UNICEF Reviews

Pros

-the name of course, one of the best non-profit organizations in the world

Cons

-no room for really moving up, although that is what i was seeking
-as an intern you don't really do much and they don't give you great fulfilling work to do (mostly photocopying, paper shredding, etc)

Advice to Senior Management

-more clear communication between the interns and senior management
-felt disconnected from goals of UNICEF
-let us do more hands-on work...felt like I was doing mostly secretarial work and work that wasn't fulfilling

Pros

Doing something meaningful in the field with a well organised office;
Doing something meaningful in the field with a well organised office

Cons

Some pwople are not always as motivated as you might be;
Some pwople are not always as motivated as you might be

Advice to Senior Management

This is a very difficult question since UNICEF is a huge mechanism. Can't answer this question unfortunately although i wish

Pros

- Inspiring mandate - in my opinion the best international organization working for children's rights to health, education and protection
- An excellent place to work for women (and men) - great work/family/life balance
- Salaries may be better than local non-profits
- Competent co-works that you can learn something from
- Very high job security

Cons

- Very bureaucratic - specially in administrative processes
- No clear decision-making processes / or the ones in place not effective
- Due to the international nature of the organization, sometimes information sharing at different levels, i.e. from HQ to field offices may leave room for clarity
- Not much accountability for bad performance, which means people can get away with not doing a good job

Advice to Senior Management

Great mandate - invest in your high performers and enforce the job performance standards and accountabilities to the extent possible. This will further inspire your staff. Stick to things UNICEF does best and not spread the organizational resources too thin.

Pros

great place to work if you feel like you wanna make a difference for children, especially in developing countries, possibility to travel and know other countries and cultures

Cons

sometimes you see people advance in their careers because of contacts and personal preferences, rather than for their real skills and knowledge

Advice to Senior Management

rethink your way of selecting and recruiting, make sure the best talents are found and developed and make sure that people advance because of their capacity

Pros

pay is fairly well compensated at the upper grades, especially if you are international professional staff (tax free) and take advantage of the benefits (e.g. house allowance, education allowance). Environment is very civilised and not too stressful.

Cons

No cash bonuses. No direct incentive to over-achieve. Easy to get into a follow the herd mentality.

Advice to Senior Management

Less Bureaucracy.

Pros

Decent pay and definately not overworked.

Cons

Full of red tape. Projects that should take 3 months take 3 years. They waste more $$ than any organization that I have ever experienced. Technolgy wise, UNICEF is in 1995. Everyone is a manger of something yet their are few people to perform the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Modernize

Pros

Visibility.
Things get done.
Initial training was very complete.

Cons

Limited employment possibilities after an internship.

Advice to Senior Management

Give some career advancement possibilities!

Pros

it looks very good on a resume. it gives people the impression that you're a smart do-gooder. their positions almost always pay above market price.

Cons

if your goal is to improve children's welfare, then work somewhere else. thanks to its successful branding, unicef is probably the most effective fundraiser in the non profit world. and perhaps just like any other organizations in the real world, when money comes so easily, wasteful spending behaviors tend to follow. these guys send people out to india for 3 days on a $7000 budget just to count computers in a field office. it gives me chills thinking how many children can be fed with that money.

Advice to Senior Management

restructure. cut out at least 30% of your headquarter staffs. the organization would work just fine without them. spend the money on the children and the field offices instead.

Pros

The knowledge that you're helping children in need. Most of the people at the company are passionate and very, very enthusiastic about social justice, women's issues and social issues, and have the energy to inspire others to help make things better in their community and the world at large. Working at Unicef means constantly being educated about world politics and problems, so it's not necessarily for someone who wants a set routine. The people are also keen on environmental issues, so offices tend to be very green and staff do so on a budget, ex. paper is printed on both sides; post-its are reused until they're ready to fall apart; heavy-duty curtains and caulking take care of drafty windows instead of full-blast heaters.

Cons

It's all contract work with no benefits unless it's a long contract, so Unicef saves money. Year round job opportunities don't exist unless you're living in the city where the main national HQ is. Even supervisors are hired on contracts so there's always this crazy learning curve where everyone adjusts to new staff frequently due to new staff coming on board and "old" (meaning more than 3 months) staff leaving as their contracts end. As a result, training can be sub-par depending on the manager. Screw ups on paycheques are normal, and you're not compensated for using your cell phone to do company business outside office hours, and getting overtime pay is as tough as scaling Mt. Everest without a Sherpa guide. Don't count on a job reference after your contract is up, as most likely your manager will be gone too as his or her contract ends, or you may have worked with 3 supervisors in 3 months. Work hours can be sporadic depending on the department's budget.

Advice to Senior Management

Hiring staff on a full-time basis would give Unicef some much-needed consistency in the way it operates. The fact that so many employees are working on short-term contracts and take off for greener pastures once their 1-6 months ends is a shame given the enthusiasm and knowledge they have, so why not hire them on as seasonal workers, and thereby slash the training budget set aside for all the new workers? Many of them express interest in working for Unicef longer, but are not willing to work on 1 or 3-month contracts because of the uncertainty in finding employment afterwards.