Networking and informational interviews: a real route into UN and IO jobs

Most guidance on breaking into international organizations focuses on the formal application: the CV, the Personal History Profile, the portal. Less is said about the part that actually surfaces most opportunities before they’re ever advertised: a working network inside the sector. This guide covers what networking legitimately looks like in this field, how to run an informational interview well, and where the line sits between building real relationships and something that reads as asking for a favour.

Why networking matters more in this sector

Two features of international recruitment make a working network unusually valuable. First, a meaningful share of consultancy and short-term work is never advertised publicly at all — a hiring manager who already knows a specialist’s work issues the terms of reference directly to them, a pattern covered in the consultancy contracts guide. Second, the recruitment process itself runs slowly and opaquely, as explained in the recruitment timeline guide, so a contact who can tell you honestly how a specific unit or organization actually works is worth far more than another job board search.

What legitimate networking is not

It is not asking a stranger to forward your CV to a hiring manager, and it is not messaging someone you’ve never interacted with to ask if they know of any openings. Both read as transactional and are usually ignored. Legitimate networking in this sector looks like building a small number of genuine professional relationships over time — through shared work, conferences, alumni networks or thoughtful outreach — where a conversation, not a request, is the actual goal.

Running an informational interview well

An informational interview is a short, low-pressure conversation where you ask someone already working in a role, team or organization you’re interested in to describe what the work is actually like — not to ask them for a job. Keep the request specific and short (15–20 minutes is a reasonable ask), come with a handful of real questions about their day-to-day work, the team’s current priorities, or how they got into the organization, and let any offer to help further come from them rather than asking for it directly. People are far more generous with their time and their network when the initial ask carries no pressure to reciprocate.

Where to actually find contacts

University and programme alumni networks are usually the highest- yield starting point, since a shared credential gives a genuine, low-friction reason to reach out. Professional associations, sector-specific conferences and webinars, and former colleagues who have since moved into the UN system, the MDBs or INGOs are the next most reliable sources. A public professional profile that clearly states your background and interest — the same one referenced in the international-organization CV guide — also makes it easier for people already inside the sector to find and recognise you when a relevant opening comes up.

Staying in touch without becoming noise

A network built from a single conversation fades quickly. A brief, genuine update every few months — sharing something you’ve worked on, congratulating a new post, or flagging a relevant article — keeps a relationship live without asking for anything. This is also where patience pays off: the contact who couldn’t help this year is often the one who forwards a terms of reference directly to you next year, once they’ve seen enough of your work to vouch for it.

How this fits alongside applying directly

Networking is a complement to, never a substitute for, applying through the formal channels covered in the recruitment portals guide. Keep applying to advertised vacancies on the board in parallel with building relationships, and use a free changemaker profile as the public page you can point a new contact to when they ask what you’re looking for.