Recent JKSIS graduate Rachel D. DuBois moved to Sudan, jobless, earlier this year. She now has a paid position in Juba. How did that work? Read on.
Q: You moved to southern Sudan from Banda Aceh to join your husband, who left Indonesia several months before you for a job with a large multi-sector NGO working in a small village outside of Juba. What was it like to arrive in Sudan without a job lined up?
After working in Aceh, Indonesia for 1.5 years, I was ready for a change and decided to join my husband. Although I arrived without a position, I felt sure that I would find something within 2 months. South Sudan is a busy development and conflict resolution scene these days and also has the added benefit of not being the most ideal living environment. So it didn’t seem unlikely that aid workers come and go leaving agencies in need of either short or long-term help.
Q: What would you have done if you hadn’t been able to stay with your husband upon arrival? How challenging was the process of securing a work permit in Sudan?
South Sudan is expensive! Honestly, if I had not had a place to stay, it would have made coming here more costly on the front side. The average lodging runs about $170 a night and that adds up fast. However, other countries aren’t as expensive, like Indonesia for example where daily meals may only run you about $5 and a hotel about $20. Of course, you should weigh the likelihood of securing a position fast with having to search longer.
My visa for Sudan was initially supported by my husband’s employer. After I secured employment I was given a Travel Permit through my employer. In other countries it may be possible to arrive on a tourist visa, and apply for a work visa once you have found employment. This is very typical in Southeast Asia and probably other places in Africa.
Q: How long did it take you to find your current job? Any tips for networking out in the field?
This is my second experience in landing in a country and looking for work – I have been much more successful the second go-around. The first time I tried the "arrive and find work" technique I was less successful due to a number of factors: projects in the region were closing out; I was shy and reluctant to randomly show up on NGOs’ door steps; and I was adamant to only work in my field (conflict resolution). Although I quickly found an internship in Indonesia, it took me almost 8 months to land a paying job in my desired field. I took a new strategy for my Sudan venture.
Here I literally walked around to all the NGOs I could find, knocked on doors and asked to meet with the Heads of Offices. But I also met with program officers, grants managers, and interns. I also located a database on Reliefweb with the names of UN, World Bank, and NGO heads of departments, which I used to email my CV around and request opportunities to meet face-to-face. In general, I found that people here were rather receptive and usually I got one or two more contacts from each meeting. I left three of these types of meetings with offers for short-term consultancies. Within the first two weeks I had met with over 30 organizations and I started my current position after being in Sudan for exactly 35 days.
As for tips, I recommend getting as many contacts on the ground as possible before arriving in country. Three of my former colleagues, one of which was my supervisor in Aceh, sent emails around to people they knew who are currently working in Sudan or who had worked in Sudan. These contacts and references proved very valuable. But in the end, it was just as important for me to show up at an NGO, walk in and ask to speak to someone. People take you serious once they know you have paid to come to a place on your own – you have already passed the dedication test. I also think it’s important to find out what the NGO is doing in the region and if they foresee any upcoming employment opportunities before you start talking about yourself. This helps you identify what skills and experiences you should highlight when you do speak about yourself.
Q: What kind of skills do you think NGO employers were looking for? Was there a specific skill area you tried to emphasize in your interviews? (i.e. – technical expertise in health or some other field, grant writing skills, monitoring and evaluation skills, etc.)
I was offered a range of positions from developing human resource, operations, & finance manuals, to conducting an assessment of community-based organizations (CBOs) in remote areas of south Sudan, to preparing a proposal on natural resource management (NRM) on the border between Ethiopia and south Sudan, and serving as a governance advisor. Each of these positions requires different skills, some of which I must honestly admit I do not have (like knowledge in NRM in border regions!). I think that in places like Sudan, NGOs need individuals that can take on a range of roles and responsibilities. Technical skills in health, security, or trade are important but no more so than knowing how to develop and implement trainings on finance, how to develop local staff’s skills in Excel, or being able to adapt to challenging logistics.
Q: What’s an average day like at your job?
My current project is in its start-up phase, so I am spending a lot of time preparing planning and M&E documents, training the support staff and grantees on aspects of grant and finance management, and, because I’m so new to Sudan – learning as much as possible from published reports and conversations with staff and community members. As we begin to award subgrants to local CBOs, I will travel more for trainings, reconciliation events, and monitoring.
Q: What’s the craziest/funniest thing that you’ve seen in your three months in Southern Sudan?
Just last night my generator caught on fire. Is that funny? Probably not since it may equate not having any electricity for quite some time.
Q: Any parting wisdom for people who are looking to take the leap and move some place like Sudan?
Flexibility. Finding your ideal job whether in Washington, DC or Pakistan does not usually happen immediately. Be willing to work outside of the field you think that you belong in – report and proposal development is a great place to start. Or, think about how to promote yourself as a short-term consultant to write manuals, conduct assessments, or train staff in technical skills. And never think that you are below an internship, as it just might lead to a paying position.
Bio:
Rachel D. DuBois is a 2006 MA graduate of the JKSIS with a concentration in Conflict Resolution. She also holds a BA in Archaeology from Boston University. Rachel currently works for Pact Sudan as a Deputy Project Manager on a peacebuilding and conflict resolution project in two states in southern Sudan. She has worked in Indonesia, Sudan, and the United States and has lived and studied in Israel, Lebanon, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Rachel is married to another JKSIS graduate, Jerry Montgomery, and longs daily for a Chipotle barbacoa burrito with black beans, a mixture of green and hot sauce and a large topping of cheese.
Questions for Rachel? Post them in the comments.
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