Things I learned from hiring today that may help your job seeking be more successful tomorrow

I consider myself very fortunate to have so many of you interested in being a part of the fab Strategic Planning & Innovation Nodes team I lead at UNICEF Innovation . Recently, I’ve been fortunate to be hiring a number of new members for my team -- and right now I am looking for a Strategic Planner, a writing intern and a data intern -- as well as been helping others in our Office of Innovation hire new colleagues.?

One of my most recent opportunities was an internship that was advertised for 7 days and attracted 168 applications from dozens of countries. But numbers don’t tell the story, because personally reviewing every application led me to reflect not only on your amazing talent, but also to want to share some reflections and tips that may be helpful to you in your next application anywhere. This is simple, obvious advice, but the data tells me its worth sharing.

It’s a match!

As a mom of a child who is starting the university/college application process, I am extra attuned to thinking about what makes a good match between the unique attributes of an individual and an institution. Our job advertisements require that we are transparent and declare what we are seeking — so be your own best adviser and assess to what degree your expertise and experience meet what is being sought, described in the advert and typically bulleted out in a requirements section. Why is this worth repeating? My advert asked specifically for interest from interns who had graduated in the last 2 years or currently are studying business. So I didn’t feel great coming across dozens of applications from students of dentistry, chemistry, agriculture, political science, law, medicine, public health, english, education, and engineering without business in there somewhere.

Something to talk about

Both related and unrelated to any job, I regularly get invited to have informational conversations from people who are interested in UNICEF’s work and working for the organization, in innovation work, career journeys etc. I do honestly wish I had the time available to have these with you. But I don’t. One of the best ways of keeping up with our work is to keep an eye on our various individual and organizational social media channels which are very active. You can also set up your personal jobs agent on jobs site and it will send you alerts when a job(s) meeting your criteria are posted https://jobs.unicef.org/? And yes, we advertise them all — internships, consultancies, temporary roles, staff positions.

Location, location, location…

Location — it’s the thing they always talk about with real estate/property. And as entitles across the United Nations family are actively evolving their footprints, it’s a detail you should pay attention to. Every role has the intended location exlicitly stated. And yes, that means we made a conscious decision to wish to have the person in that role in that location and not somewhere else. So if you know that the advertised location isn’t an option for you, then you should likely not apply because we will have calculated everything about that role and its costs for the advertised location, down to the cent or centime or kobo or santang or… (you get the idea).?

That said, we have many roles for which the location is ‘remote’, the option for all you lovers of WFA (work from anywhere).?

Back to basics

You might think the following points don’t need to be covered, but as I am coming across them in the dozens right now, indulge me.

Don’t use the cover letter for another job and submit it without removing / replacing the references to that other job you drafted it for. It’s not a good reflection to read about why you’re a great candidate for a job I’m not recruiting and which is somewhat different.

Yes, we are among the most multilingual workplaces in the world, but when a role emphasizes that excellent written communication skills are required particularly in English, you are not putting your best foot forward as a candidate if you do not submit the main part of your application in English and so demonstrate your level of fluency.?

Parting thoughts

As many of my friends, colleagues and LinkedIn Connections can attest to, whenever anyone asks whether they should apply to job x, I tend to advise:

• Take an honest appraisal of how well you match the advertised profile — which does not mean you need to be a perfect match. Here’s especially looking at women who suffer from the “proof-versus-potential problem” and research tells us they consistently underestimate and undersell their ability.?
• In true game show fashion, use that ‘Call a friend’ option and solicit the advice of someone who knows you, supports you and will (hopefully) give you honest advice.?
• And returning to what we might learn from the university/college application experience. Decisions will be made from an unpredictable pool of applicants, the strength of the pool is unknown, and you need to dive in to have an option. So apply. Conversely, if you can see that you’re not meeting at least half of the profile and requirements, you’re at the wrong pool — go find the one that’s waiting for you to jump in.?

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