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Writing Security briefings November 29, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Intelligence and security, Political risk, internships , 2comments


We recently spoke to a  consultant who studies at King’s College War Studies department and now works for a private security company working in high risk and emerging markets such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Gaza West Bank, Pakistan, Iraq and many more, including most recently, Libya.  For the time being I have made the report anonymous.  Part of the discussion focused on what goes into security briefs.

What does your company do?  Mainly we provide physical security mainly but also have an element of analysis to support that function. For example we may be approached by an oil company drilling a new well outside of Basra. They provide numbers of staff, locations, dates and request protection for their operations.

We can provide things like access control, vehicle search, perimeter control, armed guards and cars to protect their staff wherever they need to go.  This does mean there are a lot of ex-military staff on our team.  However, I have no military background. I started as an intern working on Pakistan and Yemen. 

Now I  work with the Commercial Support team. I put together bids to win security work. This brings everything together  - for example how our recruitment works, how our finance works, how we store our equipment. Also pulling in information from our people on the ground – what’s happening in such and such a small town.  Or a high level report about what’s going in Pakistan or Iraq.  I don’t do analysis work as such in this role but  I still need to have a very good idea of what is going on.

What is the difference between this and working as a research analyst.  As an intern  research analyst I was writing more security reports rather than bids for work. For example on a daily basis I produce a short security report – A bullet point list of security related events that that have  happened in the last 24 hours. Produced on a daily basis.  On Pakistan it could be a fortnightly 8 or 10 page brief called ‘Northern Pakistan Explored’. Looking at Peshawar or a larger area which includes a graph that, for example, shows the  number of IED attacks and the number of incidents of small arms fire. A monthly report Pakistan report is also produced.  Similar reports on Yemen would look at security issues in the main cities. I also wrote more specialised  briefs on energy security for a firm’s windfarm resources in an emerging market. 

When writing for commercial clients you have to be brief and to the point. If you are worried about your engineers being blown up they want to know practical things such as where is it physically safe to go and not go. They want numbers and they want to know that you are talking to guys on the ground with military experience. If you throw in a few acronyms they like that.  Essentially though it is just about being straight and to the point.

This work doesn’t involve client contact though your work  does reache clients. My work in the commercial team involves much more client contact. 

This succint approach can also help with applications by the way.  Our senior managers have to read a hell of a lot of information every day and they can get irritated with what they see as long-winded stuff.

The interview for the internship. I think one of the reasons I got the interview was that I was able to include some basic previous work experience with the Canadian High Commission – it was the most boring job processing visas but it looked good on the CV.  In the interview itself I didn’t bluff and pretend I was a world expert. I told them that I knew a fair amount but that  I was also there to learn. Anyone who gives the impression of bluffing or blagging could end up producing unreliable material which could literally be fatal for our clients.  I also had to deal with a really tough question on the difference between a threat and a risk – to be honest I couldn’t answer that then and I couldn’t answer it now.  They questioned me on why I had said certain things in my application but also curved ball questions such as what are main risks of operating in certain parts of Columbia which I didn’t know too much about

Did the Internship impact on your studies?  Yes. A significant impact to be honest but I had a very pragmatic view of it from the beginning and it had always been my intention to get the vital work experience.  On the other hand without a Masters I would not have  been able to get the internship.  There isn’t a single intern I have met that wasn’t doing a Masters at King’s. 

What tips do you have for current students?

*           Intern early.  I started early with the internship and it was crucial in creating a paid opportunity later. 

*           Get career clarity.  If you want to be an academic you are going to need better grades than I was prepared to get. In which case internships wouldn’t be so important. Think tanks also need better grades but also some work experience.  Interning is great. It was very beneficial for me. It is hard to get a foot in the door and the only way to meet people is to get an internship and establish a network.

*           Cold call rather than email to ask about internships.  It is easy to lose an email but a phone call is more direct. The worse that can happen is they say no.  Do something that other people won’t do.  There were loads of networking events at organisations such as RUSI and that’s also a good way to meet people.

