Two Distinct Career Pathways at the ICRC
The ICRC offers two main career tracks, each with unique opportunities for growth:
The Specialist Route: For professionals with specialized expertise in areas like health, law, communications, or finance. These individuals can advance from entry or middle management positions to senior management roles within their field of expertise.
The Generalist Path: A unique ICRC pathway where professionals are developed in-house. "You start off as an entry-level delegate, a kind of generalist, and then you would start a typical career path would be that you would go from a generalist, then you would move up maybe to a head of mission or a substructure," Mohini explains.
What's particularly valuable about the generalist role is its breadth of experience. "The generalist role is a very important role at the ICRC because you have a kind of breadth of experience, you then can offer what we call a multi-disciplinary response because you're looking at things from many different angles."
Essential Skills for Humanitarian Success
When it comes to standing out in the humanitarian field, Mohini emphasizes skills that go beyond technical expertise:
Intercultural Competence: "Skills linked to an ability to engage, an ability to kind of communicate and collaborate is really essential... having intercultural skills and being able to navigate and engage with people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures."
Language Skills: While English, French, and Spanish are always valuable, current demand includes Russian and Arabic.
Adaptability and Negotiation: "The importance of negotiation and of course flexibility, because you're constantly working with a number of uncertainties, because that's what we are, that's what our organization is about."
Breaking Into the Sector: Practical Advice
For those considering a transition into humanitarian work, Mohini offers a two-phase approach:
Before You Join
"You do really need to make sure that that's what you want to do in life because it's an important choice, I think that affects all parts of your life, your private life... I've really seen that with all the colleagues in our organization, but in the others, it's really a passion for doing that work."
Practical steps include:
-
-
Gaining short-term experience with NGOs or international organizations
-
Taking certification courses to understand the humanitarian sector
-
Speaking with current professionals to understand the reality of the work
-
After You Enter
-
-
Understand the organization's mission and culture deeply
-
Bring perspectives from other fields - "there's a lot you can... that are similarities either across the sector or from other organizations"
-
Take ownership of your development journey
-
Joining the ICRC
-
- For those seeking entry into the ICRC, the organization offers associate positions, which are paid traineeships for recent graduates that provide a full year of learning and a potential pathway into the organization.
The ICRC's Comprehensive Learning Ecosystem
The ICRC has built an impressive learning infrastructure with over 18,000 staff across 90 countries. Their approach includes:
Formal Learnings:
-
-
Robust onboarding through the Staff Integration Program
-
Safety and security training
-
Leadership and Management Programs (such as the Humanitarian Leadership and Management School developed internally in partnership with Ashridge Business School and is an externally award-winning program)
-
Over 330 courses in their training catalogue
- Individual Development Program: The iDevelop program allows staff and managers to set objectives and access individual funding for external courses, demonstrating the organization's commitment to personalized growth.
-
Informal Learnings:
-
- Development Missions, Support Missions Coaching, Mentoring, Peer exchange. The ICRC also embraces new technologies, including virtual reality components for trainings.
Dispelling Common Misconceptions
Mohini addresses two persistent misconceptions about humanitarian work:
-
The "Volunteer Mindset": The sector requires serious professional expertise, not just goodwill.
-
The "Savior Complex": "The ICRC is not the savior. I think it's a really outdated concept... we very much partner with local communities, local organizations... they're the ones who have a lot of the knowledge."
Career Development Philosophy: Beyond the Traditional Ladder
Perhaps most importantly, Mohini advocates for a modern approach to career progression: "People often think about careers as like one step up the ladder, one step up the ladder... it's really about moving from one position to another. And it may not necessarily be one hierarchical position up, but it's maybe a lateral, sometimes it's maybe a move down, but then you're learning new skills."
Her own career exemplifies this philosophy, moving from communications to the Director General's office to learning and development - each transition driven by opportunity and interest rather than hierarchical advancement.
Mohini's final piece of advice centers on mindset: "Curiosity and openness for me is really key because I think it applies to the ICRC, but it applies everywhere, right? If you're open, you know, you're more likely to be able to get... just to open yourself up to different opportunities."
The Bigger Picture
Working in humanitarian organizations like the ICRC means joining professionals who stay for extended periods, a testament to the meaningful nature of the work. As Mohini notes, these organizations have "a real people feel, like a drive for really our mission", something that distinguishes them.
For those considering a career in humanitarian work, the message is clear: come prepared with professional skills, stay open to opportunities, and be ready for a career that challenges both your capabilities and your commitment to making a genuine difference in the world.
Listen to the full Impactpool Career Podcast episode with Mohini for more detailed insights into building a successful career in humanitarian work.