Joining Humanitarian Sector. Finding Deployment Opportunities

This chapter outlines practical steps for GMH volunteers who want to explore employment opportunities in the humanitarian sector and gain good fieldwork experience. In the humanitarian sector, volunteers undergo the formal hiring process, which involves rigorous expertise, skills, credential verification, and background checks. This is because the deploying agencies carry responsibility for the workers they deploy, and any problematic actions will bear on the agency’s reputation. The hiring process for GMH volunteers can be very competitive, and knowing the eligibility criteria, understanding the hiring process, and preparing for what to expect during a job improves these odds. The steps include reflecting on motivation, researching availability and applying for open positions, selecting the deploying agency, analyzing advantages and disadvantages of working with the large international corporations and the small or local NGOs, and making sure that the humanitarian agency shares the providers’ mission and ground values. With multiple opportunities existing, joining a humanitarian sector also means exploring personal motivation for the deployment and professional interests, and identifying an agency with best capacity to meet the expectations. The exercises allow us to explore personal and professional motivation and gain insight into how this motivation affects work choices and, possibly, the decision-making in the field.