What value did the course give you? The course is great and for this sector a Masters is  really an entry level qualification.  It isn’t designed to cover the operations side of the things I also have to deal with. What armoured car formations are proving effective or exactly what kinds of weapons are being used – things like that. Unless you have a military background you have to get that from people on the ground.  I am still learning a lot and I still have to get input from other people. Though less and less as I get more experience.

Is it a male dominated industry?   Yes, most definitely. Though partly this is because a high proportion of our staff are operations based and they are often men (ex-military). We have 70 permanent employees and 2500 contractors.  The vast majority of the contractors are male. It is much more balanced in the area I work in.

Social science in the oil and gas industry November 21, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Graduate recruitment, Industry Information , 2comments


Piers Moffatt graduated with a BA from the War Studies department in 2007. He came back to meet some of our students to talk about his subsequent career in the oil and gas industry.

 Piers, how did you get started in the sector?  I hadn’t considered what I was going to do that much while I was studying but in 2007 it became pretty clear that the job market was going to get very tight.  I basically got on the phone and chased down everyone in my network – I’d been to an international school so I had a fairly wide reach.  Eventually I got into what I thought was a conversation with an oil and gas startup company who one of my friend’s family had a connection with.  It turned out it was more of a job interview than a conversation.  The job offer though was dependent on me preparing an executive briefing situation report on the Angolan Oil industry.  Having said that I have to admit I had misheard them and they were expecting a piece on the Algerian oil industry but I guess they were convinced I had something to offer.  At the same time I was also preparing my dissertation and choose to focus my paper on something relevant to the potential job.  In the end I decided to look at the geopolitical and social implications of oil and gas exploration and production activities within the Kurdistan region of Iraq.  At the end of the day, the fact that the company was a startup worked very much in my favour as the most important part of my role was to be flexible and hard working as well as demonstrating a good fit into the company’s organisational chemistry. 

That was a very strategic approach to your dissertation.  Well it was a good way to demonstrate an ability to conduct research and analysis relevant to the type of work I wanted to pursue.  I think I’d recommend not just using a dissertation to write about what you just happen to be interested in but think of a way it can align you with the job market.

 What else did you bring to help you land the job?  I think it is worth stressing that getting a real grounding in some of the practical skills that we take for granted can go a long way.  In my case I had to become pretty good with things like Access and Excel in my spare time. These are fairly standard things that lots of students know a little about but I was able to demonstrate that I was fairly fluent – for example knowing about VBA Macros in Excel.  Very early on I was concerned to get across my capacity to work.  Someone asked me what my distinctive quality was and I told them  that I simply worked my a** off! Actually though, I do.  I love my work. Another important thing to stress is always be curious.  When you hear something go off and do some independent research so that you can contribute at a later stage. 

You then moved to Wood Mackenzie your current employer?  Yes, the first company was a startup during a very difficult time.  The massive rise in oil and gas prices in 2007 followed by the subsequent collapse in the financial industry put a lot of strain on the industry.  It become increasingly difficult to access financing and the markets became very uneasy around oil and gas companies because it’s a  highly capital intensive industry with long lead times.  At the same time, it is also extremely risky with huge capital outlays and no guarantee of financial pay-off, particularly around exploration.  Typical drilling success rates are around 30% and it you assume that most offshore wells will cost upwards of $20 million dollars smaller companies can run out of money very quickly.

Was that a formal recruitment process?  Absolutely, I knew the company and they knew me through my work in the industry but given the difficulties in the job market everyone needs to go through the same type of process to ensure that you have the fundamentals.  I had to make sure I prepared myself for the recruitment and assessment centre.  They conducted a numerical and psychological reasoning test early on followed by a case study interview and a final discussion with the head of the unit.  While the maths wasn’t particularly difficult, GCSE level, it was necessary to brush up because the questions are designed to test your numerical reasoning.  Two or three days of locking yourself away with a calculator is what is needed and you have to be prepared to put in the effort.

