An internship is one of the most common ways to get a first foot inside the United Nations system. It will not hand you a job, but it gives you real exposure, a network, and a line on your CV that recruiters recognise. Here is how they work and how to land one.
What a UN internship is
UN internships are short placements, usually a few months, designed to give students and recent graduates practical experience of the organization’s work. They are normally full-time and can be based at headquarters, in regional or country offices, or increasingly carried out remotely.
Who is eligible
Most programmes require you to be enrolled in, or to have recently completed, a university degree, often at master’s level, though some accept final-year undergraduates. You will usually need to meet the language requirement in the vacancy, and student or recent-graduate status is commonly a condition.
Where to find them
Each organization advertises internships on its own careers portal, often in a dedicated internships section, so it pays to watch several agencies. Searching across the system in one place, as on this site, saves checking each portal by hand. You still apply on the official portal.
How to apply
Treat it like any UN application: tailor it to the role, draw on relevant coursework, projects and volunteering, and address the stated requirements directly. A clear motivation statement explaining why this team and this work matter to you goes a long way.
Are they paid?
Historically many UN internships were unpaid, and some still are, so budget for living costs, which are high in cities like Geneva and New York. A growing number of agencies now offer a stipend; always check the specific posting for what, if anything, it provides.
Making it count
Approach the internship as a long interview. Do excellent work, build relationships across the office, and ask about future opportunities. Note that an internship does not lead automatically to a job, and there is often a short period after it ends before you can be hired into a paid role.
Budgeting for an unpaid or low-paid internship
The honest barrier to many UN internships is money, not merit. For years a large share were unpaid, and although the picture is changing, you should plan as if you will need to cover your own costs. The biggest line items are rent in a duty-station city, health insurance (which most organizations require you to hold and prove before you start), local transport, and a flight if the post is in person. Before you accept, ask the hiring unit in writing what, if anything, is offered, because terms differ sharply between agencies and even between offices of the same agency.
Recent reform has helped in some places. Several UN entities have introduced stipends or living allowances for interns, and a number of governments and universities fund their own nationals to take these positions. Treat any support as a bonus to confirm, not a given.
- Check whether your university gives internship grants, mobility funding, or course credit that comes with a small stipend.
- Look for national trust funds or foreign-ministry schemes that sponsor citizens into international-organization internships.
- Ask early about remote or hybrid options, which remove rent and flight costs entirely.
- Confirm exactly what the health-insurance requirement is before you commit, since this is a real and recurring cost.
Getting real value out of the months you are there
An internship is short, so decide in the first week what you want to walk away with: a concrete deliverable with your name on it, two or three people who will vouch for you, and a clear sense of which job family suits you. Volunteer for tasks that produce something tangible, a published brief, a cleaned dataset, a working script, a section of a report, because that is what you will point to in later applications and interviews.
Relationships matter as much as output. The people you work beside move across the system and hear about openings before they are posted. Be useful, be reliable, and stay in touch after you leave.
- Ask your supervisor near the start what a successful internship would look like to them, then aim at that.
- Keep a private log of what you did and the results, so you can write accurate, specific bullet points later.
- Request a written reference or a recommendation on a professional network before your last day, while the work is fresh.
- Attend internal talks and brown-bag sessions to understand other units and widen your contacts.
From intern to staff: the realistic path
An internship is genuine experience and a foot in the door, but it is not a hiring pipeline, and you should not expect it to convert directly into a job. Many UN organizations apply a cooling-off or waiting period during which a former intern cannot be appointed to certain posts in the same entity, a rule meant to keep recruitment fair and open. The internship still pays off indirectly: you learn how the organization works, you build a record you can cite, and you gain people who know your work.
The usual route onward is to apply, like everyone else, to entry-level vacancies, temporary assignments, consultancies, or volunteer roles, using your internship as evidence. Confirm the specific waiting-period rule on the official source for the agency you care about, since it varies.
Application tips that improve your odds
Internship competition is heavy, so a generic application disappears. Read the specific listing and mirror its language: if it asks for a particular research skill, a tool, or a language, name your evidence for each. Apply through the official portal of the organization, watch for short windows because some internships are posted with tight deadlines, and have your documents ready in advance.
- Tailor your motivation statement to the one team and the one task described, not to the UN in general.
- Make your CV concrete: outputs, tools, and measurable results beat job titles.
- Get language levels right and be honest, since these are often verified.
- Proofread for the working language of the office, and ask a strong writer to read it once before you submit.