A former United Nations senior officer spoke last Thursday at the Beach Auditorium about requirements for students who want an internship at the United Nations.
Marcia Brewster, former senior officer in the Sustainable Devlopment Division of the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told a crowded audience that the best way to get an internship is to take the National Competitive Recruitment exam. The deadline for the examination this year is Oct. 31.
“It has been good at recruiting very competent workers,” Brewster said. “However, if you’re only 21 years old, you probably want to wait a few years.”
Brewster said the general paper section of the test is 45 minutes, and the specialized paper is 3 hours and 45 minutes. She said it was pretty difficult.
“You have to study the structure of the UN and spew it out like a machine,” Brewster said.
Although a degree is not required for the program, she mentioned that most employers will not take applicants who do not have a college degree.
The exam also sets an age cap at 32 for test takers. One student who came from the Democratic Republic of Congo said that she wanted to take the exam, but because she was born in 1975, she was not eligible.
When the student asked Brewster why the United Nations had such an age requirement, Brewster replied, “I don’t know. It’s just ridiculous.”
Brewster said that she really enjoyed working at the United Nations because it let her meet people from places all around the globe.
“I could understand all the different accents of the world,” Brewster said.
She worked one year in 1970 in the U.N. Agricultural Department in Bangkok, Thailand. She then moved to the water department and eventually her work turned into a permanent assignment. Brewster is still serving on the Steering Committee of the Gender and Water Alliance, which promotes gender equity and access to basic resources like water in developing nations.
Brewster also hired Bipasha Baruah, assistant professor at the geography department at CSULB, as an intern at the United Nations nine years ago, when she was getting her master’s degree.
Baruah said she asked Brewster to speak at CSULB about more opportunities for internships. Although the two didn’t plan it this way, the presentation took place at the same time as the Job Fair.
“I just want people to have access to more internships,” Baruah said, “and since I worked for all these people in the U.N., I thought, well, why not?”
Larry Martinez, a political science teacher, also spoke after the presentation, thanking Brewster and Baruah. He said he had two students who are still working for the United Nations. He encouraged students to take advantage of this internship opportunity.
“I can tell you that once your foot’s in the door, your body soon follows,” Martinez said.
Martinez is also teaching a class next spring semester on the United Nations, Political Science 378, titled “Politics and Practice of the U.N.”
