Want a second opinion?

You should! Don’t take my word for it – this blog is my personal opinion – I encourage you to read and research widely and talk to as many people as you can to figure out:

a) whether this is for you, and;

b) the best way to do it.

Here are some leads on further reading:

Articles:

• The February 2007 issue of Monday Developments focused on career development, and had a number of interesting articles including an interview with Dan Curran of ‘Education First’ about getting your start in this business. It also includes some short examples of other people getting their first jobs, and some general career advice, and an interview with career advice from Sam Worthington, Interaction’s CEO.
• Transitions Abroad is website that deals with all kinds of overseas opportunities, including humanitarian aid. Check out their site, and take a look at these articles in particular. Leyla Giray’s article entitled ‘So You Want a Humanitarian Job?’, Caryn Sweeny’s ‘Working Toward a (Livable) Career in International Development Work‘, and Matthew Bolton’s ‘Becoming an Aid Worker‘. They also have a great section on insurance, health and safety when traveling.
• Aid Workers Network is a web forum and information site packed with information for and by aid workers, including some advice and discussions about getting your first job. Check their forums for recent discussions, and look at their section on finding a job.
• Bryan Walker has written a booklet called ‘Better Ways to Find Humanitarian Employment’. Download it free here.
• Dochas (The Irish Association of NGOs) has a good page here.
• Cedar Discourse has a nice introduction to the field of international development (which I found through a very kind link to my site on the University of Oklahoma International Studies page, which, inexplicably, tags my site with the ICRC logo 😉 ).
  

  Blog postings:

• Duncan Green at Oxfam has some advice.
• Dave Algoso has a great summary of resources related this issue on his posting “Career advice (from people smarter than me)“
• Michael Bear gives his opinion on getting a job in Afghanistan on Change.org – ‘Finding a job overseas’.
• Three blog posts also on Change.org by ‘Transitionland’, “a woman with a human rights and development background trying to break into international aid work” – get her opinion here (parts one, two and three).
• ‘How to become and aid worker‘ and Peter’s personal story from ‘The Road to the Horizon’ blog.
• Jemila Abdulai writes an interesting posting for DevEx called Humanitarian Relief for Career Starters. She highlights a few of the internship and volunteer opportunities available with larger international organizations.
• Alannah Shaikh on ‘Damsel in Success’ writes “Why you probably can’t get an international job (and what to do about that) “
• Piero Calvi of GIGnos Institute wrote a frank article on “What Recruiters Really Look For” on Aid Workers Network.
• Chris Blattman writes on ‘Getting a job in development (MSF edition).
• Jayne Cravens runs a site that has a lot of information and advice on working in the humanitarian field.
• Jayne Cravens runs a site that has a lot of information and advice on working in the humanitarian field.
• Katherine Tubb, an ‘overseas volunteering guru’ would you believe, wrote an article in the Guardian about this.
• WanderLust has a nice five part examination of becoming an aid worker here.