International Career at the United Nations

The United Nations Secretariat is seeking highly qualified individuals for employment as junior professional officers (P-2 level). For this purpose, a competitive examination will be held on 1 December 2010 in the following disciplines:

• Administration
• Demography
• Economics
• Human Rights
• Legal Affairs
• Radio Producer
• Security
• Statistics
• Web Design/Development.

The competitive examination will be open to nationals of the following countries:

Afghanistan, Angola, Antigua, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Comoros, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Grenada, Iran, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Liechtenstein, Monaco,Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Norway, Republic of Korea, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Tonga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Yemen

In order to qualify for the examination, applicants must meet all of the following minimum requirements:

1. Be a national of the countries listed above;
2. Be no more than 32 years as of 31 December 2010 (should be born on 1 January 1978 or after);
3. Have at least a first-level university degree relevant to the discipline for which they apply; and
4. Be fluent in either English or French, the two working languages of the Secretariat. Knowledge of other official UN languages is an advantage.

Additional criteria over and above the minimum may be required.

Application deadline is 19 September 2010.  Detailed information on the examination and submission of application may be obtained from the United Nations Secretariat careers portal at http://careers.un.org under National Competitive Recruitment Examination.

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World Cup Special: Portugal

The Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the world’s highest paid footballer, earning £11m a season at Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s earning power isn’t reflective of the average Portuguese. Portugal’s economy is one of the worst in the Eurozone. Along with Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, it is considered to be most at risk of defaulting on it’s debts. With unemployment levels reaching 10% and the government making savage economic cuts, finding work in Portugal is a difficult process.

That’s not to say Portugal is a fruitless destination for graduates. While long term employment may be tricky, it does provide opportunities for ventures which can boost your CV and help you stand out to employers.

Volunteering is a great way to experience another culture and learn new skills to put on your CV. The Canadian Alliance for Development offer a range of short term opportunities for volunteering projects for 18-30 year olds throughout the summer, giving you the opportunity to gain insight into the rural Portuguese landscape and way of life while at the same time give something back to the community.  Please note that these schemes aren’t free and there will be costs involved.

Another way to make yourself stand out is to learn a language. With businesses becoming increasingly multinational, language skills are much sought after by employers. CESA are an organisation offering courses designed to give you the chance to learn Portuguese by immersing yourself into Portuguese culture. The length of the courses vary and are located in either Lisbon or Faro.  Again, these schemes aren’t free and there will be costs involved.

The organisations mentioned above are examples of many that offer opportunities that will help you to increase your employability and learn about Portuguese culture. Others and further information on volunteering or travelling abroad can be found on our Careers Tagged website

Robin Stone – Client Service Officer

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World Cup Special: It’s Paraguay’s turn!

Adverts for job vacancies based in Paraguay seem to be a rare thing or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that job adverts in English appear to be a rare thing. This isn’t really a surprise when you consider that the official languages of Paraguay are Spanish and Guaraní. I would imagine that anyone skilled in either of these languages would be able to find a great deal more information online than I could. However, here are a handful of websites that might be useful when job hunting in Paraguay:

International JobOnline

Job of Mine

Acciontrabajo Paraguay

Computrabajo Paraguay

Although tracking down job vacancies was difficult, information on voluntary projects is much easier to find so if you are interested in volunteering abroad or perhaps starting a career in development then Paraguay offers a range of opportunities.

Internships with Fundación Paraguaya.

This social enterprise works on innovative plans to reduce poverty and unemployment. They run three key programs focussing on microcredit, education for entrepreneurship and a Self-Sustainable Organic Farm School.

http://www.fundacionparaguaya.org.py/

Internships with Para La Tierra

These internships are aimed specifically at current biology students and recently qualified young scientists looking for some field work experience to help them gain employment after university.

http://www.paralatierra.org/

Other organisations with projects based in Paraguay include:

The Peace Corps (for US citizens) – http://www.peacecorps.gov/

Save the Children – http://www.savethechildren.net/alliance/

Kiva (microfinance enterprise) – http://www.kiva.org/fellows/

Paraguay Facts

The Paraguay national football team has reached the second round of the World

Cup three times (1986, 1998 and 2002) but has never progressed any further.

…..and for those of you who could do with a break from the football…did you know that Paraguay is the world’s third largest exporter of soybeans.

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