The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group of 34 member countries that discuss and develop economic and social policy; setting standards and defining best practices in almost every field of economic and social policy.
Each year they recruit into their OECD Young Professionals Programme. To enter, you need to be born after 1 January 1982 and must be of a nationality that fits a member country. Applications are now open until Wednesday, 25 November at midnight (Paris time). If successful, you would be recruited for two years with the opportunity for further advancement.
What do they look for?
You will need to have excellent academic record plus strong interpersonal and communication skills to work in an international, team-oriented and collaborative environment. You will also need to be exemplary in one of their two working languages, English or French; with the language ability to learn the other. As they ask for some research skills, an honours year would be beneficial, and those doing International Relations with Economics may be most interested in this opportunity.
A list of core competencies at the required Level 3 is provided and this will give a clearer idea of what they are looking for. Also, look at the assignments to judge where your degree, values, skills and attributes lie in relation to this kind of work.
The OECD provides broad descriptions relating to the skills and expertise they seek in their civil servants working in particular areas. See here for the YP Job Description and here for staff categories.
What will you do and where?
Young professionals (YPs) work with experienced and enthusiastic people, representative of a rich diversity of cultures, languages and professional backgrounds. The OECD has provided a list of assignments for applicants to select from (three can be chosen that relate most closely to their skills, expertise and attributes). This list gives a good idea of the type of work available at this level.
YPs are based in Paris. The position starts in June of 2015.
