Put Your Skills to Work
in Non-Profit Jobs

Nothing beats leaving home with enough money for your trip - but non-profit jobs for an international organization may be an option if you need more to top it up along the way. Only if you're a skilled professional, however!

Local jobs are held by local people, but occasionally, when staff is not available, an international development job might be up for grabs for a few days, weeks or months - if you're sufficiently qualified.

International charity or NGO jobs usually mean working for either a government organization - like the UN - or a non-governmental organization or charity - like Oxfam or the Red Cross. The United Nations itself has many agencies, funds and programs, each of which recruits individually. This relatively comprehensive list of international organizations may help you get started on your search.

Non-profit jobs in overseas field offices

Most charitable jobs abroad are managed from field offices, or offices that deal with a single country. These organizations also have regional offices dealing with several countries and world headquarters (more about that below).

Non-profit jobs in field offices could involve any of the following work:

• Office administrative work (if you are fluent in the local language)
• Consulting (in any discipline relevant to the field office's work, such as project management or monitoring and evaluation)
• Specialist work, such as HIV, health, reproductive health, human rights, development or the environment
• Language expertise (translators, interpreters, revisers)
• Communications (editing, writing, proofreading)
• Infrastructure support (information technology, procurement)
• Crisis management (emergency response logistics, risk analysis, medical assistance)
• And virtually any skilled profession under the sun.

These non-profit jobs usually require both a university degree and significant experience in your area of work. If you're fresh out of school, this won't be the right option for you. You should be looking for student work or seasonal work instead.

Your first step is to be clear about exactly the kind of work you want. You won't get far by walking into an office and asking for 'any kind of work.' This gives people the impression that you have no idea of what they need. Worse, they might have to spend time training you instead of getting ahead with their own priorities. So be clear about what they are doing and how you can help them.

You then should look for those non-profit organizations that might employ someone with your skills. Check their website to see if they have an office in the particularly country you're planning to visit - then get in touch.

I've found several short-term local non-profit jobs through word of mouth. Here are some tactics I've used to get closer to my goal:

• Join a focused Google Group or local forum in the country
• Ask friends if they know anyone there
• Hang out at expatriate (expat) venues: English cinemas, restaurants, foreign shops, sports clubs
• Go to the expat church
• See if there's an American Women's Club or other expat women's group
• Check out specialist websites such as the job page of Transitions Abroad

Development versus humanitarian jobs overseas

Most non-profit jobs overseas fall into one of two categories: development or humanitarian.

Development work usually covers the long-term needs of a developing country - education, health, environment, human rights.

Humanitarian work tends to cover the immediate needs of a country in crisis, such as war, famine, drought, earthquakes or tsunamis.

Development work can last a lifetime, while humanitarian work can be over in weeks. Of course, the two can often overlap.

Again, most jobs in these fields require both skills and experience, and each stream has its own recruitment needs and processes.

If you're looking for humanitarian work, a great place to begin is ReliefWeb, which has both job listings and some of the best disaster and conflict information on the web.

For work in development, I would start with One World, which acts as an umbrella group for many non-governmental organizations.

Finally, if work with the UN (short-term or for the long haul) is what you really want, start with the UN website. Check out its employment section and follow links to sister agencies and outfits. A good compendium of UN vacancies is also maintained at UN Jobs. Or, you can always check the list of United Nations offices in each country (look under UN Country Teams) to get a sense of the size of the UN presence in that country. Then go to each agency's country website to get more details.

Let me give you an example. The website of the UN Development Program, or UNDP, has a section called Regions, which contains a full list of countries. Just click on any country to see UNDP operations there. If you go to Oxfam site, you'll find a drop-down menu with Oxfam's other country sites.

Headquarters and regional offices

As a woman on the road, the non-profit jobs that interest you might be mostly in developing countries. But if you can prove you have the right qualifications, you could land a temporary non-profit job in the headquarters of an international organization or an international charity or non-governmental organization.

Many of these are located in New York, London, Geneva, Rome, Brussels, Paris, Nairobi and Vienna. There are also regional offices, serving a group of countries in regional hubs such as Dakar (Senegal), Bangkok (Thailand), New Delhi (India), Panama City (Panama), Johannesburg (South Africa)...

If you're a citizen of a European Union country, you'll be eligible for short-term non-profit jobs in European-based organizations. If you're between 17-30 and a citizen of a Commonwealth country, you can work up to a year in the UK. Americans can work in New York, of course, but without the fun of being on the road!

If you're qualified and determined, there's a good chance you can work your way in as a replacement or short-term staff member. If you're truly interested in non-profit jobs for a career in an international organization, you could even turn a temporary job in a headquarters or regional office into a longer stint.

But it takes time so if you're just looking to pick up some quick money along the way, a seasonal job or a job teaching English abroad might be a better option.