What do you do for Wood Mackenzie?  I’m a consultant. The kinds of work I do varies.  For example one oil company wanted to know how quickly they could move from discovery to extraction in Kazakhstan and how they could then monetise their resources.  Now they thought about 5 to 6 years but we were able to provide a more realistic estimate 11-15 years and this was evaluated in terms of new transit routes that could likely be developed in that timeframe. I was also recently in Singapore advising an oil company about how they can benchmark themselves against other oil companies in terms of their exploration processes.  Our role was to do an internal diagnostics of the company that hired us, find where their process were weak and then use our networks in the industry and previous experience to provide best practice solutions from some of the world’s most successful companies.  Outside the skills and experience of our team, we also rely heavily on the company’s proprietary database. This is one of the most comprehensive data sources in the industry and captures everything from licensing awards to wells drilled as well as different industries that allow us to forecast energy pricing and demand.  We are then able to leverage this knowledge and provide holistic interpretations about what is happening in the industry and how it could possibly develop.

We don’t find many of our students going into this sector. Well, if history is anything to go by you typically need to be an engineer, geologist or geoscientist to get into it.  Once you have the grounding, you are then trained up in commercial aspects and can either follow a more technical or managerial position.  However my belief is that the industry has so much to offer and I aim to make sure we don’t exclude people just because they come with a social science background.  I have to say I think it’s a great sector to work in. So many people have opinions and make judgements on the industry, but once you get exposure you can truly appreciate it for what it is. 

So Wood Mackenzie has a graduate programme?  Yes, and an internship programme as well.  The graduate programme goes on year round.  While it doesn’t pay as well as, say investment banking, you can earn pretty good money. On top of this you can earn up to 30% of your salary as a bonus.  As well as consultants we recruit researchers. No matter what role you have you will need good personal interaction skills.  If you are a data genius but can’t get along with people it’s not going to work.  This is something that has become increasingly important during the hiring process.  Finding the right people is key. 

http://www.woodmacresearch.com Wood Mackenzie is the most comprehensive source of knowledge about the world’s energy and metals industries. They analyse and advise on every stage along the value chain – from discovery to delivery, and beyond – to provide clients with the commercial insight that makes them stronger.

Working in Peacekeeping and the UN November 10, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : UN, international development , 1 comment so far


Thanks to a guest blogger for this entry.  They are  working in the UN, currently in Afghanistan.  You can read more about the UN by searching for ‘United Nations’ on careerstagged.co.uk and on this blog.

The UN works in the field of socio-economic development, humanitarian aid as well as international relations and peacekeeping.  The various UN agencies are present in over 192 countries in the world, helping  the most vulnerable in times of humanitarian emergencies , delivering basic social services, supporting governments, and  building institutions.

 In countries in, or just coming out of, conflict, UN missions, specifically integrated peacekeeping missions, all the functions of the UN are brought together under one umbrella. In countries where a peace agreement has been reached, a peacekeeping mission helps enforce the agreement and rebuild the nation. In other countries, like Afghanistan, where conflict  reigns, the UN focuses more on human rights, development and humanitarian relief.

The UN system  brings together people from all nations and all disciplines. The UN agencies work in very specific technical areas, where it is necessary to be a technical expert in various fields. The technical staff in the UN agencies comprise medical doctors, agricultural specialists, political scientists, water engineers, teachers, economists etc.  Everyone can join the UN, regardless of your discipline. In addition, there are a number of management and coordination roles that bring the work in the different sectors together to form a coherent and holistic response to complex situations.

Working for the UN in the field is less of a job, and more of a lifestyle. It is dynamic and ever changing by definition, as people who work for the UN move between countries and between different UN entities.  Working in a political or peackeeping mission in a conflict or post-conflict country, in particular, is an even more specific lifestyle choice. Your job very much defines who you are, and you tend to move country every 2-3 years. You work for 6-8 weeks very intensely, and then you are entitled to a week off of ‘Rest and Recuperation’ cycles. In emergency situations, you work non-stop for how ever  long the emergency lasts. You do not stop work in the evening , and  go home leaving the office behind you; your weekends are not respected; you cannot just go away for the weekend or just take a day off.  For six to eight weeks, depending on the country, you live and work within a specific social structure, your life is regulated by UN security rules like curfew or where you are allowed to live, where you are allowed to go out, and often even with whom, you are always ‘one duty’ whilst in your duty station. The impact of such a lifestyle on one’s personall life should not to be underestimated, especially for women.  Partners are not always very accepting of such a career.

