Opening Minds and Futures: UNRISD Unlocks Potential at Careers Fairs

UNRISD has again participated in the spring round of careers fairs in the local area, making sure it reaches out to the development students, experts, policy makers and activists of today and tomorrow. On 23 March 2017 in Geneva we participated in Connexion, the Careers Forum of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and on 21 April 2017 we were in Bern at the invitation of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs at their annual International Career Day.

The Bern Career Day put us on the same stage (literally) in the beautiful Kulturcasino and concert venue in the Swiss capital with a wide range of international non-profit organizations, ranging from the Asian Development Bank to the European Space Agency to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as many of our sister UN agencies from Geneva. Over 2,500 students from a wide variety of academic disciplines attended the event, many of whom were on hand for the presentation given by UNRISD. The presentation generated a high level of interest in both the “what” and the “how” of UNRISD’s work, including a number of questions about how we differ from a university and how we develop our research agenda. At least 150 students chatted with UNRISD staff at our stand, many of them signing up to keep in touch with the Institute via the eBulletin and other regular updates.

The Graduate Institute Careers Forum draws hundreds of students seeking jobs to a three-day careers fair held every year. UNRISD staff were there again this year, alongside an array of other organizations from International Geneva. Several members of staff took shifts during the second day of the event to interact with over 100 students and provide them with information about how the Institute works and possible future employment openings.