"After graduating university with a B.A. in International Development, when I began looking for community development work internationally and locally in Canada, it took about six months to receive my first phone call for an interview. Luckily, my first interview was also my last, as I was offered the position as Executive Assistant to the CEO at Habitat for Humanity in Toronto. It is so competitive to find work in Canada, and I think the only edge I had over others is that I had my year in Ghana with Trent University. My practical skills were very attractive to employers who read my resume. After working at Habitat for Humanity for almost two years and still applying to development jobs in the Third World with no responses, I decided to go and teach English in Taiwan. I stayed there for about eight months, after which time I was accepted for a position in Israel, developing communications materials for a small business. When this position was completed I applied for a teaching position in Korea, where I stayed for seven months. At this time I was still applying to development posts and still receiving no responses. I decided that the only way to find a job was to go to a developing world straight and work for an NGO as a volunteer until I gained enough experience. I was very comfortable working and living in Asia, so I decided to go to Cambodia. I found a six month volunteer contract with a street children’s NGO, doing a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey with 270 subjects. I also volunteered to do media work for a UNDP youth forum. It was during these first six months that I learned that the majority of development work came from networking within the country. Following this contract I was offered my first paid development position with Habitat for Humanity International, in Cambodia, working as the Resource Development, Communications and Volunteer Program Officer. This six month contract was an amazing learning experience, and at the completion of it I found myself very eager to try and find employment in aid work rather than in development per se. I really found that although housing was a need in the developing world, working with an NGO that focuses on one of the fundamental building blocks of development was more important to me. At this time I applied for a position with Medicines Sans Frontiers (better know too many as Doctors without Borders). After a grueling interview process I was finally offered a position as a Logistics Administrator for a period of twelve months. Unlike the other development organizations, MSF works to train their staff members in all the essential skills required, whether language or community development skills. They also offer amazing benefits that are so handy to have when working in the Third World. I understand how very difficult it is to find a job in development or aid work, but I also understand now that it can be a lot easier if you have the proper assistance. So for this reason, if anyone has questions about how they can get into this field of work I would be more than happy to assist in any way."