At the same time, if you do not want stability, working in a peacekeeping mission is extremely interesting and exciting work. You help shape policy and strengthen institutions, you are part of shaping nations and helping people to live better lives.You are , in many cases, part of history.

Peacekeeping missions have several components: political affairs, civil affairs (governance and rule of law, human rights) and in most cases the military and the civilian police. In an integrated UN  mission, the UN agencies are also part of the UN mission. The Resident Coordinator’s Office, in which I work, is responsable for bringing these threads together.

I have been working with the UN system for over seven years and am a specialist in development in transition/post-conflict countries in Liberia, Haiti and Afghanistan.  I have worked for the UN Development Programme, the World Bank and the UN Department of Peacekeeping, always within the field of development and humanitarian coordination.  Concretely this means trying to coordinate aid agencies such as DFID, USAID, the Aga Khan Network, etc. in order to make aid efforts more coherent and hence more effective. This includes supporting governments to develop national policies and development strategies, building information management strategies and helping to organise international conferences.  

Currently, I am in Afghanistan, where I have been for over a year and a half.  I am the Deputy Head of the Resident coordinator’s Office, the office which is charged with coordinating the UN system. This entails bringing together all the different UN actors in the country; developing common strategies and policies, as well as bringing different actors together on specific issues of common interest such as the impact of a growing population on a country emerging from conflict or environmental sustainability or employment creation. I focus on communications, information management , monitoring and evaluation, all at the systematic level. Furthermore, I am specialised in all matters concerning gender and women’s empowerment, specifically within peacekeeping.

In my previous positions in Liberia and Haiti, my work included worked very closely with the Government, in particular with the Ministers of Finance and the Planning on developing aid policies, poverty reduction strategies, rebuilding national statistics’ system, etc. 

In short, my job is extremely diverse and no such thing as a routine. It isn’t always exciting, there are a lot of processes and reporting to headquarters. However, all jobs have their boring  sides, which is why it is so important for the rest of the work to be really worth it. The key to the job is to always keep the end game in sight, which is to improve the life of the people and support the  most vulnerable. You need to be prepared to be extremely flexible and keep a clear head in an emergency, because often you really are dealing with life or death situations. You need to be able to react and think extremely quickly. Yet most of all, you have to deal with not always being able to help.  

The hardest part of working in the field for the UN,  is facing the people who are suffering every day, but all too often you can do nothing.   

Getting overseas NGO experience – Nepal and elsewhere October 19, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : NGO, international development, work experience , add a comment


Robert Ordman left King’s College in 2010 with a first class degree in War Studies. As part of his  career development plan he organised an overseas work experience placement in Nepal. We talked to him about his experience.

Robert, why did you go overseas?  Well I realised that for the area of work I was considering – something related to security  and international relations -  employers really value international experience.  Whilst I had seen lots of masters students in the department using their qualifications to get good quality jobs I felt that as a mature student practical experience would be more helpful for me at this point, and that if I did decide to do a masters later the experience might also help me.

How did you arrange it?  It was arranged for me by an organisation called Links4change which I know you are familiar with.  The woman who runs it, Victoria Leat, set it up after he own experience of volunteering in Africa. It cost me £500 flat fee but I then had to find flights and accommodation costs as well living expenses. Fortunately for me the cost of living in Nepal is very low, so overall it cost me less than if I done an internship in the UK instead.

So what was the placement like?  Well I actually had two because the original placement did not match my expectations. I was placed in a regional office of a Nepali peace building NGO, and although the staff treated me extremely well and were as helpful as they could be they had not taken an intern before, and didn’t understand what was involved. As a result there was virtually no work for me to do and within a month I realised that neither of us was benefiting from the experience. I kept Victoria informed of the issues during this period and eventually asked her to find me an alternative, an option that is built into her contract for just such an eventuality. I’m pleased to say that she fully understood my situation and came up with a number of offers for me within a fairly short space of time. Fortunately I took a small netbook with me on the trip so communication by email and Skype was easy.

So where did you end up?  The next placement was with The Asia Foundation (TAF) http://asiafoundation.org , a very large and powerful American NGO which works in areas such as governance, women’s rights, economic reform and development, and international relations.  It is an extremely professional, very prestigious outfit and my placement with them, based in Kathmandu, was exactly what I wanted.

