Stepping Stones
I started looking for a job a few days ago. I’ve networked quite a bit in my college years so the first order of business was e-mailing friends from the development sector to see if they were aware of any openings and informing them that I was on the market. I got a lot of encouragement and good leads out of that but of course I still had to go through the process of looking beyond what I was already familiar with.
My first stop was the google.com homepage;
Search: Non-profit careers.
The results can get quite overwhelming and I soon realized that there are so many classifications and terms for the different sub-sectors of this interesting world that I want to enter.
I spent the first few hours of my job search scouring through websites for jobs in non-profits and realized that I was looking for the wrong thing and using the wrong keywords; what I want is a job in an International Aid Agency or Development Work.
I narrowed my search down to International Aid Work, and found the following sites to be the most comprehensive:
www.devex.com and www.reliefweb.int for a lot of posts from all over the world of International Aid. They save you so much time since you don’t have to wrack your brains for the names of the different agencies you know, google them and find the careers sections of their respective sites. I also noticed that devex and reliefnet are more updated than the actual agency websites, in terms of career postings.
www.inspira.un.org is for all those United Nations jobs that I really really want but realized I have so much more experience to gain for. I learned a lot from reading through job descriptions and requirements though; I think knowing what they look for and what credentials can help you land that dream job are very very very VERY important.
www.idealist.org is also an interesting site, it’s presented really well but they didn’t really have what I was looking for–a job in the Philippines.
All those websites have sign-up pages where you can make profiles and upload your CVs and apply for various positions in the different agencies you fancy so make sure your resume is ready, and you have a good mugshot you can upload. It’s kinda like LinkedIn but more tailored to development work and international aid.
A lot of the other sites I explored were really interesting but most of them just catered to Americans and Europeans. I wish someone made a hub that features opportunities for the developing world too and a hub that featured opportunities for the inexperienced to get experience. Stepping stones maybe?
Tulongan 