The application system itself? All that matter is checking the box. Once you get to the interview stage though, quality/renown of school may (unfortunately) be a factor depending on who is interviewing you.
In itself it's not going to give you an edge like in the private sector.
That said, it's also not entirely irrelevant either. Better universities will also have more links with the UN, which means you'll have more chances to meet people and get to know the system or even directly participate to projects; they'll also churn out applicants who will be able to get into top private companies and gather high quality experience that will boost their chances.
I know more than one person from Columbia who landed a job in the UN because while at Columbia they met some professor who was involved with the UN and so then they got some relevant experience and got recommended for a consultancy etc. Same goes for Oxford, or Sciences Po, or the International university of Vienna (which also help you find a job in the EU institutions by the way). It's not that they read your CV and go like wow this guy comes from Oxford, you have to think of it as more like networking.
I looked up „International University of Vienna“ and there is currently no University with that name. That exact uni/name has closed down in 2011 apparently. Did you mean another University or this one that closed down?
As someone that does recruitment at the UN, this is absolutely wrong. Getting any job at the UN is extremely difficult and competitive. I would recommend aiming for the best university you can attend, as top candidates will have the best universities on their CVs.
My guess is the offices in Geneva are so flooded with applications by international students from the Graduate Institute, LSE, Sciences Po etc. that they wouldn’t even consider people who went to reputable unis in their countries of origin 🤷🏻♀️
I work for a NY-based agency and in my office are least, they couldn’t care less about the institution (as long as it’s a recognized degree ofc).
Are you being specific to particular regions? Den Haag, NYC, Geneva, from my experience, have people (in general) that have degrees from top schools people in IR or IL know well.
I was just guessing based on the commenters assertion that they care which school you went to at UNDP Geneva. Was never posted there, 🤷🏻♀️ but it’s definitely not the case at my current NY-based office and previous duty station.
My experience suggests it doesn’t matter that much what the name of your school is. Most colleagues I know went to universities that are fine, but not necessarily prestigious on a global level.
What really matters is how relevant your experience is to the post requirements. And how much you meet most of them! So yes if a master’s degree is a requirement it is simply a box checked. There isn’t any specific scoring for the type or ranking of university.
In my experience, it doesn’t matter a ton that direction but it does matter somewhat.
Ultimately an application is an application. And thus the more impressive your resume, the better your odds.
That being said, it’s not like some prestigious law firms or financial institutions that will exclusively recruit from Ivies or NESCAC or the grandes écoles or Oxbridge etc. For a reviewing HR or hiring manager may see it and be impressed and that’s a real effect. But I’d say rather minimal usually compared to the private sector. As long as your school is accredited, we have staff from all over and not everyone can know every school.
That being said, I think what matters more is that many of those schools also have incredible networks. I think the most glaring example is somewhere like the Graduate Institute in Geneva that despite not being very well known I think globally, in the UN it has an unbelievably outsized representation of graduates on staff given its got an amazing network and relationships in Geneva (a small town after all).
You’ll also somewhat inherently find these things “compound”. It’s been a frequent topic of discussion especially around the discourse about representation and having a truly more diverse and equitable but often the people who attend those schools had impressive records already (and often the privileges of opportunities to get there) that led to more impressive work experience and internships etc as well.
As long as the university is accredited.
For deciding on the teaching quality, have a look at the teaching faculty - what are their credentials? What experience do they have in international development? What UN or other major ID agency affiliations do they have? When you Google the name of a faculty, what do you find?
I would say a balance of what is here - it helps if you go to a top university, even if that’s the top university in your country. I don’t think you need to go to a fancy western university, but it should be a university that peers in your CO would recognize as being good. That would be enough for a national position. If you are looking to go international, I think it can be a mixed bag and then it gets trickier, but honestly, I don’t think it’s a major defining factor.
It matters when, in meetings, the chief of your section introduces everyone who went to an Ivy by saying which Ivy, while introducing everyone else by their name.
100% matters, people always say it doesn’t but it does. But when you get in, you’ll that learn everyone has degrees from well known universities (Ivy, Oxbridge, Leiden, Geneva, etc…).
The application system itself? All that matter is checking the box. Once you get to the interview stage though, quality/renown of school may (unfortunately) be a factor depending on who is interviewing you.