What were you doing? I worked in the Peace Unit, whose role is to build bridges between the various political parties. There was a vicious civil conflict in Nepal 1996-2006, and although there has been democracy since 2008 the peace process has still not been completed and there is a kind of political paralysis which prevents much needed progress from being made. The Peace Unit is designed to help facilitate the peace process in two ways in particular: to give the politicians a safe and private space in which to continue discussions, and to give them practical support in coming to an agreement. For example TAF would bring in international experts on issues such as conflict resolution, electoral systems, or truth and reconciliation processes.  They would  provide examples of best practice and make practical suggestions to help move things forward.

What was your role?  Primarily I was involved in the research and production of various documents covering different aspects of the peace process. My main job was to review 25 peace agreements that had been signed between 2005 and 2010 in order to establish which ones had been implemented, why the others hadn’t been and what was required in order to complete the process. It proved a fascinating task in which I was able to draw on many of the skills I developed whilst taking my degree and writing my dissertation. As well as collaborating with colleagues within TAF I also interviewed political activists, human rights leaders and senior politicians as part of my primary research, and also had to keep well organised and disciplined in order to manage the large amount of data I had to handle. The purpose of the research was to enable the politicians to focus on what needed to be done to resolve the outstanding problems, and it felt really satisfying to know I was making a real contribution to the process.Another document I produced related to how the media in Nepal could make a more positive contribution to the peace process. Amongst the people I interviewed this time were the editor of a leading national newspaper, a development worker at the UN and spokesmen for the three major political parties. I also came up with my own recommendations for a strategy that TAF could adopt to achieve the objectives. In addition to the work I did on these documents I also had the opportunity to attend a number of meetings with different political figures and international experts, which gave me an insight into the complexity of the issues at stake.

What did you learn from your experience?  I gained a huge amount of cultural awareness. This was my first non-UK working experience and it really brought home to me that people from different cultures really do see the world in a different way. At the same time I learned not to take things for granted, and to challenge my own pre-conceptions. I found a practical outlet for my research skills and used what I had learned about writing and providing academically sound  material, which all help increase my confidence in my own ability.  The fact that I had a first class degree and it was from London – some people had even heard of King’s College – really helped me make connections with people.  It also broadened my ideas of what I wanted to do. It sparked an interest in international development and human rights that hadn’t been there before, running alongside my previous interest in security and peace building.

It sounds like an interesting experience. Was it fun?  Enormous fun. Admittedly this was partly down to developing a great social life with other ‘expat’ international workers and volunteers, but there was also something wonderful about living in such a different environment, amongst genuinely friendly and welcoming locals. I admit I found the first month or so fairly tough, partly due to the cold and a couple of health issues, but once the temperature started to go up and my system adjusted to my new diet I really started to enjoy myself. I am so glad I stuck it out and would strongly recommend the experience.

Political Risk Recruitment Agency October 13, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Political risk , add a comment


BeecherMadden is one of a handful of specialist recruitment agencies that work in the niche area of  business risk and resilience.  We spoke to Luke Vile one of their directors about the kind of people they can help recruit.  

Luke, I haven’t come across agencies operating in this area before?  Well there are only a handful – around four or five agencies in this sector.  It started developing around the millennium when the concerns about the ‘millenium bug’ made business much more aware of issues around risk and what we call resilience. Since then businesses have developed whole divisions that manage these risks, and entire consulting firms have been founded that provide such services.

We proactively identify people to work in areas such as

‘Risk’ as a concept of business management covers all of the above areas.  For example banks may want someone to define who gets access to what layers of their IT or information, and  a company may want to devise protocols for deciding who gets physical access to which parts of their buildings.  It could also involve more policy type work. For example assessing the potential threats for a company’s operations in a particular region through intelligence control.

So who are your clients?  Lots of financial firms (investment and retail banks) consultancies, professional services firms such as auditors, defence consultancies, retailers, consumer goods companies

How do you find people?  Well we proactively search – which is why we approached King’s College.  We have been able to place a number of postgraduates from the War Studies department.  When we meet people we can then be approached by clients or more proactively approach them and suggest they may want to take a look at certain individuals.  It is more common than is thought for jobs to be created for strong candidates, from junior to senior levels.

