By Rebecca Tronci & Giulia Cassani
This week the team of Dreamando Politics had the opportunity to interview Hyung-Tae Kim, who is currently working as a technical officer within the WHO Emergency Response team. His main duty is inter-agency coordination with other international organisations (IOs) and NGOs through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), in situations of health emergencies as well as global humanitarian relief operation.
After having obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at Korea University in Seoul, driven by the desire to meet people with different cultural backgrounds and discuss solutions for emerging global challenges, he decided to do a Master’s degree in International Public Management (currently known as International Governance and Diplomacy) at Sciences Po, in Paris.
As part of his master’s studies, he further had the opportunity to do an internship at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and during his last semester, he started to work as a part-time intern at the OECD, and then became a Junior Policy Analyst. Drawing upon his professional experience from the development side (urban development, climate change, green growth) to humanitarian affairs and health emergencies, he stated that:
“One of the most important steps to take in your career at IOs is a learning chance such as internship where you can build competencies and test “professional goût” of unique working environment. All experience always matters in a way that help you better understand yourself as well as career plans that you want to pursue further.”
There is no guarantee you will work in the same organisations you were an intern in, nevertheless, internships are a middle step you need to take to get to know better the type of worker you are, and internships further help you increase your network.
Your school’s name or degree might be a nice business card to introduce only part of you, nowadays recruiters particularly look at your professional experience and practical skills. Lately, quantitative research skills are widely appreciated.
When asked how to get an internship and what makes a CV distinguish when applying at IOs he has provided us with some useful suggestions. For instance, he told us that when you apply for an internship it is important to write a good motivation letter explaining how your academic/professional background and future goals are well aligned with the job position applying for. For a job interview, instead, it is helpful to be straight to the point and show that you already have acquired the competencies they are looking for with concrete examples from real experience.
In the case of the UN system including WHO, the core values are professionalism, respect for diversity, and integrity. Job interviews at WHO are competence-based thus demonstrating you are aware of the competencies the organisation is in search of is a point in your favor! Moreover, showing that you can easily adapt to fast changing working situations and efficiently work in teamwork are other core pillars of working for IOs, he highlights:
“It is important to be specialised, yet you need to internalise yourself integrity in all aspects of your career. You are working for the WHO; you are working for public values.”
During the job interview, recruiters ask you concrete examples and test how you behave within a particular situation with your colleagues: being open-minded and aware of the cultural differences matter a lot in such a professional environment. However, you do not need to worry too much. The Human Resources department usually does send you guidelines before the job interview to allow you to properly prepare for it! The UN also has a designated website to introduce the Competency-based Interview (CBI).
You need to create your expertise with specialisation, but at the same time, you may want to keep your options open and “carpe diem”, because what happened to Hyung-–Tae Kim could also happen to you.