What is an international career?

How do you apply for UN and international jobs?

There is no single job board for the international sector. The UN Secretariat recruits through its own portal, agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP, WFP and WHO run separate e-recruitment systems, and development banks, NGOs and think tanks publish on their own sites. Read each vacancy notice as a checklist and allow three to twelve months from closing date to offer.

There is no single job board for the international sector. The UN Secretariat recruits through its own portal, Inspira, via UN Careers; agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP, WFP and WHO run separate e-recruitment systems; development banks, NGOs and think tanks each publish on their own sites. Most candidates therefore spend more time finding relevant vacancies than writing applications — which is the problem Civium's AI job matching is built to solve.

1. Read the vacancy notice as a checklist

UN vacancy notices separate education, work experience, languages and competencies. Screening is often automated or done against these headings line by line: if a notice asks for seven years of progressively responsible experience in programme management, your application must show exactly that, with dates. Desirable requirements matter for shortlisting, but missing a mandatory one usually ends the application.

2. Tailor your profile and documents

Most UN entities ask you to complete an online profile or a Personal History Profile rather than upload only a CV, and many also accept a cover letter. Mirror the vacancy's wording, quantify results, and make every relevant job entry stand on its own. Our CV, cover letter and application guide covers the documents in detail.

3. Prepare for assessments and a competency-based interview

Shortlisted candidates for professional posts usually sit a written or technical assessment and then a competency-based interview, where each question targets one competency such as planning and organising, communication or accountability. Answers are expected in a structured situation–task–action–result format. See our competency interview guide for example questions.

4. Expect a long process

From the closing date to an offer typically takes three to twelve months, followed by reference checks, medical clearance and onboarding. Because of this, experienced applicants apply to several suitable roles in parallel rather than waiting on one.

5. Use rosters and look beyond the Secretariat

Many candidates only search the UN Secretariat, but most UN system jobs are advertised by individual agencies, funds and programmes, and the UN system jobs portal lists vacancies across them. The Secretariat also runs roster exercises and generic job openings: candidates who pass the assessment are placed on a roster and can be selected for later vacancies at the same level without repeating the full process. Several agencies keep similar talent pools for consultants and emergency deployments, so registering your profile with them is worth the effort.

What do the UN grade levels P, D, NO, G and FS mean?

P (Professional) and D (Director) grades are recruited internationally and paid on a single worldwide salary scale set by the ICSC, plus a post adjustment for the cost of living. National Professional Officers (NO) and General Service (G) staff are recruited locally on local scales, and Field Service (FS) covers mission posts. Grades signal seniority and are not job titles.

Grades signal both seniority and how a post is recruited. The Professional and higher categories (P-1 to P-5 and D-1 to D-2) are recruited internationally and paid on a single worldwide salary scale set by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), plus a post adjustment for the cost of living at each duty station. National Professional Officers and General Service staff are recruited locally and paid on local salary scales. The table below summarises the typical minimum experience asked for in UN Secretariat vacancies; agencies and individual notices vary.

Grades are not the same as job titles: a "Programme Officer" can be advertised at P-2, P-3 or NO-B depending on the organisation. Moving between categories — for example from General Service to Professional — normally requires competing for a new post rather than a promotion. NGOs and development banks use their own grading systems, but many describe seniority in P-grade terms, which is why Civium aligns roles to your experience level rather than to titles.

Pay and benefits at a glance

For internationally recruited staff, total pay is the base salary for the grade and step plus post adjustment, which rises or falls with the cost of living at the duty station. Depending on the post and the family situation, staff may also receive allowances such as rental subsidy, education grant, home leave, and mobility and hardship allowances for field duty stations, alongside membership of the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund and health insurance. The ICSC salary scales are the authoritative reference; many vacancy notices also state an indicative annual salary.

What is the difference between a staff contract and a consultancy?

A staff appointment (fixed-term, temporary or continuing) makes you an international civil servant with pension, insurance and entitlements. Consultants and individual contractors are non-staff: they are engaged for a defined piece of work, paid per day or per deliverable, and do not receive staff benefits. Agencies use different names, such as Individual Contract or Special Service Agreement.

