About William A. McKelligott Expertise All aspects of working for the federal government, including recruiting, career advancement and workpalce culture. I can also answer questions on work as an international civil servant.
Experience 6 yrs experience with the US government, both legislative and executive branch agencies. I have also worked with the UN, both as an international civil servant and as a consultant.
Education/Credentials Master of Arts in the Social Sciences, University of Chicago
Master of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Bachelors degree in Political Science, Universidad de Los Andes
Question I am a high school sophomore and I was wondering if you could help me with
a project I'm working on. My English Studies Class is researching a career and then writing an essay over the information
we've gathered. My chosen career was a Foreign Affairs Officer, though, I'd really like to apply that to the Peace, Security
and Human Rights branch of the United Nations. This is something I want to pursue after my high school and college
education and the reason I chose this particular profession for my report. I was hoping you could help me
with information because you were involved with the U.N. Any help you could give would be excellent!
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter!
Answer Hello, Hannah
Thanks for your question. Let see-- Foreign Affairs Officer and the UN system. Maybe we could simplify things a bit and just call it "UN Officer", as all UN jobs would technically fall under the heading "foreign." And this is where it can get tricky: when you work for the UN you are, in most instances and if internationally recruited, an international civil servant. This means that you work for the UN agency, not for your home government. So, the term foreign is really more suitable for those folks working for their government overseas, such as embassy staff or consular offices. In the UN, nobody (or everybody, depending on your point of view) is a foreigner, but they all work for the same boss.
In terms of skills and abilities, I think that a good dose of cultural sensitivity and language abilities are of the essence. Additionally, the vast majority of UN jobs require a technical skill, such as knowing how to irrigate drought-prone regions of a country, deliver education to remote areas via new technologies, or evaluate programs using a variety of data and sources(this last task is my speciality). Patience and the ability to work in teams would also come in handy. Coming from a developed country like the US, you will find that the pace of things overseas is much different, and that a place like the UN and its specialized agencies are slow in getting things done.
Now, as far as getting hired, here is a little known fact: most UN agencies have a quota system where by member states have an "assigned" number of staff positions that they could claim based on their yearly $ contributions. By way of example, UNESCO, the UN agency I worked for in Paris, allots about 80 staff positions to US citizens. So, assuming that a job vacancy manages to spark the interest of about 780 applicants, and if all candidates who get on the short list to be interviewed are equally qualified, the US citizen would have the upper hand if his/her competitor were from a country that has already used up its quota (or, to use UN parlance, the member state is already well represented in the organization). In my case, I got lucky because the US left UNESCO) in protest for about 19 years and rejoined in OCT 2003. This opened up the possibility that US citizens could work there, provided they are well-trained, competent in their field, and better than their competition.
The rest is pretty much applicable to any job: common sense, tact, and taking a proactive stance in shaping your career. One striking difference form the UN to the rest of the jobs out there is that you see a lot of "lifers", which explains why vacancies are so hard to come across and getting in can be an up[hill battle. My advice: get trained, get some overseas experience, and keep on trying.
