn't have an accurate perception of what duties I would've had in that job - involving some highly relevant aspects like coordination, project management, security, risk management, research, external relations, and more. I've also worked in several jobs that required geographical and political expertise of a specific region where humanitarians are very much present - but that is simply not enough.

I've started applying to other INGOs - ACF, MSF, Solidarités International, Acted, ICRC - but oftentimes the only roles I see that I would be interested in / qualified for require at least 2 years of humanitarian field experience in a conflict or post-conflict context. I just don't know how to start accruing that experience.

Besides this, I've been undergoing several relevant professional training courses with the UN, in the area I'm interested in. This has given me a little bit more of a network. I speak 3 languages in addition to English (all sought-after or required by INGOs) and am currently learning a fourth one.

So I'm finding myself stuck at HQ, in a permanent contract, with no perspective of a field opportunity.

What else can I do to get the ball rolling and get my first deployment?

PS: Of course, I am more than grateful to be in a stable job. I've just been working towards being closer to operations for some time, and I feel overcome by frustration when I compare my path to someone else's my age, who's already worked in 5 countries (I know I'm not supposed to do that, but it's hard to resist).

PPS: Posting here rather than r/humanitarian due to greater affluence on in this sub.

They ask for 4 years of experience, included 2 at international level. My background is quite closely aligned: I have around +5years of professional experience in grants and partnerships, on the field at national & regional level as expat in international NGOs , with experience managing donor-funded programmes, partnerships, funding agreements, donor compliance and multi-country projects.

Am I delulu about considering this position ?

are there any common mistakes you would recommend avoiding when applying to UNESCO P-level positions?

Are there particular things that make an external candidate stand out against internal UNESCO candidates or people with extensive UN experience?
Any advices to pass the online form screening ?

Been struggling to get something stable in the UN system for about 2 years now. Had a couple of interviews lastly at UNEP UNESCO etc.. but never got to the offer stage. It's such a hard time right now trying to get into the UN :(

I'm so sick of doing this all by myself, so I'm thinking if there are people based in Paris, maybe we could meet up in person and share our process of getting into the UN? Or we could make a group to exchange news and just have some real connection daily? Is anyone interested?

I was recently offered an "unofficial" recruitment results saying I was first recommended for a consultant position at UNHCR.

They asked to provide references for the final clearance last week and today informed me that the process was unsuccessful because one of the clearances has been withheld.

Here is the word-to-word notification:

"I am contacting you to inform that, since we were proceeding with the additional clearances requested -given the level of the position you applied to -, we regret to inform that this process has been unsuccessful and one of the clearances has been withheld.

In this connection, since we were unable to obtain the green light, at this point we won’t be able to issue an offer letter for the post.

Given the confidentiality of our recruitment processes, this is all I can inform."

What could have gone wrong?

Does this mean an absolute no?

I am stuck in a deep depression. I did a whole master's degree in Natural Resources Management and Development, during the degree interviewed for two UN internship positions, was rejected from both. One of them told me they would have accepted me had I not stupidly asked if it could have been part time (I didn't know the internships had to be full time). I interviewed for a job at UNU and was rejected.

I am now 36 and jobless at my parent's house with no prospects after getting fired from a job in my old field that I was trying to escape.

I think about these mistakes every day. At this point I have fucked up the thing I waited for so many years to accomplish (was recovering from cancer for 5 years which put my career on hold), which was to do a master's degree and finally get out of a job I hated into something I could love.

I fucked it all up and I feel sick every time I see any mention of the UN or meet people in the career I tried and failed at.

Does anyone have any words of advice for me? I am trying to find a therapist but I am so depressed, every day I wake up in a panic and at night I think about every mistake I ever made.

I asked myself this question four years ago! When I first thought about applying for UN international jobs! I had just accumulated five years of experience working with the UN as local staff in my home country! I had no other work experience before and started working for the UN as a UN youth volunteer coming out of university. After two years, I got a G5 for several months and then jumped to a National Officer level for almost three years.

At this stage, I was keen to apply for international positions:
I started with P1 and IUNV positions; never heard back from any of them!

