Working in international development is a natural aspiration for many LSE graduates, and around 6% of graduates from the 2020/21 academic year secured work in international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or charities.

Though broad in their overall scope, international NGOs offer myriad opportunities to work on pressing socio-economic, environmental and political challenges and foster positive impact in developing countries.

Unlike many other sectors, however, international NGOs working on development do not tend to offer structured and linear professional pathways, meaning that pursuing opportunities requires a degree of creativity, persistence and imagination. While this may give rise to a lack of clarity around your options, it can also enable greater flexibility and less rigidity in relation to potential career pathways when compared to other sectors.

In this blog, we’ll explore some of the key considerations and challenges when it comes to pursuing an exciting career in the sector, and how you can maximise your chances of securing rewarding work.

Exploring your interests and values: Looking inwards and outwards

The overall field of “development” is wide-ranging and encompasses many different types of organisation. Making effective use of your time during your job search is partly a question of exploring what you would like to work on, informed by your interests and values.

To facilitate your career planning, it is helpful at the outset to look inwards and consider your general areas of interest. These may relate to areas of focus (such as primary education, food security, employment, refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), or public health), types of work (such as advocacy, fundraising, community engagement, public communications or governance) or specific regions (such as West Africa or South-East Asia) – or a combination of these.

Once you’ve identified your interests, it’s also valuable to consider and write down your values. Ask yourself why you are interested in working within a particular area of the international development field, and what you would be looking for in a potential job role and career path.

Identifying potential organisations and how to enter the sector 

Having explored your interests and values in relation to the sector, you can next look outwards and research the range of international NGOs working on the issues that matter to you and explore how to secure job opportunities.

International NGOs vary considerably in size. There are large, internationally recognised organisations (such as Oxfam, Save the Children and Médecins Sans Frontières) with hundreds of staff. There are also single-issue, mid-sized organisations (such as WaterAid and Anti-Slavery International) and a plethora of smaller organisations around the world (the Worldwide NGO Directory, for example, includes entries for over 54,000 organisations, working in more than 190 countries).

In contrast to other large organisations, international NGOs don’t hire staff on the strength of extensive, regular recruitment campaigns, and getting your foot in the door relies on proactivity and lateral thinking. The advantage of these hiring practices is that you don’t have to wait for year-long cycles to finish; entry-level and experienced-hire jobs become available at various points in the year.

To start with, be sure to research your organisations of interest:

• find out about their different divisions of work;
• investigate how they are structured;
• learn about what their entry-level roles entail and the type of candidates that they typically seek to employ.

As part of your research, check out the social media channels of these organisations, read their blogs and look out for them in the news so that you can keep up with their programmes of work and wider impact. Also seek to connect with existing staff (for example, using LinkedIn to search for employees, including LSE alumni, or using the School’s Ask an Alum tool) so that you can learn about their professional backgrounds, ask about their entry routes into their organisations, and see if they have any top tips for finding and securing work. 

Alongside this research, develop your knowledge of ongoing opportunities by keeping an eye on job sites for international development vacancies. Some of these will include vacancies for early career opportunities (such as internships and entry-level roles), while others will advertise roles for experienced hires. As well as the websites of the organisations of interest to you, some of the key places to look for international NGO roles include: 

• DevelopmentAid – a key source of information relating to international development aid, with a leading jobs platform
• DevNet – for international development roles and consulting opportunities
• Devex – a US-based media platform with global jobs
• Bond – a UK-based job board
• CharityJob – a UK-based job board

Recognising organisational needs and developing relevant experience 

As with applying for any role, it is key to demonstrate how your motivation, skills and experience would enable you to make a strong contribution to the work of the organisation.

By reviewing job descriptions and the general details for any vacancies that pique your interest, you can piece together an understanding of what each role calls for, the basis for your suitability (ie, your existing skills and experience) and any gaps in experience that you may need to fill.

In addition to developing your understanding of the work, roles and structures of your organisations of interest through research, you will also want to establish how you can draw on your existing skills and acquire further relevant experience in order to position yourself as a standout candidate.

The following suggestions are a list of potential experiences that you may already have or want to develop, in support of securing a role with an international NGO:

