Wanting to work in the UN? (1 Viewer)

[CecilyMare]

I have this terribly unhealthy desire at the age of 15, to work in the UN and I'm looking at jobs in the Medical section. Apparently there is fierce competition for almost all positions and they like to hire people who are trilingual and over.


Does anybody have a somewhat similar passion?



edit- and no I don't mean I want to work there NOW.. I said 15 because it's a bit too young to think about working in the UN, right? Though I have a friend who's 20 and works in the UN.

 

[Peartie]

Get Experience....volunteer with NGO's, when @ uni look for internships.... I have a friend who is going on a 2 month internship to France with UNESCO, another one who is interning in the UN in New York, and a couple working for the UN in New York.

The biggest plus though, and somehting that will look good is getting work experience at various places around the world, as well as at various organisations.

And since you know English you are already at a plus...but as has been said learn French (and maybe Spanish or Mandarin). Just learn as many languages as you can but have at least two (english + 1) at, if not fluent then near fluency with others at working capabilities...

 

[CecilyMare]

French is so hard to learn though.

 

[CecilyMare]

I do agree you have a point, but I wouldn't mind working hard for any of the other desired degrees eg. political science or psychology/med. It's just that French, first of all I don't think it's THAT necessary and it wouldn't enlighten me by learning it in the second place. I've also looked on the sites and their requirements, they ask for fluency in English or French, not both.

 

[kevinx2]

http://esa.un.org/techcoop/associateexperts/APPLICANTS/Guide_to_employment/unpan000153.pdf

 

[David Spade]

what the fuck would you want to work for such a disgusting organisation??

 

[emiliieee]

why would this be a terribly unhealthy idea. i like it.

i would do it if i knew more french and was fluent enough

 

[CecilyMare]

Holy shit.. 6 languages..

I didn't take any languages for my electives, would that be a disadvantage?

 

[lala2]

^^TAFE is a cheaper option. Not to mention if you've got a lot of interests which you'd like to pursue at uni, languages take up valuable elective space.

 

[CecilyMare]

Would people who take languages at school up til the end of HSC be considered fluent in that language?

 

[Peartie]

not usually....

 

[emiliieee]

Would people who take languages at school up til the end of HSC be considered fluent in that language?

def not. unless you keep studying it i guess.

i did french for the hsc and now.. i've pretty much lost half

 

[CecilyMare]

Don't you have to be experts at translating texts in the hsc exams too? lol

I really wanted to do Latin but my school sucks so bad it doesn't offer it.

 

[Planck]

Yeah woo join the UN and become a rapist and a war criminal.

Worst organisation *in the world*

 

[CecilyMare]

Since when? My friend works in the UN and he goes around to places like Cuba and they employ him to aid people in need, beause those places don't have medical facilities of their own.

He does speak of squads being killed in peacekeeping missions and the employed women getting raped there, though.

 

[Planck]

Deliver Us From Evil - William Shawcross

Complicity With Evil, The United Nations in the Age of Modern Genocide - Adam Lebor


And the Penn/Teller episode on world peace for a bit of a swift intro:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/31058_Penn_and_Teller-_World_Peace

 

[David Spade]

you are a moron

 

[Crestwood's_G]

wait...the UN actually does stuff?

 

[57o1i]

I'm thinking about the UN as a possible career as well (but in legal, not medical) and I'm planning on being conversant (at least) in French, German, Japanese and Russian by the time I apply for it. That means taking them at university, finding tutors, taking external courses and travelling to these places and learning the language through conversation. It's a slog, but I think it's worth it even if an international organisation wasn't where I wanted to go for a career.

Also, I studied Japanese for six years at school but like others have said, you definitely need more than HSC skills to be able to claim any kind of fluency with the language. All grammar patterns and everything aside, the vocab lists that we learn from wouldn't last you five minutes in a working environment. So don't worry if you haven't taken any languages so far ... either pick one up at Beginners level for years 11 and 12 and then continue it at uni or just wait until you've graduated and then start.

 

[Planck]

Why would anyone want to work for a bunch of genocide purveyors?