Then I applied for P2. Out of seven applications, I did one interview; passed it but was not the first recommended candidate so I was put on roster!

Then I started applying for P3 jobs; and submitted eleven applications; I got invited for two interviews; I was rostered for one and selected for one! Now I am over three years doing the job!

I see a lot of people asking; here is my advice for you:

If you have more than two years’ experience, never apply for P1 but for higher posts; and if you have over five years, never apply for P2 jobs but for higher positions!

I know things can be different if you work in Finance, HR, or procurement; you can imagine in some organisations, the head of HR is a P3 so hundreds of people with over fifteen years of experience will be competing.

Needing a lawyer expert on unesco staff issues. Do you know where can I find one ?

Master's didn't work, 36f, help

So basically I am feeling terrified about the future. The problem is that I am 36, and I did a master's to transition out of a career I was bad at (nonprofit communications) into environmental policy. The reason why it took me so long to do the master's to transition was that I was dealing with some very serious health problems. In the master's degree I was an idiot and didn't realize I needed to be basically constantly working part time or doing internships, and I only did two internships which didn't lead to a job. So then the problem I had when I graduated was I didn't have enough job experience to get anything except for nonprofit communications again, and then I was fired for being bad at the job. So I think it's safe to say I can't go for another comms job again, but I have no idea what to do because I no longer qualify for working student jobs or internships due to not being a student anymore.

I have 2.5k euros coming in each year, forever, from an inheritance but it isn't enough to live off of in the SF Bay Area because it's so expensive. So basically, my current plan is to look for a job for a year in the USA, maybe there is a slim possibility I could get something, but if that doesn't work I am probably only qualified at this point to get something off of craigslist with 0 vacation days and 0 sick days.

The idea I had was that, if my one year of looking for a job in the US didn't work, I could get married to my German boyfriend (he has offered this) and spend a year learning German, then apply to another master's and solely use it as a vehicle for networking and doing internships in hope that after that I would get a job.

The problem is I don't think I can afford to do another master's in the USA, I only have about 100k to my name and I don't know if taking out a huge loan is advisable

I have seen some people on LinkedIn do two masters and then get a job so I know it works sometimes, I am just worried because of my age..I could lie on my CV and take off graduation dates of undergrad/eliminate old work history to look younger.

So yeah, basically I am stuck because what I need is more experience to get entry level positions, but I am not an enrolled student to get internships anymore and ive been graduated too long to qualify as a recent grad so I have no idea what to do and I am really terrified because being a menial job worker in the USA is a pretty bad life, but I think I would also be really depressed as an unemployed housewife in Germany

The last thing I thought about was trying to volunteer but I don't know if that would be a waste of time and not lead anywhere

So yeah, I guess, my question is, if my one year of US job searching doesnt lead anywhere, would you recommend a second masters? Or do you have any ideas about how I could volunteer in a way that could actually lead to a job? The only volunteer opportunities I have been able to find are with super local orgs.

My biggest passion is traveling and the idea of being a barista for the rest of my life with no vacation days is terrifying, not to mention my boyfriend would break up with me because I would never get to see him. I am living with my parents right now in SF.

Recently I have been selected for online UN Volunteering and was thinking if this could be a start for my further career opportunities in UN.

If there is anyone with similar career story, please do share some insights .

Thank you

I dont know if its just for me, but i see now so many people that work in the area starting repost every ID and UN jobs in Linkedin with some comments and #

I mean im not complaining because a lot of opportunities I get to know by them, but for me its weird that people are just reposting every job opening they see even if its not from their organization or area

its just to bump their linkedIn numbers up?

Hi everyone,

I need help.

I am 36. I graduated with a master’s in natural resources management from a school in Cologne two years ago, and it has been a complete disaster. I did the degree to try to transition from a career that I was bad at (nonprofit communications), and due to not getting enough work experience in the master’s, the only job I was able to get after a year of searching was also in nonprofit communications. I was fired at the end of the probation period for being bad at the job. I have some volunteer work I have been doing to fill in the gap and can pretend it was a real job, but basically I have a two year gap on my CV now other than the volunteer work because I can’t list the job I got fired from on my CV.

