Castan Centre for Human Rights Law

Phoebe Knowles

Getting the Jobs in International Humanitarian Law… as a student

I was going to New York.  Then one afternoon I attended a lecture in international law while at the University of Oxford and the lecturer caught my interest.  Interns were needed in Sierra Leone, West Africa – a United Nations backed war crimes tribunal – the newest on the scene, a domestic / international tribunal to prosecute those bearing greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war.   It was my dream to work for the UN.  I applied that afternoon and changed my flight.

I chose to work in defence because I knew nothing of war and I didn’t want to start out on this job in a position of judgment to reinforce movie stereotypes of the ‘war criminals’ and doing ‘God’s work’ in putting the ‘bad guys’ away.  But surely we are smarter than that?  War is not simple and blindly putting such ‘bad guys’ away is not justice, not for the accused, not for the victims and certainly not for the ideal. 

But how did I get to Sierra Leone?

Getting the Job

Unfortunately, these jobs and opportunities are advertised a little randomly in my opinion.  You need to search them out.  So my advice:-

1. Get contacts, people who work in areas that you are interested in so that you can pick their brain.  Attend talks and lectures on subjects that interest you and if possible chat to the speaker later. 

2. The most important thing is to put yourself out there.  I have filled in literally over one hundred application forms and probably spent a few hours a week working on ‘my career’.  You have to put yourself in the running. 

3. The UN has an employment section but my experience with it has been unfulfilling. Better options are to apply to particular UN missions or get some work with an NGO first (Care, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, International Crisis Group, Medecins Sans Frontieres). www.crisisweb.org lists heaps of jobs.  Google is fantastic (where would we be without it?).

Arranging an internship

4. People often ask me how they can arrange an internship.  However, a straight answer is really difficult to give.  There is no central website or single application procedure.   Also, you need to work out what you want to do. The world is a big place so narrowing your options down to a continent might give you a bit of focus.  Then try to pick a few issues.   I know this is tough, and the reality is that I worked in a different area before working out what I wanted to do.

5. Basically it requires time.  Hours sifting through internet pages, calling, emailing… waiting, pestering… flying!

But I’m only an undergraduate with crappy marks

6. Don’t be put off by the ‘qualifications’ or requirements section.  To be an intern I was supposed to be a graduate with post-graduate qualifications and willing to volunteer for six months.  As a fourth year undergraduate I interned for four months.  To be a legal assistant I needed to be a qualified lawyer admitted to the bar with five years experience. Again, I was a fourth year undergraduate.  

7. Jump when you see something that grabs your attention.  It is hard work, tedious and time consuming but the experiences are simply incredible.  If you’ve got the guts – physically go to where you want to work.  Face to face job applications are impressive and persuasive!

I’ve no money, can I get funding?

8. I’m not the best person to tell you how to get funding, because I have not yet succeeded in doing so!  However, I will say that phone calls are more direct and immediate than emailing and you can get immediate answers as to whether the body is worthwhile pursuing before you send them all the information and cover letter.   Again, scatter your applications and hope one sticks, halve the amount the NGO or organisations says you need to budget (a great way to detox), and have a back-up plan if you don’t get any money, ie work full time for a few months.   (If you are going to volunteer overseas, consider working overseas because the money is better.)

9. I emailed hundreds of organisations: law firms, universities, funding bodies, including – cheekily – De Beers (diamonds are big in Sierra Leone) … but an Australian in England going to work in Africa wasn’t an attractive investment.   So you need to sell yourself and know thy audience.   Also, a lot of organisations fund their own interns and therefore don’t give money to people pursuing an individual program.  You need to be able to give the body something for their money – tell them you’ll return to Australia and do talks, write articles for them, be on their HR website, something, anything.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get out there!  ‘Tis a big beautiful world that needs you.