What do you look for if you are considering postgraduates?  Well  I think of it as a certain ‘X factor’ but what it comes down to is a combination of things:  An excellent academic track record as a foundation.  Some previous experience is important but not always essential.  Though you may not need heaps of experience. Frankly junior people bring a certain energy and freshness, and they are certainly cheaper than senior people.  As well as this they will need to have impeccable communication skills, be able to present well and have a corporate personality.  They should also be able to be convincing and knowledgeable about the industries they want to be develop careers in.  The academic course may be great at giving a global overview of international security but our clients need to know you can see the security implications for their firms and their operations in ‘real world situations;.  Finally a certain element of intrepidness.

What kind of roles have you placed students in previously?  We have had people placed as crisis analysts for investment banks – researching potential crisis points in regions of operations. Others have been placed as security consultants looking at contingency plans if there are natural disasters and providing an audit of current security measures and we have had people become researchers looking at the political issues for a banks operations in a particular region.

How should people proceed if they think they might be suitable?  Well we want to hear from people who might be able to start work within six months so people who have just started their masters should wait a while.  Otherwise people are free to email or phone me for a discussion. No obligation of course.

www.beechermadden.com Luke Vile 020 303 608 22   Luke.vile@beechermadden.com

Careers in International Relations October 5, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : international development , 1 comment so far


 There is a strong interest in careers in that broad area known as ‘international relations’. Opportunities go beyond those elusive careers with the UN. 

Like many sectors work experience is really essential to help you get permanent work.  Some students start off with doing ‘remote internships’ with outfits like AKE to help them build up a track record or volunteer with NGOs.  Later they can then pitch for more intense internships with Chatham House or the Foreign Policy Centre.   What students may not be aware of  is how to go about locating these internships, work experience and vacancy sources.  Here is my essential guide

An internship with Procter & Gamble September 14, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : internships, working abroad , add a comment


Bo-Erik Abrahamsson has just spent the second year of his BSc Management Studies degree at the University of Hong Kong (a year abroad organised by King’s College London).  On his way back to London to complete the third year of his studies, he completed a summer internship in finance with Procter & Gamble in Geneva.  We talked to him about his experiences.

Why did you choose to go to Hong Kong?  Partly because I was really interested in seeing that part of the world.   A new country, continent and culture for me.  I’m Swedish and I came to London to get an international experience so it was really an extension of that.  I was also aware that in the longer term I wanted an international finance career and I hope the experience would give me some good networks and experience.  I’d completed a banking internship with HSBC and I knew they had a presence in Hong Kong so it seemed even more good place to go.  I knew the courses were taught in English and that I would also have a chance of learning Chinese which would be good for my CV

How was it?  I’d really recommend it. The people you meet and the places you get to see really opens up your horizons, and you come out from your exchange a totally different person. I got a great insight into a different culture – and my Chinese has come on really well.  There were some great teachers and it was actually easier to learn than French.

How did the P&G internship come about? I’d met them at a Careers event in the first year and after that it had been my intention to apply for an internship after my second year.  They do a whole range of different types including HR, Marketing, purchasing, consumer market knowledge and more but I wanted the finance internship because I knew that was the area I wanted to develop my career in.  Originally I thought I’d apply for a London based internship but they offer them all over Western Europe. So when I got a chance to spend the 10 weeks in Geneva I was very happy for the offer.

What was the recruitment process like? P&G have offices all over world so I was able to sit an initial verbal and numerical test in Hong Kong.  That was okay – I didn’t think the numerical part of it was that tough. After that, I was invited to go to Singapore for an initial interview.  It was very convenient not having to fly all the way from Asia to London for my face-to-face interview. Finally, I had two telephone interviews before I got accepted.  The interviews were all ‘experience-based’ which meant I got a chance to talk about things I had done in the past – what I achieved and what my motivations were.  In this type of interview they are not so concerned with where you might want to be in x number of years. It’s more about what you have done in the past which they feel is a guide to how you might be in the future.

