Meta Serp Titles: How to Apply for UNICEF Jobs: opportunities, Tips & Requirements

Meta description: If you are worried about how to apply for a UNICEF job, here is an exclusive guide to help with your application.

How to Apply for UNICEF Jobs: Opportunities, Tips & Requirements in 2024

Are you a dedicated advocate who believes every child deserves the right to quality education, welfare, and a fair chance to thrive?

If you believe in accelerating children’s full potential, buckle up, ride with me, and connect with like-minded professionals who were inspired by the world’s leading children’s organizations’ relentless efforts to provide, protect, and empower children’s full potential.

As a passionate advocate, UNICEF allows you to contribute to humanity and offers life-changing careers. Unusually, many people don’t know the existence of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, which is why all non-governmental organizations seem unreal to almost everyone, especially Africans. In this content, we will clarify your doubts, guide you through how to apply for UNICEF Jobs, and provide insightful tips, opportunities, and requirements for 2024.

Table of content

What are UNICEF Jobs?

UNICEF Recruitment Requirements 2024/2025

Tips on How to Apply for UNICEF Jobs

Tips for your CV or Resume

Type of UNICEF Jobs

Benefits of Applying for UNICEF Jobs

What are UNICEF Jobs?

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund(UNICEF) is a global organization established in New York (United States of America) by the United Nations (General Assembly) on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare services to children and their mothers affected by the World War 2 disasters. In 1950, the UNICEF mandate was extended, and from 1953 to the present, the system has become a permanent part of the United Nations system to address the needs of children and women in developing countries.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s primary mission as a humanitarian agency is to help children survive and thrive from early childhood to adolescence, which includes the following:

The primary health care system.

Combating linkages in the food chain of supply to avoid malnutrition for the children.

Protect children from a high mutuality rate

Provide quality education and learning opportunities for the children.

Encourage social policies that protect children from exploitation and abuse.

Besides emergency food and children’s education in developing countries, UNICEF encourages many empowerment programs, such as poverty alleviation programs, technical jobs training, and household assistance, to reduce unemployment tensions, especially in Africa. Unicef has been working relentlessly in over 24 African countries since 1953, with duties expanding in central, west, south, and east Africa to promote the lives of children and their families.

There are calls for more hands-on operations to deliver UNICEF generosity nationwide. Unlike some traditional organizations, attractive compensation and benefits are attached to UNICEF offers, building opportunities for personal and relevant professional work experience development to enhance the children’s educational fulfillment turnover.

UNICEF offers three(3) appointment categories through the following:

Fixed-term appointment

This appointment is expected to be completed in 2 years; however, the subject may be renewable according to the organization’s needs (International professional, national officer, and General service staff) with luxury benefits.

Temporary appointments

A time-limited appointment within a year for some specific emergency or short-term requirements ( International professional, National officer, and general staff).

Contractors and Individual Consultant

The contracts given to individual consultant and contractors are for eleven and a half months and include many benefits.

Having said that, UNICEF employees share the standard value of overcoming their differences, barriers, and cultural backgrounds, such as:

Respect

Care

Integrity

Trust

Accountability

Sustainability

UNICEF Recruitment Requirements 2024/2025

A place without rules is without sin; however, there must be a distinction between an organization’s success and its failure. Unicef, as an entity, has standard criteria for all applicants aiming to participate in the programs, while the standing order serves as a guide for rules and regulations to protect the interests of the organization and applicants from different walks of life.

All interested applicants are expected to be of good composure and behave in a way that will guide them in conducting themselves in the field of assignments. Physical and mental stability are other crucial factors, as are the willingness and commitment of shortlisted candidates to work in another environment or travel to a remote area of the country. Computer literacy and formal education are considered criteria in Unicef to advance applicants’ opportunities in formal and informal communication and interpersonal skills.

Lastly, team spirit can always be emphasized as a collective energy toward UNICEF achievement. Therefore, all applicants must have strong team-relationship skills to improve the organization’s productivity.

Below are the UNICEF Requirements:

Good behavior and composure.

Ability to make quality decisions.

Willing to work in new environments.

Physically and mentally fit.

An advanced degree in the related field is required.

Knowledge of other UN official languages or local languages.

Good communication and interpersonal skills.

Tips on How to Apply for UNICEF Jobs

The Unicef online application process is user-friendly. Visit the official portal @ Jobs.unicef.org and search for jobs by contract type, location, functional area, or position level at your fingertips. The first step is to disable pop-up blockers to enable your Vacancy Announcements and Application Wizards display. Adjust your monitor to allow broad information, then follow the steps below.

Search for http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index.php

Click on Register/Login to e-Recruitment

Enter your User ID and the password

Log in to the Overview screen

To see all of the available vacancies, click on the Employment Opportunities tab and click on Start job opportunity but without criteria.

Read the job description carefully and click the BLUE BOX beside TITLE if you found a suitable position you want to apply for

Then click the “Apply” button and go through the Application Wizard screen.