A staff appointment (fixed-term, temporary or continuing) makes you an international civil servant with the associated pension, insurance and entitlements. Consultants and individual contractors are non-staff: they are engaged for a defined piece of work, paid a fee per day or per deliverable, and do not receive staff benefits. Agencies use different names for these arrangements — Individual Contract, Special Service Agreement or personnel service agreements such as UNDP's NPSA and IPSA.

Consultancies are a large part of the market. In the week of 28 September to 2 October 2026, 140 of the 891 new vacancies Civium tracked (16%) were advertised as consultancies and 106 (12%) as internships. Consultancies reward specialist expertise and can be an effective way to build a track record with an organisation; they are rarely a direct route to a staff post, so weigh contract length, fee and benefits carefully. Current figures are in our international development job market trends.

Questions to ask before accepting a consultancy

• Duration and extensions: is it a single deliverable or a renewable assignment, and how often are contracts extended?
• Fee basis: a daily rate, a monthly fee or a lump sum paid against deliverables — and what happens if the scope grows.
• Location and travel: home-based, on-site or mixed, and whether travel costs and daily subsistence are covered.
• Insurance and tax: consultants usually arrange their own medical and accident cover, and the tax treatment of fees differs from staff salaries — check the rules in your country of residence.
• Next steps: whether the work builds a track record in the sector and team you want to join on a staff contract later.

Working for NGOs, development banks and think tanks

International NGOs

NGOs such as the IRC, MSF, Save the Children or the Norwegian Refugee Council usually recruit faster than the UN, often within weeks, and most posts are tied to specific donor-funded projects. They distinguish between national staff and international staff, and international roles frequently involve field postings in humanitarian settings. Practical experience counts heavily: proven delivery in the field, grant management and donor reporting can outweigh formal qualifications.

Development banks

The World Bank Group and regional development banks run their own grading systems — the World Bank, for example, uses grades from GA to GK, with professional roles starting around GE — and recruit heavily for economics, finance, infrastructure and operations. Short- and extended-term consultancies are a common entry point, and strong quantitative skills and sector expertise are usually expected.

Think tanks and policy institutes

Think tanks typically hire research assistants and associates early in a career, with fellows and senior fellows recruited for an established record of publications, policy influence or government experience. Writing samples matter as much as the CV, and many roles are based in a handful of capitals such as Washington, Brussels and London.

Entry routes for early-career professionals

Young Professionals Programme (YPP)

The UN Young Professionals Programme is an annual entrance examination for P-1/P-2 posts in the UN Secretariat. It is open to nationals of participating countries, a list that changes every year, and applications are made through Inspira, usually from June.

Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programmes

JPO posts are funded by donor governments for their own nationals (and sometimes for nationals of developing countries), typically for two to three years. Each sponsoring country sets its own criteria, including age limits; many JPO vacancies are administered by the UNDP JPO Service Centre.

UN Volunteers and internships

UN Volunteers is a separate UN entity offering national and international assignments with a living allowance. UN Secretariat internships are unpaid, while some agencies now offer stipends; internships are usually open to current students or recent graduates and do not lead automatically to employment.

Secondments and fellowships

Some governments second their own civil servants to international organisations for a fixed period, and several UN entities run fellowship programmes for specific groups — for example the OHCHR Indigenous Fellowship Programme. These routes are less visible than open vacancies, so check your own government's foreign affairs or development ministry and the careers pages of the organisations you are targeting.

Which languages do you need for an international career?

The UN has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Most vacancies require fluency in English or French, and a second official language is often listed as desirable. French is often mandatory in West and Central Africa and Geneva, Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa, and Spanish in Latin America.

The UN has six official languages — Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish — and the Secretariat's two working languages are English and French. Most vacancies require fluency in English or French; knowledge of a second official language is frequently listed as desirable and can decide close shortlists. French is often mandatory in West and Central Africa and Geneva, Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa, and Spanish in Latin America. Civium reads the language requirements in each vacancy and matches them to the languages on your profile.

On most application forms you rate your own reading, writing, speaking and understanding for each language, so be accurate: if a language is mandatory, it may be tested in the written assessment or checked during the interview, which can be partly conducted in that language. Recognised certificates, such as DELF/DALF for French, are not usually required but help to back up a self-assessment. If you are building a second language for an international career, French and Arabic currently open the widest range of field and headquarters roles.