Ask any recent graduate and they will tell you that the job market is not what you would call alive and well, especially employment in the international relations sector. Governments are forced to cut back aid and focus tax-payer money on domestic stimulus projects. This not only means less money for international organizations, but also a restructuring on how these organizations employ recent graduates.
Sadly, these practices are strengthening the ineptitude of multilateral institutions, and are promoting nepotism at its ugliest.
Look for any “entry level” position and you will find that the minimum requirement is 3 or 5 years of experience, in a very specific region of study, mainly in terms of actual field work. This high barrier of entry is making it very difficult for individuals without any actual experience, recent graduates for example, to get their foot in the door, despite how passionate one may be about a certain issue. So how do recent graduates get into the world of tax-free salaries? Simple. Unpaid internships are widely available that are full time, and last anywhere from 3 months to a year. Unpaid internships are common, especially for institutions that do not have a lot of funding, such as those that are doing business without a thought for profit, (supposedly NGOs) or those who find themselves in industries that are seeing their profit margins drastically decreasing. (American newspapers).
Despite this rather ugly trend of paying educated people little to nothing, it is actually not a very good practice for one simple reason. It is nepotism at its worst, and nepotism just breeds more inefficiency, something that IOs are notorious for having.
Many qualified individuals coming out of universities had to work full time in order to finance their studies. Let’s not forget to mention that many had to take out large amounts of student loans in order to keep up with the slight increases of tuition that universities installed each year, and they have 6 months to find meaningful employment before the governments calls the loans in. Also, these individuals cannot afford to do unpaid internships, for the simple argument that many of these organizations, such as the United Nations, have offices in cities with extremely large costs of living. New York City, Geneva, Brussels, Luxembourg, Paris, London, Tokyo etc, make it nearly impossible for most recent graduates to not only work without a salary, but to even find a place to live and eat three solid meals a day. You thought student life was rough with ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches, wait till you work for free.
Instead, the trend seems to be that the large number of those unpaid internships are being filled by those individuals whose families were more than willing to pay for their education, and who are also willing to fit the bill to have their children work for free. This is slamming the door shut in the faces of many qualified, highly educated individuals with a fierce passion for wanting to better the world in some way. They do not want the status quo, they want to change it. They’ve sat through the NGO classes, and those dealing with the United Nations. They know about their inefficiencies, as well as their good traits, the same or perhaps even better than their fellow colleagues who had patrons. Instead, the door remains open for a distinct group of people, despite their qualifications, their grades received, or the quality of the thesis they wrote, who can simply afford to work for free.
Therefore it is puzzling to me why this system exists the way it does. The obvious reason is simply there just is not enough funding. But this is a cop out. Unless every person in a given office in a given institution does not partake in any training activity whatsoever, then yes, there is not enough funding to employ someone without any experience. The other reason is that maybe international organizations merely like the current system the way it is. Perhaps it is a form of keeping the old guard in place, no matter how inefficient they seem to be. If they can continue to draw their current salary and fly first class to impoverished areas, stay in Hiltons and eat at fancy restaurants while reporting on the state of the country’s economy they are studying at that time, than why should it change?
Nepotism exists to keep a certain group in and a certain group out. Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule, and it is a general statement to make regarding international organizations, as some do pay their interns and there does exist opportunities for recent graduates outside of unpaid internships. Nevertheless, this is quite common and if people who have the means and are willing to work for free, why change it? Why pay educated people to work 8 hours a day doing the same job that someone else did a few years ago who drew a yearly salary? Nepotism like this does not provide a way for innovation or for improving the efficiency of an organization, it just keeps a distinct type of class in and another type of class out.
Sadly, this argument is assuming that there exists a civil society who can make a difference. This has been debated from both sides. The core argument is whether or not the world is better or worse off with international organizations. I believe that it is better off. However, if one is in this world to make a positive difference to civil society, I would ask all these individuals to look at your government first and if the options are not available, do something independently second. All this talk of reforming the Security Council, or needing something better than the UN is very redundant, if these organizations do not first employ individuals based on their merits and accomplishments, rather than whether or not they can afford to work for free.
Escape Indifference 