Advice and resources for jobs and volunteering opportunities in international development.

Suggestions for finding work[edit | edit source]

  • Some aid agencies (such as AusAID) don't employ many people directly, but have subcontractors who employ people. Go to the aid agency's website and look for public tenders, and see who has recently won tenders in an area that interests you. Do your research, have your resumé ready, and contact the company directly.
  • Don't rule out volunteering positions, even if you need the money. Some "volunteer" positions actually include a comfortable payment (hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month, which goes a long way in a developing country), even if it's nowhere near as much as consultants' wages.
  • Consider your financial needs. There are sites & organizations which ask you to pay to volunteer - this may be legitimate (especially for an NGO on a tight budget) but check it out carefully. It's normal that you pay your own airfare, and perhaps pay a reasonable amount for food and accomodation. However there are also businesses which charge well above the usual local rates in third world countries.
  • Join mailing lists and subscribe to newsletters in your field of interest, as these often have postings for jobs (though these usually assume several years of experience).
  • Post your CV/résumé on job sites - see External links at bottom of this page.
  • Is it possible to set up an alert on a specific web page, to detect changes? E.g. if the word "water" or "architect" appears on a certain jobs vacancies page (e.g. this one, it should send an email. (Google alerts won't do this - is there something that does?)

See also[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

Advice[edit | edit source]

Registries[edit | edit source]

These are sites and organizations which allow you to register yourself for volunteer and/or paid work.

Job sites[edit | edit source]

Australian[edit | edit source]

  • Austraining International - company owned by Australian government. Register and post your CV/resume.
  • Search job vacancies at the Australian Development Gateway - jobs in the Asia Pacific region. Not many jobs listed, so it's best to search with broad criteria, e.g. selecting Any for location and/or category. However, must select alternatives for Type otherwise only contract jobs are shown.
  • List of Vacancies by ACFID (Australian Council for International Development) member agencies.

Specific agencies[edit | edit source]

These are NGOs who are looking for employees and will at least pay for your trip

  • AIDG has an internship program through which they place volunteers at their various projects.
  • The Borneo Project Is currently looking for someone with a Civil Engineering background. (Added 4-21-8)
  • Ecosystems Nepal Is looking for 2 Mechanical Engineers or aspiring students to help them in the construction of their wire bridges (Added 4-21-8)
  • Worldbike Is looking for a project manager to work at their bike fabrication facilities in Kenya. (Added 4-22-8)
  • Cummins Engine in Minneapolis is looking for an ME/PD/EE to lead technical development of rural electrification project. (Added 5-2-8)

See also[edit | edit source]

FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Page data
Authors Chris Watkins, Curt Beckmann
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 2 pages link here
Aliases Employment and volunteering in international development
Impact 463 page views
Created October 11, 2006 by Chris Watkins
Modified September 25, 2023 by Emilio Velis
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