My boyfriend still lives in Germany, and I still dream of getting into an environmental consulting job or environmental policy job in Germany.

My question:

If I were to get married to my boyfriend, do intensive German for a year, then apply for a new masters degree with the sole purpose of doing as many internships as possible or to get a work student job in my field, to then get into a new entry level position in the environmental sector that isn’t nonprofit communications, is this a viable path forward? I have 2.5k euros coming in each month, but I don’t want to do this if it is a catastrophically bad idea.

Has this ever worked for anyone?

Hi everyone,

I recently applied for a six-month Programme Management internship with UNOPS in New York. The vacancy closed on 31 July, and my application has been showing “Under Review” since then.

The internship is scheduled to run from 1 September 2026 to 1 March 2027, which is why I’m particularly curious about the recruitment timeline given how close the intended start date is. The opportunity is also part of a fellowship delivered in partnership with an external organization.

For anyone who has recently gone through a UNOPS recruitment process:

• How long after the vacancy closed did you hear back about shortlisting?
• Given the 1 September start date, would you expect shortlisted candidates to hear back fairly soon, or are UNOPS start dates usually flexible?
• Does “Under Review” usually remain unchanged until an assessment/interview invitation?
• How long was it between shortlisting → assessment → interview → offer?
• What did the technical assessment for a Programme Management role look like: written exercise, policy brief, case study, Excel task, presentation, etc.?
• For an international candidate relocating to New York, when did visa/onboarding begin relative to the offer?
• If I wanted to ask about the expected recruitment timeline or request an update, who would normally be the appropriate point of contact, and how would I reach them: UNOPS recruitment/HR, the hiring office, or the external partner managing the fellowship? Or is it better not to reach out while the application is still “Under Review”?
• Did UNOPS contact you exclusively by email, or did recruiters also call? I’ve recently started receiving a few unexpected calls from US numbers,

mostly

• silent calls, although these calls

come from numbers that’s

• seem

a bit scamy/unrelated

• .

I know UN recruitment timelines can vary significantly by vacancy. I’m mainly trying to understand recent experiences with UNOPS internships, particularly New York-based positions or internships delivered through external partnerships.

Thanks!

I applied for the roster position for Human Resources at P3/P4 level at United Nations. I appeared for the written test assessment more than a year back and the status in Inspira shows as under consideration. Is there anyone else who applied and progressed further after the first assessment? The job IDs were 257648 and 257651.

Anyone here worked at the Green Climate Fund?

Im currently in the middle of the recruitment process (I interviewed a few days ago) and they briefly mentioned that they would conduct a reference check, but they havent asked me for any references yet

Does anyone know how the reference check usually works there/at what stage they normally ask for them?

Also, there doesnt seem to be a lot online about the employee experience (other than negative ones on indeed lol) so any info would be great thank u!

I graduated with a first class law degree last year. Took a gap year to travel, relax etc and now I’m wondering if I should go back for my masters degree? I have two offers, one for a masters in law and then a masters in international human rights law. Don’t think I want to practice law, but not completely closed off to the idea, like the idea of working with NGOs, in the UN, travelling for work etc, but also scared that a masters degree in law is seen as a waste of money. Just wondering if anyone has any advice, opinions, personal experiences that they could share :)

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking here for a while and reading some of the posts about how difficult it actually is to get into the UN system, and I thought I'd just ask for some advice about my own situation.

I'm in my early 30s, originally trained as a doctor, and I'm currently in the UK finishing an Masters in Public Health. I don't really see myself going back into clinical medicine full time, and for the last few years my career has moved much more towards public/global health and humanitarian work.