How has the Internship been?  It’s been excellent.  The group of interns I was with were from all over Europe – Spain, France, Italy. . . and of course the UK.  Most of them were Masters degree students and many came from the top European universities. As an example, the three British students were myself and two students from LSE and Cambridge.  All the interns were very outgoing and I ended up living very close to the others. The social scene in Geneva was very good, and we also did quite a bit of travelling around and outside of the country.  Just like in Hong Kong, English was the default common language. From a work perspective I learned a lot and pushed my boundaries.  The project I was given was a 2-month assignment that the permanent staff just couldn’t find the time to do.  In my case it was a piece of financial analysis.  This wasn’t all just number crunching but also looked at what systemic changes that needed to be made. I spent a lot of time interviewing managers all over Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.  The scope of the project was really determined by the fact that I was working in a regional HQ.  I was working on my own but had a lot of support from my line manager.  I felt that my work was taken seriously and had real value. So much so in fact that I had to make a one hour presentation to a very senior audience, including the Vice President of the region.  Working at this level is fantastic experience and is great for your confidence and ambitions.  While you need to study and get good academic grades on a practical level the case studies in text books are only rarely directly relevant to what you come across in work.  Before I started my internships with HSBC and P&G I had only limited work experience in retailing, construction and agriculture.

What tips do you have for other students?  That’s easy.

Development In Three Dimensions – a free conference August 22, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : courses, international development, politics , 2comments


I’ve been contacted by some students from the University of East London who have come up with a fantastic initiative that will be of interest to students in development, international politics and migration.  Alan Gutsell, along with fellow UEL students, has created the ‘Development in Three Dimensions’ conference on Saturday 5th of November in Docklands and, guess what, it’s FREE!  Thanks to funding obtained from the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and UEL itself. Here is the link to the conference website: www.uel-undergraduate-conference.co.uk/

Alan tells me the conference  is a chance for undergraduates to showcase their research on a range of topics including:

War, Conflict and Migration

Environment, Resources and Livelihoods

Civil Society, Social Movements and Grassroots Initiatives

Students from all over the UK and internationally have been selected to speak after submitting abstracts. The conference will have keynote speakers and NGO exhibitors – so a great place to network and find out about recruitment possibilities. Alan also hopes the conference will attract some academics. “It’s going to be a place where academics can hear some voices from the next generation as well a forum for undergraduates to meet students from other universities.” There will alsi be journal publishers there, with a prize being given by the European Journal of Development Research. So much out of just one day.

If Alan survives the event he will be completing his final undergraduate year in International Development and NGO Management. It sounds like an excellent event. It’s free but you will need to register if you would to attend. Alan tells me that later papers are being accepted, any of you undergrads or recent graduates looking to further your work should take a look.

Street fundraising August 16, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Charities, charity, international development , add a comment


Some people avoid street fundraisers some may have a conversation and even set up a regular donation.  What we don’t tend to do is think about what it takes to work in what is often seen as one of the worst jobs in the world. We spoke to Amy Oberholzer who helps run Future Fundraising, a consultancy that includes Fundraising Vision; the arm that recruits and trains street fundraisers, as part of its work with the third sector.

How does Fundraising Vision & Future Fundraising work as a company?   We work in partnership with Future Fundraising to run street, door & private site fundraising campaigns for third sector clients.  We charge all our clients on a ‘cost per recruit’ basis – ie for every person that agrees to become a regular supporter. This means that the fundraisers aren’t attached to getting a specific amount of money from the donor.  What we are more concerned with is enrolling supporters who freely decide to make a manageable donation on a regular basis. There are a number of organisations competing in this market and we differentiate ourselves through our ‘attrition guarantees’ and campaign analysis. This means that we guarantee that after three months a much larger proportion of your supporters we sign up will still be engaged & supporting your cause. We are 100% transparent and continue to communicate with donors after they sign up to make sure they are happy with the arrangements and to find out if they need any more information.

