Top 10 Tips for Getting Experience in International Development

Read our top tips on how to start your career in international development.

Are you thinking about a career in international development?

Do you have an interest in humanitarian aid work at home or abroad? The work could involve responding to man-made or natural disasters. It can be challenging work with long and unpredictable hours. It is essential to do some research and try to gain some experience to get ahead in this highly competitive industry, this will help to clarify whether this is the career for you.

Steps to take:

1.  Recruitment agencies work closely with employers, and they can help graduates to find jobs. It is important, if you choose to contact a recruitment agency to make sure that they specialise in the field that you are interested in, as there are lots of recruitment agencies. Recruitment agencies such as Oxford HR and Bright network work within this sector. Oxford HR held an online event at UCL Careers in February and are keen to work with UCL students who are interested in the sector.
2. Related to the first tip, get networking anyway you can. Many jobs are found through unadvertised means, such as networking. This is a fantastic way to expand your network and raise your profile and awareness of opportunities available. Using resources such a LinkedIn, can help to open-up international job opportunities and networking. Read the UCL Careers page on networking for further help.
3. If no paid jobs are available, volunteering is also a good option to gain experience. If you can, volunteer once a week or biweekly (for example) this will also give you experience within the sector. See the UCL page for further information on the benefits of volunteering. The British Red Cross have an interesting opportunity available. The British Red Cross support people in crisis around the world. This could be a good career starting point with an international charity.
4. Attend our events. We host a wide variety of events that discuss various themes of job searching and career discovery. For those interested in careers in international development, we host Sector Insight Events looking at the industry in-depth. These events are catered to give you plenty of information for your pursuits into International Development.
5. Gaining experience within companies that interest you in the sector in the first instance can further expand your opportunities. This could include an administrative role in the UK. You may not be interested in the specific job in the long term but gaining that all important experience within that company, will help you. The skills that you obtain in an admin job could include the day-to-day administration of a team, project work, managing budgets, organising fundraising, and carrying out reports. These transferable skills would be highly beneficial if you then became based abroad later in your career.
6. Do your research. You can start by exploring the Career Discovery Feed for articles related to International Development, and then the UCL Careers Sector Insights resources in International Development and Charities & NGO’s sector insight pages to learn more about the sector, gather insider information, and prepare to network. 
7. To ensure you never miss a chance to network with professionals, hear about opportunities, and learn what it is like working within the sector, sign up to the UCL Careers newsletter. If you missed the opportunity to attend our sector specific events, you can explore past event resources and watch recordings in our archive.
8. Explore online reading resources such as The UCL Careers in International Development guide discovery feed and Prospects’ international aid/development worker job profile page. Both of these sites give a wealth of information, where you can find out more about what to expect, employers and salary expectations, graduate schemes and internships.
9. Sign up to the UCL Careers jobs page and filter the jobs according to the sector, international development, charities, and NGO’s! Check every few days for any new vacancies. Once you see a vacancy that interests you, take a note of the application deadline.
10. Prepare your application and book an appointment through the UCL Careers team to have your application reviewed before the submission deadline date.

Key takeaways -

Plan and do your research, following the steps above.

We are always here to help you find your future. Please do book a one-to-one appointment through the UCL Careers bookings page. We are open throughout the year, and our contact details are available online.