The UN and the World Bank to NHH
Norwegians are under-represented in a number of international organisations. To increase interest among candidates in the mid-career category, the UN and the World Bank are coming to Bergen on 2 May to present career opportunities to students and academic staff. 'This is the kind of career that makes you more complete as a person,' says NHH alumnus. In Norwegian
26.04.2012 - Knut André Karlstad (translated by Douglas Ferguson, Allegro)
'At the turn of the year, there were about 500 Norwegians working in international organisations of which Norway is a member. About 300 of them work in the UN and the World Bank,' says Torgal Ståhl of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He works on recruitment to international organisations on behalf of the Norwegian authorities and tells us that Norway is under-represented on these organisations' staff.
Both the UN and the World Bank make regular visits around the world to ensure that their workforce is as broadly based as possible. On 2 May, it is Bergen and NHH's turn. An open day will be held at which people who are interested in an international career can learn about the opportunities these organisations represent. Contributing to recruitment visits of this kind is an important part of the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
'One of the Ministry's tasks is to ensure that there is a reasonable proportion of Norwegians on the staff of organisations of which Norway is a member. This helps to secure the legitimacy of Norway's engagement in and support for these organisations. At the same time, it will help to ensure that the foreign service has a broader network in international organisations and lead to greater understanding for Norwegian values and points of view in these organisations,' says Torgal Ståhl.
A rewarding career
Janis Majors is a business graduate (siviløkonom) from NHH and also has an MBA in Brand Management from the school. He worked for the UN for three years, in Nairobi in Kenya, among other places.
'They were some of the most rewarding years of my life, both because of the experience I had and due to the challenging tasks involved. As a recent business graduate, I worked on procurements for big UN projects and on managing projects covering several African countries,' he says.
Today, he works in the private sector in Rio de Janeiro as a market and communications director. Majors believes he has benefited greatly from his career in the UN.
'The big difference is that you get input from completely different situations, places and people than you do in the average business job. I really believe that makes you more complete as a person, and that is what you will benefit from in the long run, also in the business world. In addition, you are doing a job that directly improves other people's lives, and the pay is just as good as in a "normal" business graduate job,' he says, while also stressing that the learning curve is steep in this kind of job.
'In my day-to-day work, I would say that I benefited twenty per cent from what I learned at NHH, twenty per cent from what I learned in the NHH Student Union - in my case the student brass band Direksjonsmusikken - and the last sixty per cent I had to learn from scratch,' he says.
Broad representation
In addition to a representative from the World Bank, the UN is represented by a wide selection of people. People from the UN Secretariat in New York, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will all attend.
The presentation will focus both on career opportunities and on how best to prepare during the application process. The event is primarily aimed at master's degree students and research fellows, but everyone who is interested is welcome.
Date: Wednesday 2 May
Time: 10.15-12.00
Place: Finn Kydland's auditorium
Programme
Welcome address by Rector Jan I Haaland
Presentations by the UN and the World Bank
* Career opportunities
* How to prepare an effective application to the UN system
* How to prepare for competence-based interviews in the UN
* Questions and answers
NHH candidates who are unable to attend the presentation at 10.15 can meet the UN and the World Bank at the University of Bergen later the same day. More information about this event is available on UiB's website.
UN headquarters 1987.
Foto: UN Photo/Milton Grant
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