Review: Networking Event – A career with UN, World Bank and IDB

On December 6 2011, more than 70 development professionals took part in a networking event organised by cinfo that provided them with the opportunity to interact with representatives of UN agencies, International Development Banks, SDC and SECO.
 

Representatives
UNFPA, Leyla Alyanak, Deputy Head and Senior External Relation Advisor, Geneva Office
UNWOMEN, Sonja Urriza, Chief, Human Resources Centre
UNICEF, Rolf Schaller, Chief Recruitment and Staffing
WB, Roberto Amorosino, Senior Recruitment Officer
IDB, Francois Lafon, Senior HR Specialist, Talent Management and Recruiting
UNDP, Henrik Ryden, HR Specialist
 

Conclusion
The agency representatives highlighted that global challenges need a workforce with a global working experience. Field experience in developing countries is a must for professionals wanting to work with them.

Moderation: Nina Prochazka
 

cinfo: What importance do Swiss professionals have inside your organisations and can you say something about the number of Swiss within your organisation?

Sonja Urriza, UNWOMEN: The Swiss representation within UNWOMEN is currently quite small, but I am confident that we can make some progress in the future.
 

Leyla Alyanak, UNFPA: UNFPA has approximately 2000 staff worldwide, out of which four are Swiss. So the only way we can go is up!

Francois Lafon, IDB: Switzerland is a member state of the IDB, meaning that it does have a share of the bank’s capital (about 0.5% of the total capital of the bank). The IDB employs about 1500 employees, so if we were absolutely fair, Switzerland would be entitled to eight or nine employees, although it does of course not work this way. Currently we have six Swiss staff. So Switzerland is definitely not overrepresented. Even though you will not be positively discriminated, you will surely not be ruled out because of too many Swiss.
 

Henrik Ryden, UNDP: Switzerland is our eighth-biggest donor, but it is surely not our eighth-best represented country in terms of staff. So there is definitely room for more Swiss within UNDP!
 

Roberto Amorosino, WB: About 12.000 people work at the WB, 60% of which are based in Washington DC, and 40% of which are based in developing countries. We try to balance this distribution towards 50% of staff in developing countries. So there will surely be more opportunities outside Washington in the near future. Currently about 50 professionals at the WB have Swiss nationalist. So with no doubt, there is room for improvement. At the same time, thanks to the work of SDC, SECO, the Executive Director’s office, and cinfo, Switzerland is almost a model in terms of how to outreach and increase representation. 
 

cinfo has been noticing an increased interest in working for an international development institutions but getting a job is very challenging. What are the regions and thematic areas where there is a great demand for your work and what are challenges associated with these?
 

Sonja Urriza, UNWOMEN: One recurrent issue in UNWOMEN is the lack of field experience of Swiss candidates. Even for headquarter positions we very much value a mixture of experiences. Field experience gives you an insight into where the real action is in terms of our programmes, it gives applicants a dosis of reality, a better sense of what the needs in the projects are, and what the challenges in terms of interacting with different governments, organisations are. UNWOMEN only has a small number of research-related positions at headquarter where field experience is not so relevant.
Our main thematic profiles include violence against women, peace and security, political participation and leadership (our executive director is very keen on developing and expanding this area), and economic empowerment. Of course we also have management- and operational profiles.
 

Leyla Alyanak, UNFPA: We do also have an issue with field experience, but field experience does not necessarily have to be with the United Nations. One of the things that contributed to my promotion, when I was in the late forties, was that I worked in Africa as a foreign correspondent and for a large NGO for a number of years. So field experience is more a question of ensuring that people are not too divorced from the issues they are dealing with. In terms of thematic profiles we are particularly looking for applicants with a background in reproductive/maternal health, with either technical expertise, medical experience, or academic experience in this area. It is difficult to fill positions in hardship stations, i.e. places where there might have been a conflict or places that are not family stations, and positions as international operations managers. They require a combination of human resources, finance and procurement. This is difficult to find. While we are trying to train up people to take those positions, there is still a gap.
 

