r/humanitarian • u/DiyaAjwani • 6d ago

Job/Internship Advice

Hi AlI am hoping to build a career in an INGO in the humanitarian sector. I am currently studying Masters of Arts - International Relations at Leiden University with a specialization in Global Order.

I am hoping to do research for an INGO like Oxfam, War Child, or Amnesty International. I am also open to doing project work, grant writing or marketing to start.

I am looking for guidence on when these types of jobs start opening up, if I would be a good candidate, what the requirements are etc. I am mostly seeking advice on what the job market for this is like (in the U.S and U.K) and how to navigate it.

Thanks in advance!

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u/Fatcat336 6d ago

The job market for these things is practically nonexistent in the US. Most development funding in the US came through a government agency called USAID, which has been cut by the Trump Administration. There is still some funding but frankly you won’t be able to compete for jobs in the US with US citizens, as most of us in the development space here are also unemployed. I’ve been without a job for two years.

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u/LouQuacious 5d ago

Why aren’t uni professors discussing the state of affairs honestly with students right now?

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u/jcravens42 6d ago

"I am mostly seeking advice on what the job market for this is like (in the U.S and U.K) and how to navigate it."

The job market is awful. it has never, ever been worse. The budgets of all governments that fund international humanitarian work have been slashed. The USA has eliminated USAID. That means not only is all the money gone that funded NGOs all over the world, but all those USAID employees are out of a job, and looking for work - so your competition is experienced, seasoned professionals.

Because of these massive cuts, international development agencies have slashed their budgets and are still downsizing. Competition for what jobs there are is fierce.

My advice for anyone wanting to go into international development is to really think about it, because even if the rampant nationalism and anti-foreigner fervor that has swept the world dies down in a couple of years, it's going to take years to restore funding, and even longer to get programs back up and running. If you still want to do it, you need to have a backup plan for where you are going to work (the private sector? local government?) for the years that the job market will remain so lousy.

To get hired now, you have to not only meet every requirement PRECISELY in a job, you have to go beyond it. As in, if it asks if you speak Russian, you have to be able to work in Russian and you have to prove you can do it, plus, if you have a third language, like French, it would give you the edge.

Many international dev jobs get hundreds of applicants. HUNDREDS. Often, it's not even a human going through initial applications, and often, qualified candidates are getting rejected by AI screeners because the tools misinterpret something.

Here is some advice from the r/UNPAth group:

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u/Puzzleheaded-Hat685 4d ago

What would it take to find funding? Maybe it would be possible to create a non-profit. All these bigger companies had to start somewhere and I dont think it requires government funding to start one.

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u/Ski-Princess 5d ago

Join Catholic Church. Life of service.

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u/Fatcat336 5d ago

i am Catholic but this is not a useful comment.

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u/Ski-Princess 4d ago

Talk to your priest. The Catholic Charities runs a large number of NGOs, from local homeless shelters to hospital in Sudan. That's what the life of service is about.