{"id":7930,"date":"2026-08-18T03:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/?p=7930"},"modified":"2026-08-05T09:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T16:50:09","slug":"magicnumbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2026\/08\/magicnumbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget pursuing a magical number of years of experience: here are things that will distinguish you when applying for humanitarian development jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/globalvolunteering.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"220\" height=\"227\" src=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/globalvolunteering.jpg\" alt=\"two shadows of humans talk together, with a globe behind them.\" class=\"wp-image-3055\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of the posts on subreddits like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/UNPath\/\">r\/UNPath<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/InternationalDev\/\">r\/InternationalDev<\/a> (International Development) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/humanitarian\/\">r\/Humanitarian<\/a> are from people that want to know the magic number of working at a particular UN agency, or the magic number of internships, or the magic university degree. that will land you a job at the UN or other big INGO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are better ideas for distinguishing yourself when applying for these jobs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Have experience doing locally what you want to do internationally. Want to work with refugees? Work, professionally or as a volunteer, with immigrants and refugees in your own geographic area\/country. Want to be focused on emergency housing? Work on initiatives in your own community that address this. Public health? same. And represent this work on your CV explicitly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have experience addressing community pushback or hostility or skepticism to ANYTHING. Could be a new housing development, the closing of a school, a proposal for a data center, the opening of a clinic providing abortion services, the opening of a mosque, the elimination of a program at the local school, changes in zoning laws, and on and on. Show that you have at least witnessed this kind of pushback \/ hostility for yourself and the efforts to address it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show experience where you have raised money, mobilized in-kind resources and\/or saved money. Definitely emphasize your abilities to make and stay within a budget, stretch resources, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show experience where you have worked with local elected officials, local unelected government officials, local business owners, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Show experience working with programs that address the needs and challenges of a diversity of people and people who are particularly at-risk: people with disabilities, immigrants for whom your local language isn&#8217;t their native language, people leaving incarceration, people with HIV\/AIDs, people who are in a religious minority in an area, seniors\/the elderly, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Survived a program or department or agency restructuring, downsizing or moving from one place to another? Or a radical rehaul of all software your agency used? Talk about it: were you involved in communicating layoffs? Organizing the packing up and moving of an office? Helping staff transition to the new system or new place?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be able to work in at least one language other than English. Having proof, like passing the B2 DELE in Spanish, is really helpful. Being able to work in three languages is particularly attractive &#8211; even if you cannot communicate with a local population, being able to communicate with donors in their native language is very, very attractive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have designed and led a successful project: overseen the revamp of a web site so that it is mobile ready and fully accessible for people with disabilities, overseen and expanded a volunteer engagement program that supported literacy activities, expanded a children&#8217;s summer theater program, led a successful Women&#8217;s Build for your local Habitat for Humanity, researched and made recommendations regarding the walkability of a neighborhood or community, including with regard to people with mobility issues, helped lead a petition drive to change a local ordinance or law, led a successful voter registration drive, and on and on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No one can have ALL of the aforementioned experience. But any one of those things makes a person stand out when applying for jobs. Doing any of those things shows what you are capable of far better than a number of internships, or number of years in a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those of you who have been on hiring committees, or reviewed applications for INGO jobs, what would you add?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And also remember: it is absolutely the worst time ever to pursue a career in international development. Foreign aid budgets have been slashed around the world. Many countries are impossibly behind in their United Nations dues. There is no amount of individual or corporate philanthropy that can make up that massive, devastating funding gap. You are competing for far, far few jobs than there were before 2022, and with far, far more people, many of them seasoned professionals. Have a backup plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2026\/05\/un_upsides\/\">The Upsides of Working for a UN Agency<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2026\/05\/reflecting\/\">Reflecting on the challenges of a career in nonprofits<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2025\/01\/why-work-for-the-united-nations-what-is-working-the-for-un-really-like\/\">Why Work for the United Nations? &amp; What is Working the for UN really like?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2017\/03\/20\/unpr\/\">Frank description of what it\u2019s like to work in communications in the UN<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2024\/10\/yes-you-can-get-experience-for-entry-level-un-positions-in-your-own-community\/\">Yes, you CAN get experience for entry level UN positions in your own community.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2016\/07\/aidworkpro\/\">Is it really *impossible* to break into humanitarian work?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/UNpath\/comments\/1tokb1y\/a_p4_un_staffer_originally_from_the_usa_talks\/\">A P4 UN staffer originally from the USA talks about her career path &amp; offers advice for a career at the UN<\/a> (post to r\/UNPath)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2012\/02\/10\/in-defense-of-skills-over-passion\/\">In defense of skills over passion<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2017\/03\/localaction\/\">Want to work internationally? Get involved locally.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2023\/02\/refugees-2\/\">You can volunteer to address the critical needs of refugees IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2023\/05\/abilities-humanitarians-need\/\">Abilities you need to work in humanitarian development successfully<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2020\/01\/why-qualified-people-get-passed-over-for-jobs\/\">Why qualified people get passed over for jobs<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/me\/how.shtml\">How I got my first job with the United Nations<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/2014\/10\/ukrainereflections\/\">What I did in Ukraine with the United Nations<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/development\/afghanistan.shtml\">What I did in Afghanistan<\/a>\u00a0for the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, via the United Nations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/donate_icon_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4685\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/\">my web site<\/a>&nbsp;and would like to&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/me\/payme.shtml\">support<\/a>&nbsp;the time that went into&nbsp;researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work),&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.coyotebroad.com\/me\/payme.shtml\"><strong>here is how you can help<\/strong><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of the posts on subreddits like r\/UNPath, r\/InternationalDev (International Development) and r\/Humanitarian are from people that want to know the magic number of working at a particular UN agency, or the magic number of internships, or the magic university degree. that will land you a job at the UN or other big INGO. Here [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3fFJB-23U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7933,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7930\/revisions\/7933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coyotecommunications.com\/coyoteblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}