• Acting as a committee member of a related student society enables you to gain considerable hands-on experience of a range of key areas, including strategy and leadership, events planning and delivery, community and stakeholder engagement, budgets and project management.
• Undertaking an internship offers the opportunity to work for an international NGO on real projects. While this can be challenging to secure and require perseverance and planning, it is an excellent option for gaining hands-on work experience, for skills development and for networking opportunities. You may also wish to consider completing an internship with a local NGO; the experience that you develop would be well-regarded by an international NGO.
• Undertaking volunteering opportunities enables you to get an insight into different areas of work, and your willingness to volunteer can also demonstrate your commitment to a cause. Check out the LSE Volunteer Centre for opportunities.
• Starting in a role in a different part of your target organisation (away from your immediate area of interest) is a great way of getting your foot in the door. For example, you may take on a job in communication, marketing or grants administration initially and establish your reputation, and spend your time learning about the internal structure and functions of your organisation, while keeping your eyes peeled for internal recruitment opportunities that interest you. You may also want to consider seeking a team administrator role because these can offer a viable route into subsequent recruitment entry-level programme and policy roles.
• Writing your own blog in order to contribute to debates on development issues and demonstrate your knowledge, and contribute to other blogs.
• Private sector experience in consulting can be beneficial for those wishing to work for international NGOs in the long term (find out more in our blog, Getting into international development consulting). International development consulting can be highly competitive, but offers the scope to develop a strong suite of skills, hands-on understanding of organisational priorities and challenges, and a network of professional contacts. Companies working in this space include Dalberg, ICF, Mott MacDonald, Landell Mills and Arup, and Better World Info details a list of firms on its website.
• Acting as a trustee of charity gives you direct experience of supporting work that is important to you, in a position of key responsibility. Acting on a voluntary basis demonstrates your commitment to a cause, as well as your experience in providing guidance, oversight and direction at a senior level.
• Gaining experience from a local NGO first can be an excellent way of developing your skills. Large international NGOs often list their partner organisations on country websites. As with the benefits of undertaking an internship with a local NGO noted above, the experience that you develop would be well-regarded by an international NGO, and provide a basis for working internationally as you develop your career.

Understanding wider socio-political contexts 

As members of the LSE community, we are encouraged to be critically minded, engaged global thinkers and to consider the wider contexts behind development projects.

Arguably, this inclination is a feature of working in an international development setting. It is important not only demonstrate your suitability for roles in terms of skills, experience and motivation, but also to develop your understanding of why particular issues emerge and give rise to particular programmes and policies in response. This avoids seeing issues as “natural” (and perhaps people as straightforward recipients of charity), but rather as the result of power, politics and history. It also provides a basis for demonstrating to employers that you are not only looking to help, but are also critically engaged with the aims of their programmes of work.

As your career develops, this form of critical understanding may likewise help you to anticipate how future challenges (and related job opportunities) are likely to develop. As part of learning about opportunities of interest and developing your career in the sector, you may wish to frame your understandings around certain questions, such as:

• Can the issues that you are interested in working on be understood to result from a particular configuration of power relations?
• Whose influence tends to prevail in the formation of policy?
• How is the allocation of funding and budgets decided?
• Whose voices, perspectives and expertise are sought in response to the challenges that your organisations of interest work on?

Do you need a master’s degree to work in an international NGO?

The work of iNGOs is often very specialist or complex, and having knowledge from a relevant master’s degree can be a huge advantage. In addition, as entry-level roles are not very common, it is likely that there will be very many good applications for any role that is advertised. This means that relevant experience, either through professional experience or academics, will make your application more competitive.

Pursuing a relevant master’s programme from a reputable university will enable you to develop your critical thinking, research, communication and writing skills – among many others – as well as equipping you with a deep understanding of the programme’s area of focus. Especially when combined with related work experience and a strong demonstration of your skills and motivation to undertake a role, completing postgraduate study will demonstrate your commitment to the sector and your interest in specific areas of focus to prospective employers.

If you don’t already have a master’s degree and are considering undertaking one, it is important to explore how a specific programme would support your interest in working for an international NGO and in following a career pathway in the sector. You may wish to consider studying for a master’s degree on a part-time basis, perhaps ideally while working for a development-focused organisation in a role that will enable you to acquire further work experience and expand your network of contacts in the sector.

Alternatively, you may be already studying for a master’s degree or have recently completed postgraduate study with a view to working for an international NGO.

In any case, it’s essential to identify how what you study and the skills that you develop would enable effective contributions in the roles offered in the sector. To do this, consider asking the degree providers what their graduates have typically gone on to do and who they have worked for. You can also reach out to alumni and ask them how their studies supported their career development, as well as if they have any tips for presenting the skills and knowledge that they developed effectively during recruitment opportunities.

How can LSE Careers help you learn more about careers in international development? 

If you’re interested in working within international development (and perhaps for an international NGO specifically), you may wish to start by checking out our employment sector webpages on Careers in international development and Careers in international organisations.  

We also run two related sector discovery events programmes during each academic year – Discover | International Development (ID) and Discover | International Organisations (IO). The events are designed to showcase the range of work that development organisations undertake and how they are structured, and offer a fantastic opportunity learn first-hand from employers about what they look for in their staff and from alumni about their experiences of developing their careers.  

And if you would like to discuss your thoughts and ideas about working for an international NGO directly with one of our careers consultants, please don’t hesitate to sign up for an appointment on CareerHub.