Unjobfinder Career Podcast

Lisa Akero is the Gender and Diversity Coordinator at IFRC in Geneva. Lisa has extensive experience in working with gender and diversity issues. In this episode, she explains how her work ensures a gender and diversity perspective in all emergencies, what it’s like to work with gender and diversity, and why she ended up in that field in the first place. - I find it extremely important and very very motivating when you can see change, when you can make change happen. When you can support processes or action that creates for a more equal and faire society, says Lisa Akero.

Marta Aretakis Terne is the Head of Marketing and Communication at Better Shelter in Sweden. Marta has a longstanding experience in Marketing and Communication. In this episode, she explains how her work has helped displaced persons receive a good shelter, what it’s like to work with a social enterprise, and how to develop a successful innovation project. - So we are the innovators and our role is to be the fast and the agile and the less bureaucratic organization and partner to these big, big aid providers. We can work a lot faster but we can also help them try concepts and we can help them try ideas that they would not be able to do, says Marta Aretakis Terne.

Robert Piper is the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Development Coordination Office in New York. Robert has a longstanding experience in international development, humanitarian response and peacebuilding at the United Nations. In this episode, he explains the role of the UN Development Coordination Office, the background to the Talent roster and what kind of profiles he is looking for. - Working with the United Nations is an incredible privilege and it is a badge of honour to be part of the UN and it comes with a set of values. So, I think you join the UN in whatever capacity whether you are a peacekeeper, a development coordinator like me, or a humanitarian you join the UN with a passion for what it represents, says Robert Piper.

Annika Sandlund is the Chief, Interagency and Coordination Unit at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees headquarter in Geneva. Annika has extensive experience and has been working with refugees in many different countries and in different geographical regions. In this episode, she explains how her work has helped the lives of refugees, what’s it like to work with a humanitarian organization, and why she got into that field in the first place. - As a journalist I went to the Balkans to report from the wars at the Balkans, and I was quite disillusioned. I was relatively young and I had this idea that the world would be a better place if people just knew and understood what the problems were and if they agreed on how to see the world and everybody would also agree on how to solve the problems such as wars, says Annika Sandlund.

Marylene Wamukoya is the Senior Data Analyst at the Africa Population Health Research Center in Kenya. Marylene has extensive experience working in demographics, health and poverty dynamics research in Africa. In this episode, she explains how research are used, how it has had a positive impact o the African continent, and why she chose to become a researcher in the field of development. - To transform lives in Africa through research, and then I realized that I also aligns my own personal kind of goal, which is that if I leave anyone behind I will be leaving myself behind. So I found this to be a great conduce through which both I and africans can grow and I can make an impact through my work.

Comfort Lamptey is UN Women’s Country Representative in Nigeria. Comfort has spent most of her professional life working on gender issues. In this episode, she explains how her interest in promoting gender equality started out of curiosity of where all the women were, how she sees the necessity to transform societies, and what helped her to move all the way to a top position within the UN. - I had been working in an organization that was responsible for process of conflict resolution, mediation, preventive diplomacy, and I was very struck as a very young professional and I was very excited by this field, which was an evolving field. But after about a year I just began ask myself certain questions because I did not see a lot of women involved in the work we were doing, says Comfort Lamptey.

Jaime Castaneda is the Global Emergency Specialist at the Danish Refugee Council. The position is part of DRC:s emergency team and is roving. Jamie has extensive experience working in emergencies. In this episode, he describes the tasks that lies ahead when arriving at the frontline, his background that has prepared him for that kind of job, and which skills that are needed if one wants to work at the frontline. - In the beginning of the year I was deployed to Bangladesh in response to the Rohingya refugee crisis. I participated in setting up the new country operation, because it is a new operation for the Danish Refugee Council, and I was specifically in charge of designing the emergency prepare and response plan for the upcoming cyclone season. So basically, I had a team of engineers who were working in the largest refugee camp in the world. Trying to set up bridges, trying to set up retention walls, setting up pathways, identify safe evacuation areas in case of a strong cyclone and therefore landslides

Episode 2: Making an impact – what is Program staff doing? Sofie Liesker is the Head of Program Support Unit at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Lebanon. Sofie has extensive experience working in the humanitarian sector. In this episode, she describes the role of programming staff, what its like to work in a humanitarian operation, and also gives some advice on how to get the first job in the global impact sector. - I think that Lebanon might be one of the few places in the world in the humanitarian sector where you can actually work so close to a crisis and really work in a country office where you actively deliver services to vulnerable people and at the same time get to live in a place that is not as stressful and remote as many other of the locations humanitarian workers find themselves in, says Sofie Liesker.

Episode 1: Making an impact – why a podcast? Impactpool’s podcast is now being re-launched with the title “Making an impact”. In this first episode, Impactpool’s founders Magnus Bucht and Henrik Rydén provides an explanatory introduction to the podcast. The podcast’s background, purpose, and its importance will be explained. - If you know what you are applying for and you understand the context of the organizations then it will be a higher chance that you will be lucky in your new role. So this podcast will help you to better understand the whole sector, says Henrik Rydén.

Vivian Van de Perre is Chief Of Staff at the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic - MINUSCA. She talks about what is appealing in serving in the UN field missions and about her role as CHIEF of STAFF. She shares career tips and advice for people with private sector profile that would like to start a career with the UN.

Carsten Olsen is Finance and Budget Officer at MINUSCA - Bangui. In this interview Carsten shares his 26 years of experience working at the UN, skills and competences that have attributed to his success and explains what does it mean to work with Finance and Budget section in the United Nations in the field.