Agree to the ‘Terms and Conditions

We recommend you draft your cover letters outside e-recruitment, which may disturb your work. Use the keyword command (ctrl+c to copy and ctrl+v to paste).

Complete the prescribed application form free of charge.

Lastly, click on the send application button to receive acknowledgment. If your application is successful, you will be contacted via E-mail. Best luck.

Tips for your CV or Resume

Following these steps will increase your chances of creating a solid CV that showcases your skills and work experience for Unicef jobs. Here are some CV tips using the UNICEF competency framework guide:

Highlight your skills and work experience: UNICEF seeks candidates with expertise in education, public health, social policy, vulnerable populations, and child protection.

Include your language abilities, especially English, French, Spanish, and Arabic, because UNICEF is an international organization that works worldwide.

Qualifications: UNICEF preferred a degree in public health and international development.

Grammar usage: Avoid jargon and colloquialisms in your CV, and keep your language clear and concise.

Emphasize knowledge of international development, humanitarian issues, or relevant technical areas (health or education).

Emphasize knowledge of international development experience: Include relevant humanitarian or internship programme experience in your CV(helpful).

Preferences: It is highly recommended that you keep your preferences available, as the need may arise at any time.

Remember to tailor your UNICEF CV to the job opportunity you are applying for and carefully proofread it before submission to avoid omissions or errors.

Formatting Tips:

Use an apparent font size(e.g., Arial).

Use bullet points to highlight achievements.

Keep margins broad (at least 0.5 inches).

Use bold and italics to emphasize essential information.

Save your CV in PDF or Word format.

Best of luck!

Type of UNICEF Jobs

This is to all passionate and dedicated individuals aiming to better and grow children’s lives worldwide to become the leaders of tomorrow; here is an opportunity for you to work with UNICEF as:

International professional (IP): These applicants were recruited internationally and served in all duty station globally. They serve as leaders, managers, or specialists. An advanced university degree in the related UNICEF work is required.

National Officer (NO): Eligible applicants for this position must be nationals of the country where their duty station is located and perform technical and relevant professional work experience functions. They must have an advanced university degree in a field relevant to UNICEF’s work and in-depth knowledge of local and institutional settings.

General services (GS): These are locally recruited applicants who serve and provide administrative support across the organization in headquarters and duty stations. Secondary education is a requirement, while university degrees are also valuable assets to step up his game.

Individual Consultant: These specific fields of expertise provide specialized services for various time-range projects. They are recognized as authorities, specialists, and advisors in a particular field that provides consultative capacity. The qualifications and experience required from a participant are based on the Terms and conditions of the specific vacancy announcement.

Un volunteer: United Nations volunteers are partners from non-governmental organizations who integrate qualified, highly motivated, and well-supported individuals into the development program to add value and recognize volunteerism. Un volunteer legally managed them as they are not considered Unicef staff.

Interns: This internship program from UNICEF assigns eligible undergraduates or postgraduates from diverse academic backgrounds to UNICEF offices. The service can be part-time or full-time, remote or onsite; the duration is always within six to twenty-six weeks.

Benefits of Applying for UNICEF Jobs

Benefits are the motivational vessel that greases workers’ morale day in and day out. However, many organizations need something to write home about when it comes to benefits. My experience with different organizations in Nigeria made me curious and afraid of joining any more organizations until I came across UNICEF.

As a fresh graduate in 2019, I set out to the labor market, looking for my daily meal from a responsible organization where my service would be helpful. However, my worries are how I can benefit humanity while providing food on my table. Community service has been what I have loved doing since my school days; meanwhile, A philanthropy mindset without money to propel it is one of the problems of the average Nigerian due to the economic instability.

In 2020, I got a job opportunity in a private firm where the monthly salary couldn’t cover my basic needs, not to mention a promising life, but I had to manage it because half a loaf of bread is better than none. Hearing about NGO work in 2022 motivated my philanthropy mindset, and I quit my previous job, hoping for a better life. To put it mildly, I was disappointed that it was full of lies. Many promises didn’t come true(salaries were not paid regularly, working conditions were so bad, and people were not benefiting.

Finally, I decided to set up a small business as my experience kicks against formal employment. I met a good friend who told me about the Unicef job and asked me to try it, as that won’t affect my business plan. He guided me through the process (online and on-site). Boom! I became a staff member, and the promising future came to reality. As that is not all, I have time and opportunity to run my business.

Understandably, UNICEF participants play a significant role in the organization’s success. That’s why UNICEF’s contract policies ensure that all participants are well-equipped with a wide range of benefits to fulfill their duties at all times. UNICEF invests in numerous human resources initiatives to satisfy all staff’s care duty, foster well-being, fund the staff’s families, and ensure that they live with remarkable values in their various fields of assignment.

UNICEF offers appealing remuneration and competitive benefits under United Nations salary scales and policies. When accepting a Unicef job offer, you are entitled to up-to-date information about your benefits and contract entitlements, such as:

Rental subsidy

Maternity or paternity benefit

Hardship benefit

Relocation benefit

Family allowances

Holiday and leave

Tax exemption

Health insurance benefits