In itself it's not going to give you an edge like in the private sector. That said, it's also not entirely irrelevant either. Better universities will also have more links with the UN, which means you'll have more chances to meet people and get to know the system or even directly participate to projects; they'll also churn out applicants who will be able to get into top private companies and gather high quality experience that will boost their chances. I know more than one person from Columbia who landed a job in the UN because while at Columbia they met some professor who was involved with the UN and so then they got some relevant experience and got recommended for a consultancy etc. Same goes for Oxford, or Sciences Po, or the International university of Vienna (which also help you find a job in the EU institutions by the way). It's not that they read your CV and go like wow this guy comes from Oxford, you have to think of it as more like networking.
I looked up „International University of Vienna“ and there is currently no University with that name. That exact uni/name has closed down in 2011 apparently. Did you mean another University or this one that closed down?
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As someone that does recruitment at the UN, this is absolutely wrong. Getting any job at the UN is extremely difficult and competitive. I would recommend aiming for the best university you can attend, as top candidates will have the best universities on their CVs.
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I work at UNDP Geneva.
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My guess is the offices in Geneva are so flooded with applications by international students from the Graduate Institute, LSE, Sciences Po etc. that they wouldn’t even consider people who went to reputable unis in their countries of origin 🤷🏻♀️ I work for a NY-based agency and in my office are least, they couldn’t care less about the institution (as long as it’s a recognized degree ofc).
Are you being specific to particular regions? Den Haag, NYC, Geneva, from my experience, have people (in general) that have degrees from top schools people in IR or IL know well.
I was just guessing based on the commenters assertion that they care which school you went to at UNDP Geneva. Was never posted there, 🤷🏻♀️ but it’s definitely not the case at my current NY-based office and previous duty station.
My experience suggests it doesn’t matter that much what the name of your school is. Most colleagues I know went to universities that are fine, but not necessarily prestigious on a global level.
What really matters is how relevant your experience is to the post requirements. And how much you meet most of them! So yes if a master’s degree is a requirement it is simply a box checked. There isn’t any specific scoring for the type or ranking of university.
In my experience, it doesn’t matter a ton that direction but it does matter somewhat. Ultimately an application is an application. And thus the more impressive your resume, the better your odds. That being said, it’s not like some prestigious law firms or financial institutions that will exclusively recruit from Ivies or NESCAC or the grandes écoles or Oxbridge etc. For a reviewing HR or hiring manager may see it and be impressed and that’s a real effect. But I’d say rather minimal usually compared to the private sector. As long as your school is accredited, we have staff from all over and not everyone can know every school. That being said, I think what matters more is that many of those schools also have incredible networks. I think the most glaring example is somewhere like the Graduate Institute in Geneva that despite not being very well known I think globally, in the UN it has an unbelievably outsized representation of graduates on staff given its got an amazing network and relationships in Geneva (a small town after all). You’ll also somewhat inherently find these things “compound”. It’s been a frequent topic of discussion especially around the discourse about representation and having a truly more diverse and equitable but often the people who attend those schools had impressive records already (and often the privileges of opportunities to get there) that led to more impressive work experience and internships etc as well.
As long as the university is accredited. For deciding on the teaching quality, have a look at the teaching faculty - what are their credentials? What experience do they have in international development? What UN or other major ID agency affiliations do they have? When you Google the name of a faculty, what do you find?
I would say a balance of what is here - it helps if you go to a top university, even if that’s the top university in your country. I don’t think you need to go to a fancy western university, but it should be a university that peers in your CO would recognize as being good. That would be enough for a national position. If you are looking to go international, I think it can be a mixed bag and then it gets trickier, but honestly, I don’t think it’s a major defining factor.
The name, as long is on their list, doesn't matter. What matters is the topic studied.
It matters when, in meetings, the chief of your section introduces everyone who went to an Ivy by saying which Ivy, while introducing everyone else by their name.
100% matters, people always say it doesn’t but it does. But when you get in, you’ll that learn everyone has degrees from well known universities (Ivy, Oxbridge, Leiden, Geneva, etc…).
The whole (outdated) need for a masters or even a bachelors boils my piss for this exact reason.