Master Degrees for getting into United Nations

September 18, 2013 9:45 AM

Since United Nations requires a masters degree for most of their jobs, what qualifications I can upgrade to in order to secure a job with UN.

I am based in India. I am a graduate in liberal arts, and have 15 years of experience working in the Information Technology sector. A degree which gives me an opportunity to work with diverse teams and culture, travel, work in Human rights within UN. A qualification which can be more generic to apply for many jobs in the UN.

Also, the downside is I am already 39 years old..

Hive minds who have worked with United Nations, please share your experience of getting into UN.

posted by jassi to Work & Money (7 answers total)

If you want to continue doing IT work for the UN, you absolutely do not need a Master's- in fact, I'm looking at the website now and most of the IT positions I'm seeing only require a high school diploma. You do need to take the UN's Administrative Support Assessment Test in order to be considered though.
posted by showbiz_liz at 10:10 AM on September 18, 2013

Response by poster: Yes I saw that. I am not sure if being in Delhi, if I can apply for New York. Though being in IT, I have worked on an H1-B in United States.

What other qualifications I can get, to apply for better positions. Not necessarily in IT.
posted by jassi at 10:28 AM on September 18, 2013

I hate to break it to you, and it may be different today or in your specialty, but....

Unless you are doing freelance translator work, or similar freelance, the only way to get a job with the UN is through some version of nepotism (friends/family/spouse.)

I worked there. I never saw securing a position within this organization work any other way.

Please go ahead and prove me wrong!!
posted by jbenben at 10:48 AM on September 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I thought you cannot get into UN through referrals ..I have some friends in UN, and they always tell me to just apply through the website..
posted by jassi at 10:54 AM on September 18, 2013

Assuming you have the time/funds to pursue a Masters, I believe this time and money would be much better spent on a) internships (which are often unpaid) in the area you want to work in, particularly programme experience or b) immersive language training in a UN language to a high level.
posted by bimbam at 11:18 AM on September 18, 2013

I'd suggest applying directly via the UN Website for all positions for which you are eligible.

Husbunny's EX did this and she's working there today. She's the one person in the US who fit their job description, but hey, someone had to.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:39 AM on September 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I would suggest a Masters in Intl Relations. I did this myself with Univ of Southern California. Very useful qualification.
posted by livewire at 12:32 PM on September 18, 2013