Rolf Schaller, UNICEF: On the needs side, we have realised that we lack staff speaking French. Thinking of Haiti for instance. Whenever we have an emergency in a French-speaking country, we need to pull resources from French-speaking countries, and then it becomes very difficult to backfill in these countries.
I do not think Swiss do not have the right profile; it might rather be about how Swiss are presenting their competencies. Are the Swiss really used to these forms and statements that have to be filled in on the internet? It is very important to fill the on-line application very consciously and to think about highlighting competencies in the forms, not just in an accompanying letter. Do not leave it up to somebody to find your transferrable skills: you must do that work! Otherwise your profile might just get lost. As there are so many applications, and you are basically competing against the rest of the world, somebody else will do a good job in highlighting their competencies if you do not.
 

Francois Lafon, IDB: The IDB simply does not have the critical mass of Swiss applications to judge Swiss CV’s. If I had, in the course of this year, come across more than five applications, I would be happy. The areas of interest and upcoming needs are climate change, social development, gender development, gender and diversity, institution- and capacity-building within the countries and support to fragile states. One of the challenges for non-Latin American applicants is to be fluent in Spanish or Portuguese, with a strong preference for Spanish. Other than that, I agree with Rolf that your competencies and skills have to be explicit and black on white on your CV. Anything that gives room for interpretation might be interpreted wrongly.
 

Henrik Ryden, UNDP: I agree with what has been said so far. Other than that, we are particularly looking for Arabic-speaking applicants. We also look for operational profiles, meaning procurement, budget and Human Resources. Swiss applicants usually have very good profiles, often with a background in the ICRC. One problem that I do encounter is that the only thing that often seems to be interesting for  them, is a senior position in New York.

Roberto Amorosino, WB: The WB has currently a focus on fragile states and post-conflict countries. This is where I guarantee you that we do have opportunities right now and where competition could be less fierce. It is very important for external applicants to understand where an organisation is going and where the challenges are. You might see the organisation as a bit arrogant and it is true that when you apply, we expect you to know what we are doing, what is going on and where the challenges are. This has to be reflected in the cover letter, the CV and the statement of interest.

Why do so few Swiss applicants ultimately make it, although they are ready to go to difficult duty stations? 

Henrik Ryden, UNDP: I do not think that the problem is the quality of Swiss candidates. It is rather the number of applicants. Last year we received 540`000 applications. Among them, we have about 600 applications from Swiss nationals. One country that is strong in sending applications is Italy, one of the reasons being that they often speak many different languages such as Spanish and French. France is also very well represented. We have over 20`000 every year from England. The US, India and Pakistan are also countries from which we receive many applications. So the number of applicants often mirrors the size of the country.
 

The audience present has development experience, but not necessarily UN or Development Bank experience. What are musts when one wants to work with your agencies at program or policy level?

Roberto Amorosino, WB: The WB in particular values diverse profiles. Last year, out of the 400 people we hired from outside the organisation, more than 200 came from the private sector. We value people having experience in the public and the private sector. That can mean government experience, consulting jobs or civil society. So more and more we value profiles that have been exposed to different fields and different markets.

Rolf Schaller and Francois Lafon joined IDB and UNICEF after having worked with the private sector. What challenges did you encounter?

Francois Lafon, IDB: I did not actually know about the IDB before joining. Although the IDB is headquartered in Washington DC, it is definitely not a US organisation. The culture is much more Latin-American. Most of the business is conducted in Spanish and to a lesser extent in Portuguese; English comes second. The decision-making process is probably the element that is the most distinguishable from the private sector: as the IDB is a multilateral organisation, it is political by nature. The size and the complexity of the organisation cause decision-making and the implementation of the decisions to take time. So time is a factor that you have to calculate in the equation: No change before tomorrow!
On a personal level, the challenge was never on my side, it was for my spouse. Mobility is always an issue when it comes to family-life. Let’s not underestimate this! It is very important to make a decision, while evaluating all scenarios that might arrive. You might be cut off your network of friends, your family, you have to adapt to a new environment, maybe the experience you have acquired somewhere else will not be applicable.
 

Rolf Schaller, UNICEF: I had expected my change from my earlier employer KPMG to be much more difficult. I had an image of ending up in a very fixed structure and was pleasantly surprised when this was not the case. That being said, there are of course challenges: processes are often heavy, there are structures which have been established a long time ago and which are difficult to get rid of. On a positive note, at UNICEF staff is very engaged in their cause. They really want to make it happen, and they make it happen despite the sometimes heavy and complex structures. The drive, the ambiance, the teamwork is really the beauty of working with UNICEF.  

cinfo thanks the representatives for having participated in this panel discussion.