Job opportunities in the “world of development”

Lecture 7

Working in international development

• International organizations

• Companies/ consultancy

• NGOs

• Research

International organizations

• World Bank (Washington DC)• European Union Institutions • OECD (Paris)• United Nations Agencies:

– Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (Rome)– International Labour Organization (Geneva)– United Nations Development Program (New York)– World Trade Organization (Geneva)

What opportunities?• Internships/ traineeships:

– Headquarters or regional offices: with large multilateral organisations, always check the possibility of work at regional or country offices that may have less competitive entry requirements than central institutions

– If possible, contact directly the head of departments/units of your interest

– Normally 6 months duration– In some organizations interns get paid (FAO, ILO,

WB)– Fixed periods for applications (e.g. from 1 Dec to 31

Jan for summer internship at WB)

What opportunities?

• Junior/young Professional Programs:

Eligibility (e.g. WB)• Be 28 years of age or younger• Hold the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree (with some relevant

experience), a Master's, or be a PhD candidate with a superior academic record.

• Be fluent in English• Be fully proficient in one or more of the Bank’s working languages:

Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish is a plus

Companies

• Oversee Development Institute (UK)

• Young Lives (UK)

• Oxford Policy Management (UK)

• Consultancy:– BGG, McKinsey, Deloitte, …– Fondazione Punto.Sud, Economisti Associati,

Lama Development and Cooperation

Impact evaluation• Possibility to work on the field, managing project

implementation, data processing and cleaning

• Innovation for Poverty Action• J-PAL (Poverty Action Lab)• Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative• 3ie International Initiative for Impact Evaluation• http://www.poverty-action.org/getinvolved/jobs

• Tip: be pro-active and contact directly the project coordinators

• In Italy:– Associazione per lo Sviluppo della

Valutazione e l'Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche (ASVAPP)

– Istituto per la Ricerca Valutativa delle Politiche Pubbliche

NGOs• Many NGOs do not have a specific entry

point for interns or researchers. Try to contact members of the organisation to enquire about whether they could use assistance and potentially suggest ways in which you might be useful to the organisation: be pro-active!

• Start with some volunteering and get involved in the HQ

• Oxfam (UK)• Save the children• Coopi• Focsiv• Ciai• ….• http://www.cooperazioneallosviluppo.esteri.it/pdg

cs/italiano/Partner/Ong/ONG.asp• http://www.lavorarenelmondo.it/vacancy.html • http://www.cooperazioneallosviluppo.esteri.it/

pdgcs/italiano/Lavoro/Lavoro.asp

Newsletter of positions in development and economics:

• http://www.eadi.org/devcareers.html

• http://unjobs.org/

• http://www.econ-jobs.com/

• http://www.eurobrussels.com/jobs/internship

• http://unjobs.org/themes/technical-cooperation

• Development careers (FB)

Research

Working in Research: a story

• Esther Duflo (1972):– undergraduate studies at Ecole Normale

Superieure in Paris– Master degree in Paris from DELTA (now PSE)– PhD in Economics at MIT– 2010 John Bates Clark Medal for economists

under the age of forty  – She is currently a co-director of the Abdul Latif

Jameel Poverty Action Lab and full professor at MIT

Why?• ….

• Perspectives

• Pros

• Cons

The research path

• Master

• PhD

• Post-doc fellowship

• Researcher (staff)

Master Programs

• Master of Science

• Economics vs Development Economics

• Development Economics vs Development Studies

PhD Program

• Advanced courses

• 3 vs 4 vs 5 years

• The choice of the field of interest and of the supervisor

• Good ideas and skill acquisition

• Writing papers…

Where?• UK:

– Oxford– Cambridge– LSE – UCL– SOAS, London– Institute of Development Studies (Brighton)– Sussex University– Manchester

• Europe:– Paris School of Economics– Toulouse School of Economics– Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Stocholm University

• Italy:– Bocconi University– Istituto Carlo Alberto– European University Institute

How? (for MA and PhD)

• Timing of applications!!

• Requirements: – TOEFL or IELTS– GRE– CV and Cover Letter– Reference letters

What you absolutely need to have for a good application?

• Shiny CV

• Fantastic Cover Letter

…NO TYPOS!!!

Tips for a good CV

• If possible, avoid European format

• Max 2 pages

• Take care of layout and page format

• Highlight in bold relevant and key information

• Take care of the correct translation of accademic degrees and exams

cover letter• Introducing themselves to potential employers and explaining their

suitability for the desired position• Structure:

– Header. sender's address and other information; the recipient's contact information; the date optional reference section (e.g. "RE: Internship Opportunity at Global Corporation") and an optional transmission note salutation (e.g., "Dear Hiring Managers").

– Introduction  briefly states the specific position desired, and should be designed to catch the employer's immediate interest.

– Body. The body highlights or amplifies on material in the resume or job application, and explains why the job seeker is interested in the job and would be of value to the employer. Also, include skills, qualifications, and past experience. If there are any special things to note such as availability date, they may be included as well.

– Closing. A closing sums up the letter and indicates the next step the applicant expects to take, simply saying that the applicant will look forward to hearing from or speaking with the employer. After the closing is a valediction (e.g. "Sincerely"), and then a signature line.

Tips for a good cover letter

• support any assertions that you make about your skills, qualifications, or abilities with concrete examples from your experiences

• Not a repetition of the CV• Max 1 page• connect the candidate's experiences and

qualifications with the goals and needs of the institution

Some examples…

Job market assignment

• Individually, write your CV and select one position you may want to apply to (from the list of employers listed in the lecture). Write an hypothetical cover letter to apply to an existent or hypothetical position. Submit by 25 May.

• By presentation group, review and correct another group’s CVs and cover letters, filling the evaluation form

• Submit evaluation forms, CVs and cover letters to the lecturer by 31 may