Is networking or applying to less popular UN locations helpful?
A young professional shakes hands outside a United Nations field office, representing the value of networking and applying to less popular UN locations as a career entry strategy.
Networking and applying to less popular UN duty stations – does it improve your chances? When it comes to UN careers, two strategies often come up: networking and applying for jobs in hardship or less popular locations. Both can make a meaningful difference.
Networking
Despite the UN’s merit-based system, personal connections can matter. Reaching out to current UN staff, requesting informational interviews, and building relationships through conferences or LinkedIn can help you understand what specific offices value and how to tailor your application. While networking won’t get you the job directly, it can increase your visibility and knowledge—critical assets in a competitive field.
The United Career Coalition UN experts can help you tailor your application to the UN job vacancy, matching your experience with the specific duties, values, and UN core competencies by using authentic, professional UN language and action-oriented keywords aligned with the vacancy, we are aiming to increase your chances to get shortlisted by showcasing exactly what HR and hiring managers are looking for.
Less popular locations
Applying to field offices, ‘hardship’ duty stations, or missions outside of New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi is often an excellent entry point. These posts are harder to fill, attract fewer applicants, and offer real operational experience highly valued within the system. Many senior UN officials began their careers in hardship duty stations before moving to HQ positions.
Our advice: combine both approaches. Network strategically and apply widely—including to roles in less glamorous locations. By doing so, you increase your chances of getting that first UN role and building a career that can grow across duty stations and functions.
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