Listen to the career story of an Italian who grew up in the UK, and has gone from being a EU lobbyist via jobs in different NGOs all over the world, to where he is today as the Head of Operations for NRC in Amman, Jordan. Carlo Gherardi will share how he has grown both professionally and personally during his assignments and you will get excellent insider tips about the skills he is looking for when recruiting talents. “Every winter in Jordan is extremely difficult. You often have snowfall, you have temperatures at zero. One of our functions in the camps is to coordinate the distribution on behalf of all humanitarian agencies for what we call non-food items. So organizing distributions for 20,000 families and making sure that those are coordinated in a way where the most vulnerable are prioritized, where those people who can’t come and collect their items are supported by an alternative carer, making sure that people don’t have to queue for too long, and just logistically managing that kind of operation is e

In this episode you will meet Becky Bakr Abdulla, Media Coordinator in Iraq at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Listening to this episode will really give you an understanding of the importance of communications and what it means to be working in a conflict situation for an international organization such as the NRC. Becky Bakr Abdulla, a 27-year old from Oslo, Norway, is in the beginning of her career with the Norwegian Refugee Council, the NRC. In a short while she has gone from graduating university, via an internship, to being sent right into a field role as a Media Coordinator, where she’s dealing directly with the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Becky is also a child of refugee parents from Kurdistan, which is located in the northern part of Iraq, where she is currently based. – Obviously that sort of background has always given me an interest in more than just in a region border. I’ve always had an interest in travelling, in learning more about other cultures and other nationalities. So when

In this episode we interview an interesting person with enormous experience from different UN organizations. Currently, she is the Human Resources Director for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Don’t miss out on a great learning opportunity! In this podcast Cornelia Moussa, HR Director from WIPO, talks about the very specific work environment in the development sector, like how the different UN Agencies’ mandates has a huge influence on the organization’s culture: “The UN is not a static body, it’s always subject to a great deal of change, partly driven internally by mandates changing and partly also driven externally by member states, by the environments that we have to respond to, deal with”, she says. Cornelia Moussa has been in the UN system since the late 1970’s. She has held management positions for agencies such as UNFPA and UNRWA, both at headquarters but also in field offices in the Middle East. Listen and you will be rewarded with many important career tips, irrespective if y

She has moved up the career ladder from intern to senior policy officer. Now Sonia Peña at IUCN is crafting the important messages to influence governments all over the world to take action to conserve our precious planet. ”We are realizing that we are losing much more species than we anticipated in the past. The rate of biodiversity loss is accelerating really enormously. We need to do something and we need to do it quickly, if not we are going to loose it all”, Sonia says. Listen and learn how working in international development really can influence and change global agendas. In this episode of the Impactpool Career Podcast we are focusing on the role and the skill set needed to be a good policy officer. Our guest is Sonia Pena from IUCN – International Union For Conservation of Nature – the largest and oldest global environment organization. Sonia will share her career story and talk about the biggest challenges and rewards working for an organization like IUCN. “If I haven’t work in this field I would

Meet Jens Behrendt, the Deputy HR Director at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. In this episode he shares excellent career advice and personal stories from working in various organizations and places around the world, such as being taken hostage in Ghana. “Sometimes you’re walking a thin line. But it did not change my commitment or determination to work for international organizations”, Jens says. Listen to an interview packed with food for thought for your career and get personal insight on what international organizations do and deliver. What’s it like to work for OSCE – the largest regional security organization in the world? On risks and security aspects working in areas that are high risk and hostile How you establish your brand as a professional The need to find a balance between work and personal life The most common mistakes people make during interview (Tip: be prepared to give a two minute selling pitch of what you are as a professional!) Entry points for a successf

She moved from commercial banking into the international development world. In this episode we talk to Ann Rennie, responsible for human resources and one of the Deputy Director Generals for the Asian Development Bank (ADB). “I kind of fell into banking, but then I always was missing something. There was something that wasn’t there”, says Ann Rennie. She has had executive roles at the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and at UK’s Department for International Development, but also from the private sector. In this podcast Ann Rennie shares many useful career advices that will certainly increase your chances of landing your own job. This is a short list of some of the topics covered: The role of ADB and how do you build a career at the bank, i.e. Young professional program and internship. Organizational culture in international financial institutions compared to private sector organizations. Ann’s proudest career moments and her lessons for a successful career. The importance for candidate

After her first job after university, resettling Vietnamese refugees in Finland, she’s done four different UN entities, nine field duty stations, and three headquarters including the UN Secretariat in New York. Laura Londén just hit her 25th anniversary in the UN system and has worked in every single aspect of operational support. “That makes me a UN veteran and it also makes me a UN gypsy. I’m also what they call a UN brat, which basically makes me a second generation UN”, says Laura Londén, Director of Human Resources at UNWRA. Listen to her many great stories, like how she contributed to the building of a new country in East Timor and worked with the transition from peace keeping to peace building in Sierra Leone. It might be one of the lesser-known UN-agencies but UNRWA has 32,000 staff in areas where many other organizations no longer operate. Here are some of the other highlights from this episode with Laura Londén: · The essence of a UN career and how it makes a difference · Her favorite

In this episode you will get useful career advice from Charles Cisney, Global HR-director of Pact, an international nonprofit organization open for all nationalities. Listen to how Pact supports people in over 25 countries through establishing local solutions and partnerships. “At the end of the day we’re all working towards the same thing which is in the service of people, helping them live better lives”, says Charles Cisney. In this episode you Charles will share with us his own story and of course some really valuable advice! Some of the issues discussed in this episode are: · Key competences and important skills needed for an international career · The need to be resourceful and persistent · The importance of networking · How you can demonstrate your international exposure and experience. You can find full transcript of the episode at http://unjobfinder.org/transcripts/transcript-episode-6-interview-with-charles-cisney