Young Professionals Programmes - an IR Career Booster!

Getting the ball rolling on a career in international affairs can be a massive undertaking. It is both daunting and, at times, quite confusing, as the paths are many, and the competition is stiff. With this in mind, it can be a good idea to prioritise efforts and push for the top-tier opportunities out there. For most, the absolute best option is the Young/Junior Professional traineeships offered by international organisations and NGOs.

Landing a traineeship like this?usually means that you will be given a contract lasting a couple of years and receive all the training needed to be successful in whatever?field you are working in. It is highly organised and typically offers excellent conditions and a pretty acceptable compensation level, and most importantly, it offers the chance to work on very interesting subject matters at an international level. As one might imagine, these perks also result in some particularly heavy competition, and it really becomes a good investment to pay extra attention to the deadlines and timings for these opportunities, so you have plenty of time set aside for perfecting your applications.

This a short guiding article intended to help graduates in international relations, political science and social sciences, or any of their subsets, to get more firmly on track with their job-hunting efforts, either standalone, or alongside my monthly-updated Entry-level Jobs in International Affairs, and my article series on career-building; Students Guide to a Career in International Affairs, Graduates Guide to a Career in International Affairs and Young Professionals Guide to a Career in International Affairs.

General Requirements?

1. Age Limit, traineeships are explicitly targeted at young professionals and in almost all cases, you will see a 32-35 age limit. While this is perfectly fine for most people, it often excludes veterans and people who have taken an indirect route to international affairs and graduate with a few extra years behind them. It is usually quite strict so please take care to read the fine print so you avoid wasting time and effort on what was never meant to be.
2. Nationality, as these traineeships often come with quite attractive compensation packages, it is somewhat natural that someone has to be paying for it, and for this reason, it is quite often the case, that applicants must be a party to an organisation or have a sponsoring government.
3. Education, with most positions at this level, having an academic background is quite simply a precondition for anything. Some opportunities are more lenient in its firm requirements, so a BA/BSc might be enough on paper, but with the competition in mind, I would always recommend you to push for a MA/MSc to even the playing field.
4. Language, many international organisations operate with official languages, English being quite common, but Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish are for example all official languages of the UN, and often you might be asked to know more than just one language, especially in the regional organisations.

How do I apply?

While not overly complicated, it is not always as simple as could be, to find and apply for one of the elusive IO traineeships. While some have regular hiring processes that you can check for every week, others have only a yearly or biyearly intake, and others still, might only recruit select nationalities at a given time. Luck thus becomes an increasingly important factor, as organisational quotas might not align with the timings that suit you.

The recruitment process itself can also be a challenge, for example, where an organisation such as the ICRC might just hire trainees as they would anyone else on a contract, the UN might be more inclined to only take Seconded trainees, which changes the ballpark a fair bit. In short, a seconded position is paid and maintained by your host government/institution, but your actual work would, in this case, be with the UN. This adds a new layer of requirements as your sending authority (most often, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will decide on specific conditions for its national candidates and have its own interests to consider.

Lastly, as these programmes tend to be exceedingly competitive, the workload involved is often quite substantial, and doing your research beforehand so you have both time, a clear understanding of the process, and lastly all the practical matters handled in advance, will give you a huge comparative advantage, and it will make the process much less stressful for you when it finally kicks off.

Checklist

• Do some reflection and figure out what organisations and programmes are relevant
• Mark their recruitment intakes in your calendar, giving yourself an early notice
• Familiarize yourself with the requirements and process for each of the positions
• Prepare all the commonly required documentation well in advance
• Plan ahead, keep calm and do a good job when it's time!
• Spend your waiting time reading my other articles on career-building in IR!

Overview Traineeship Programmes

Below is an overview of the major traineeships out there, they might come in different shapes and sizes, and with different terms associated with them, most common being a combination or mix of Young/Junior Professional/Associate Programme/Officer, but at the end of the day, it is an all early-stage entry-level positions, with a certain degree of on-the-job training, which is an absolutely amazing starting point, especially with the conditions and opportunities typically offered.

If you know of any missing programmes, please leave a comment below and I will update the list accordingly!

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organisation aiming to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations

United Nations Development Programme

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations organization tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development

United Nations Children's Fund

UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialised agency of the United Nations aimed at promoting world peace and security through the international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences, and culture

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a UN agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country

International Organization for Migration

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations agency that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security, and the largest provider of school meals

Food and Agriculture Organization

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security

International Fund for Agricultural Development

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. It is the only multilateral development organization that focuses solely on rural economies and food security

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health"

European Union

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of 4,233,255.3 km2 and an estimated total population of about 447 million

European External Action Service / European Commission DGs

The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service and combined foreign and defence ministry of the European Union

European Commission

The European Commission (EC) is the executive branch of the European Union, responsible for proposing legislation, enforcing EU laws and directing the union's administrative operations

European Parliament

The European Parliament (EP) is one of three legislative branches of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union, it adopts European legislation, commonly on the proposal of the European Commission.

Council of Europe

The Council of Europe (CoE) is an international organization founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe

European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space

European Defence Agency

The European Defence Agency is an agency of the European Union that promotes and facilitates integration between member states within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy.?

European Court of Auditors

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance and constitutes a system of collective security, whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

OPEC Fund for International Development

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. It was established by the member countries of OPEC in 1976 with a distinct purpose: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people.

International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons

The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth of Nations, generally known simply as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 54 member states, almost all of which are former territories of the British Empire.

World Bank Group

The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group.

Islamic Development Bank

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution, It claims to be "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB or ADB) is a multilateral development finance institution and is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank and seeks to promote social and economic development in Asia

World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that govern international trade.

International Committee of the Red Cross

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization with a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Such victims include war wounded persons, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants

Change Log

12.01.2022 - added Schuman/MEP under European Parliament (Thanks Rosa!)

13.01.2022 - added European Court of Auditors Traineeship