How do you train your staff? Well the first thing is we recruit the right people.  People who can engage with others freely and get them interested in the charity. We test this very early in the recruitment process by getting them to have a short conversation on the street with a member of the public. We find that applicants can be good at normal job interviews but on the street they wilt and hide behind the charity material. We recruit people who we can train to be fantastic communicators.  Often these conversations flow from what we call ‘objection responses’ – those typical reasons people present initially for not being able to set up a regular donation. Things like ‘ too many bills’ or ‘I’m worried about my own job’ or ‘I’m not too sure right now’. It is really amazing the kind of information people divulge when you open up a conversation in response to these objections – we can get people who share their life stories.  As I said earlier we are interested in people who can create authentic connections and create a genuine commitment to their regular donations. We know that people get switched off very quickly if they sense the fundraiser is really only interested in guilt-tripping them to sign up.

                The two day training also includes a day spent at the charity who the campaign is being run for.  This way they get to know the charity inside out so they can deal confidently with any questions they get on the field and to create a genuine sense of connection.  Our style of working means that fundraisers will stay with the campaign through to the end which is typically three plus months, rather than representing different charities on different days.

 What makes someone good at this job? A capacity to sympathise and relate to anyone, no matter who they are. Someone who is naturally able to deal with being ignored on the street or even dealing with some tougher encounters and not taking  it personally – we do focus on dealing with this during the training course. So whether you get ignored or shouted at you can still deal with things with grace and use resilience to keep your focus and wish a nice day for people and respect their decisions.  We also need people who are passionate about the third sector.  It really does take enthusiasm to keep engaging with people especially when the weather is bad and you are at the end of a tough day.  Our people work in small teams of four and they do support each other during the day.  If someone has had a difficult encounter the team leader might just take them off for a break and a chat.  Likewise if someone has a success they might get the team together to acknowledge it and use it to generate some energy.  Finally we also need people who can speak English very well.

What do fundraisers get out of it? Well we pay an hourly rate between £7 to £12 per hour, depending on experience.  We would expect to get a minimum of two sign ups a day on the street and one a day knocking doors (i.e door-to-door fundraising).  If people are thinking about doing this kind of work they should check out what the targets are because it makes a difference to the work culture.  A lot of students work for us but also people who are getting back into work after a break.  Students particularly do it because it’s a straightforward way to earn money but a lot of people who work in charities have previous experience of this kind of fundraising.  Fundraising is an important part of charities work and our fundraisers do have to engage with the issues facing the charities they are working for. This can help them if they want to break into the sector.

Why do charities use this method because it does seem to annoy some people? Well over the last 20 years it has proven itself to be a really good way for charities to build up a long term stable source of income.  Even if people don’t sign up it really helps keep the charities profile high. What I would say is we train our fundraisers to be a light presence on the street and we do take care to make sure there aren’t too many fundraisers in one area. I would ask people to recognise that they aren’t being forced to engage with our fundraisers if they don’t wish to.  At the end of the day fundraisers are human beings, like you and I, so even if you aren’t going to donate you can just say ‘hi’. 

How do people apply?  Visit our website & upload you CV and contact details. www.futurefundraising.co.uk

The Student Initiative August 15, 2011

Posted by Jeff Riley in : international development , add a comment


A while ago an organisation called ‘The Student Initiative’  (www.thestudentinitiative.org) posted on our Facebook page on getting into international development.  We have now caught up with this student-led charity about how they help students interested in working in the sector.   Thanks to Valerie Tan their Development Manager who set up a Skype call between ourselves and her home in Singapore.

Valerie, what does The Student Initiative do?  It was started out by a few students from the LSE in 2008. We are now a registered Charity but our aim remains to bridge the gap between the development sector and students. You know, many organisations look for people with experience, yet a substantial number of students who want to work in the sector don’t have that required experience.  So we have a number of initiatives that help –

How can students from outside LSE get involved?  Well we already have students from many different colleges involved with us.  Many of our Fellows come from colleges all over the world and we actively seek to reach out to other colleges. Not only to take part in our forums and courses, but also to help us run our organisation.  We took a lot of time and effort to become a charity and it continues to take a lot of effort to run things properly.  So if there any students out there who want to get involved please get in touch. It would be great experience for anyone who wants to get first hand experience of running a charity.  We have a sophisticated web site that needs support, we want to recruit more members, we need to actively monitor and improve the services we provide.  So there are lots of opportunities.  There’s a form on the web site for both fellowship and management applications.