first job advice needed

What is your background? Studies? Experience? Skills?

It is important to know what you can offer, and whether that fits with what aid organisations are looking for. However, I must say that at first sight the fit between charity fund raising and a field career in aid work does not look promising.

Cheers,
Michael
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A humourless lot: http://www.michaelkeizer.com
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkeizer

Hi Michael,

My background is in the social sciences. I have about 6 months experience working in a developing country, a year studying in a developing country and 3 years working in the middle east.

My skills are research, communication, writing and reporting, people skills and project management. I have basic logisitcs experience from a voluntary role but not in a developing country context.... can you offer any insight into whether these skills would be transferable to a position in the field? If not, to work in project management or logisitcs in an aid context, what experience and skills should I be looking to develop?

Thanks. Any advice is hugely appreciated!

Hi Michael,

I worked in an orphanage in Peru for six months, teaching English and other subjects like art. I've also worked in Saudi Arabia in an airport as a check-in agent for three years, but don't actually speak Arabic. I worked with people from all over the world, so I guess being able to work in multi-cultural environments is my strength. I do speak some Chinese.

On the logisitcs side it's all been voluntary - organising the logistics for fundraisng events.

I realise that I don't have any skills directly related to working as an aid worker but I'm hoping you might be able to tell me which skills would be transferable to a position in the field and which skills I should look at aquiring.

Thanks - any advice is appreciated!

To be blunt: I am not very optimistic about your chances. Your skills are fairly common, and you don't offer any specific skill or knwoledge that is in high demand in the aid world. About the only thing that counts on your side is your multicultural experience.

This is probably the time when you need to think about how badly you really want to work in aid. If the answer is, "I am not sure", or even "I would like to, but not badly enough to first invest a couple of more years before I have a chance", than I would recommend that you do not bother.

However, if the answer is, "I want to do this really, really badly, and I feel that my life would be a failure if I wouldn't be able to do this" (or any slightly less extreme edition of this), than this is probably the best way to go about it:

1. Have a good look at the sort of positions at entry level that are current in aid. Think hard of which of these sort of jobs appeals most to you. Be specific: not e.g. "a field job in communications", but "field communications officer for an organisation in emergency medical aid."
2. See what sort of knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience are necessary for this sort of job. Again, be specific: not "a degree in communications and some experience", but "a master's degree in business communication, at least two years of experience in business communications in the non-profit sector, a good understanding of the aid sector, basic knowledge of the organisation of emergency medical aid in developing countries, knowledge of at least one second language at intermediate or proficient level (preferably French, Spanish, or Arabic)". Note that this is just an example that I made up on the spot -- I have no clue whether this are realistic requirements for such a position -- just to illustrate the level of detail. This is the step which the AWN community can be most helpful to you, but only after you have gone through step 1.
3. Gain the knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience that you identified in the previous step. In the mean time, work hard on your network in the sector in which you want to work (in the example: emergency medical aid).

I am aware that this looks daunting and a bit bleak, but I think you are better helped by a realistic view than with an overly optimistic one that will keep you banging on closed doors for the foreseeable future.

All the best,
Michael

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A Humourless Lot: http://www.michaelkeizer.com/humourless/
A Humourless Lot on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Humourless-Lot/272130768348
LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkeizer

Dr Bryan Walker
Thailand
Please look at the Guide which can be downloaded from our new website. It is based on decades of humanitarian experience and covers all the main issues you confront to getting started, getting in and getting on in your first post. www.VoluntaryHumanitarianWork.com. The first edition helped thousands of potential and actual humanitarians.
Bryan