How to get a job in international development

1. Gain work experience and expand your network of contacts here and abroad.
2. Obtain a stable job at a decent salary in your preferred area of interest.

The following are possible ways of building valuable experience and finding work in the field of international development, including in humanitarian assistance. This document starts with suggestions for those with little or no prior experience in job searching, such as using the university’s services, volunteering and doing internships. It then discusses specializing, creating your own job, and finding work abroad, and provides many internet links containing information on entry-level or more senior positions. Note that many of the sites in this document include information on more than one option (ex. volunteering, internships, and career opportunities), so it is recommended to browse through all of them. The list is not exhaustive; there are other means and organizations (especially smaller ones) that are not included here. If you know of or discover other possibilities that should be included, please let me know at [email protected]. Good luck!

• Career and Mentorship services for alumni
• Career Development Centre
• Ask your professors for ideas, contacts, and reference letters.

Doing volunteer work here or abroad is one of the best ways of gaining experience, making contacts, showing your capabilities and motivation, and getting hired on contract work, or in a temporary or permanent position. Browse local NGO Web sites whose names appear on this page or in one of the sites listed below.

There are a number of organizations or even companies that organize voluntary internships abroad for a number of weeks or months. The catch is you have to raise funds or pay for the internship yourself! Here is a suggestion:

• ProWorld

Listed below are some of the larger organizations in Canada and the UN. Other developed countries have similar programs for their nationals, should you have another citizenship.

• CECI
• CUSO
• Oxfam-Quebec
• SUCO (French only)
• United Nations Volunteers
• WUSC

• University of Ottawa - International Internships
• University of Ottawa Co-op Program (one of the best ways to gain experience)
• International Youth Internship Program (IYIP), Global Affairs Canada
• Campus Access
• Coopération Canada 
• Government of Canada, FSWEP program
• Partnerships and organizations, Government of Canada
• United Nations
• SUCO

Pursue your studies by specializing in a particular field: humanitarian assistance (logistics, management), project/program management, public administration, international affairs, healthcare, environmental stewardship, alternative energies, institutional fundraising, accounting, administration, international law or some other area (preferably in high demand).

You have knowledge and abilities that many organizations look for: international language skills (English, French, Spanish, etc.); writing (concept papers and project proposals, communications, Web site content, etc.); research; project management, administration and finance, as well as familiarity with a certain number of funders (CIDA, NGOs, foundations, etc.), among others. And you can propose ideas (see “Create your own job” below).

Choose a country/region that interests you, preferably one where there is a lot of international assistance (ex. Haiti, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, certain African countries, Bangladesh, West Bank and Gaza). Make inquiries with the national and international organizations working there, and try to find a paid or volunteer position.

It is sometimes possible to propose to an NGO a project in development education or even a project in a DC (perhaps with a partner organization you know) and then work without compensation to obtain one or more financial contributions from different sources. If you get the funds, then the NGO hires you for the duration of the project to implement the project. All of it under their corporate name, supervision and approval processes, hopefully working in their office.

Another riskier but perhaps more satisfying proposition is to go it alone. You find your own funding, alone or with others. Once you’ve secured funding, you can either propose to collaborate with an NGO or continue on your own, in which case you may need to legally register your group as a charity, or incorporate, as needed.

Later, when you have gained more experience, you could work as a private consultant and try to obtain contracts. In this case, it is useful to have a clear skill-set relevant to development (such as project planning and management, facilitation skills, evaluation skills, or technical skills like water management, engineering, health provision, business management)

• AQOCI  (French only)
  • Members of AQOCI  (French only)
• Coopération Canada
  • Members of Coopération Canada
• CANADEM
• WUSC

(internships and jobs; best to talk to someone there to find out the possibilities)

• Dept. of National Defence – civilian jobs (perhaps in emergency aide, liaison with civil societies, interpretation)
• Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
• International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
• Public Service of Canada
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) (training of police officers abroad)

See also  international  sections  of  other  govt  departments  such  as  Finance,  Human  Resources, Environment, etc., to learn of the possibilities since many are all involved in some international work.

(volunteers, internships, jobs; govt or non-govt)

• BOND (U.K.)
• DevEx
• DevNetJobs
• DFID (UK govt aid agency)
• Europeaid (for European citizens)
• Global Charity Jobs
• Hacesfalta (Spanish)
• IDEALIST (click on Jobs et specify your education, focus, languages, etc.; U.K.)
• Inter Action (U.S.)
• International Jobs Center
• International organizations and forums
• Relief Web
• The Economist magazine
• Third Sector Jobs – Intern. Dev. (U.K.)
• UN careers
• UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, WB, etc.)
• https://jobs.undp.org/UNDP
• UNjobs (a Swiss association)
• World Service Inquiry
  • World Service Inquiry - Jobs

(volunteers, internships, jobs. Some of the larger organizations are listed below, but there are many small and medium-size organizations working in this area)

• Action Against Hunger
• CARE International
• Caritas Internationalis
• ICRC
• GOAL
• International Organization for Migration
• International Rescue Committee
• MSF-France
• MSF-Canada
• Muslim Aid
• Oxfam International
• Project Hope
• World Vision

There are many other avenues that you could pursue in development or international affairs. Here are just a few of them:

• There are many jobs in related fields that have a strong international component, such as the environment (see ECO Canada), human rights (ex. Ligue des droits et libertés, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, OSCE), labour (ex. ILO), universities & colleges (Canadian Bureau for International Education), health (ex. on malaria, polio, leprosy, etc.), journalism (ex. PEN International) or in other fields of endeavour.
• Large and small foundations sometimes support international projects or work exclusively on international issues (ex. One Drop Fdn, Ford Fdn, Bill & Melinda Gates Fdn, George Soros Fdn, etc.)
• There are literally hundreds of independent or university-linked research centres that study developmental and international issues where you could assist researchers, do original research or policy analysis (for internships or jobs), in Canada (SIDGS, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canadian Institute of International Affairs, CD Howe Institute, Conference Board of Canada, Institute for Research on Public Policy, Institut québécois des hautes études internationales, Munk School of Global Affairs, etc.) or abroad (Council on Foreign Relations, Institut des relations internationales et stratégiques, International Crisis Group, International Institute for Strategic Studies, etc.)
• Work for a professor who has obtained a contract to assist a foreign government, organization or company in development, healthcare, education, women’s issues, management, economics, agriculture, finance, conflict management, peacebuilding, or in some other field of endeavour.
• Work in the private sector as a consultant (ex. Universalia), or for other companies that bid for GAC and other government work related to international development (see MERX at and type in “GAC” in “Search” box for their present call for tenders. You may be able to find out who might be bidding for them and offer your services early in the process).

Good luck in your job search!