Before coming to the UK, I spent around 5 years working in a major refugee response in South Asia (Cox's Bazar). I started out as a medical docto/facility manager, then moved into programme management and eventually managed and led fairly large donor-funded health programmes. Many of the programmed I led were directly funded by UNFPA/UNHCR/IOM

A lot of my work was around refugee health, primary healthcare, maternal and reproductive health, family planning, emergency obstetric care etc. As I moved into management I was also dealing much more with budgets, teams, donor reporting, monitoring, government counterparts, UN agencies, NGOs, community leaders and all the usual chaos that comes with running programmes in a humanitarian setting.

So while I've worked with the UN quite a bit, and some of the programmes I led were funded/supported by UN agencies, I've never actually worked for the UN.

This is where I'm getting a little confused about what I should realistically be applying for.

I've started looking seriously at UN jobs recently. For some P-3 vacancies, especially ones in humanitarian health/SRHR/programme management, I technically seem to meet most of the stated requirements. I've applied to a few. But then I read threads here where people with 10+ years of experience are still trying to get P-3 positions, or people have spent years doing consultancies/UNV/P-2 roles before getting there, and I'm wondering if I'm being completely unrealistic lol.

At the same time, I'm not exactly coming straight out of university either. I've run programmes, managed teams and budgets, worked in a pretty difficult humanitarian environment, dealt with government/UN/donor stakeholders etc. So I'm struggling to understand where that experience actually places me in the UN world.

Would you be applying for P-3s with this background? Or should I really be concentrating on P-2, UNV, consultancies, national positions etc. just to get my foot in the door?

I'm also wondering how UN recruiters actually view experience from national NGOs. Does someone with my level of eperience with programme management in a major humanitarian response carry much weight if you haven't worked inside the UN/INGO system itself?

And I guess the bigger question is what I should do over the next couple of years. I'm applying for public health jobs in the UK as well, and there are some interesting opportunities in local government/NHS/public health research. Part of me thinks getting solid UK public health experience alongside the humanitarian background and MPH would make me a stronger candidate later. Another part wonders whether stepping away from humanitarian work would actually make it harder to get back into that world.

I'm not particularly obsessed with getting a P-3 immediately or anything. I mostly don't want to waste the next 2–3 years making the wrong career moves because I don't understand how recruitment in this system actually works.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who came into the UN from an NGO/humanitarian/public health background, or anyone who's been involved in hiring.

What would you realistically be targeting if you were in my position? And if you did manage to make the NGO → UN jump, what actually got you through the door?

Hi everyone,

Last week I was interviewed for one of the JPO roles sponsored by the Dutch Govt for Indian & other nationals. The role that I was interviewed for is in the office of Deputy Secretary General.

I wanted to know how much time does it usually takes for them to move to next step and after how many months should we consider it as rejection if we don't receive any thing.

I saw that people usually receive reference submission emails in a week or 2. As per the advertisement of position, it showed that selected candidates have to take part in training to be organised in Turin, Italy from 9th Nov to 27th.

Also, if anyone can advice on it being a stable career choice. Currently, I work in an G7 diplomatic mission in New Delhi as a local political officer which is an indeterminate or permanent position with a comfortable salary. If I get option, whether taking up JPO would be good choice or not. The option of taking up a P2 position in NYC does seem alluring at this age but I am weighing it against future prospects as well. What about 2 years later ?

Thanks in advance for all your guidance

Due to technical difficulties behind my control, I feel that I have failed my written assessment test and I’m absolutely devastated. Working with UN has been a life long dream and now I feel I may have ruined my chances.

“For those who pass the assessment, will be given the opportunity for an interview.” Having answered only 2 of the four answers, I feel like I won’t pass even though I have a very strong CV.

Any one with similar stories they would like to share. Should I prepare myself to not hear back from the HR team?

.

Hi all! Need to negotiate my new contract, I know they will offer consulting one for more than a year but it’s office based. I realized during last 6 months I HATE OFFICE. Also I have other gigs and kinda would enjoy part-time. Only one team member works fully remotely but that was hard ask I think. Team has been asked for 3/week days in the office and now they force cosultants too, so by giving me freedom it would be a precedent I think.

Do you know arrangements around you like this? Is this even possible? Would appreciate different angles to figure out how to go into negotiatoins. I can do max once/week, but even that would stretch it.