UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a Human Resources Internship with the Centre Management Section at UNHCR Copenhagen, Denmark.
Established in December 1950, UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. UNHCR currently operates in over 130 countries, using its long expertise to protect and care for millions.
Title: Human Resources Intern
Duty Station: Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 6 months (with possible 2 months extension)
Contract Type: Internship
Start date: January 2025
Organisational context
The internship will be within UNHCR’s Human Resources Unit, which sits within the Centre Management Section (CMS) and serves departments both within CMS and the wider organisation. The HR Internship is located in Copenhagen and will support colleagues based in Copenhagen.
The position
We are seeking a dynamic and proactive team player, with a strong interest in Human Resources and refugee issues, to complete a six-month internship within UNHCR’s HR team. This internship is a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience with HR practices within UNHCR and the UN in general.
The Human Resources Intern will be working under the supervision of the Senior HR Assistant and HR colleagues. The selected candidate will get hands-on recruitment experience and work in a multicultural team with colleagues from all over the world.
Duties and responsibilities
- Coordinating and administration of the UNHCR internship programme in Copenhagen. This includes but is not limited to: Advising and guiding supervisors on the internship guidelines and recruitment process including assisting in shortlisting and participating in interviews; Creating and posting vacancy notices; Issuance of letter of offers/agreements; Briefing new interns on working conditions.
- Organizing and conducting the onboarding procedures for interns and other staff members, if necessary;
- Improving the internship programme environment;
- Assisting with the maintenance of the Intranet page;
- Coordinating/organizing bi-weekly “Early Bird” information sessions for interns and junior position holders;
- Planning and organizing events and workshops;
- Opportunity to define his/her own HR improvement projects looking into our internal processes;
- Monitoring and assuring the compliance of UNHCR policy on Records and Archives keeping while carrying out the filing tasks;
- Possibly assisting the other CMS sub-units when needed.
Minimum Qualifications Required
In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria:
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Be either a recent graduate (having completed their studies within two years of applying) or a current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by IAU/UNESCO;
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Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies in a field relevant or of interest to the work of UNHCR;
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Not have exhausted the maximum cumulative internship period with UNHCR, including any prior internships (8 months for full-time and 12 months for part-time.
NOTE: An individual who bears the relationship of parent, child, sibling, step-parent, step-child or step-sibling to a current UNHCR staff member or affiliate is not eligible for an internship.
Desirable Qualifications and Skills
The ideal candidate will:
- Be fluent in English, with advanced writing and editing skills. Additional languages are desirable, but not essential;
- Have a degree in areas of Human Resources Management, Business Administration, or related field;
- Have excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills as well as be comfortable with working in an international environment;
- Have good experience using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint);
- Demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and develop;
- Be highly organised and have good attention to detail;
- Be able to multi-task and to priorities workload;
- Be a flexible team-player.
Conditions
The selected Human Resources Intern will be based with the team in the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark. The internship is a six-month full-time role with 40 working hours per week, from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday. No late applications will be accepted.
Allowance: Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance to partially help to cover the cost of food, local transportation and living expenses.
Travel: Unless provided or paid by external sponsoring entities, UNHCR reimburse interns engaged from a location outside of the country of the duty station for the ticket costs of their outward and return travel to/from the duty station by the most economical route available on economy class, irrespective of the duration of the journey. Reimbursement shall be limited to the authorized outward and return travel between the intern’s country of residence and the intern’s duty station, or actual route of travel, whichever is lower.
Before travel is undertaken, the selected intern must obtain authorization in writing from the hiring office. Such authorization must include the approved cost of the ticket.
Internships normally last two to six months with the possibility of extension up to eight months for full-time internships and twelve months for part-time internships.
Obligations
Acquiring and renewing current visas, residence permits including all associated costs, obtaining medical certification and compliance with taxation requirements (if applicable), are the responsibility of the intern. For non-EU candidates, D-visa needs to be obtained before traveling to Denmark. Obtaining visa can take 4 to 6 weeks and is the candidate’s responsibility. UNHCR may assist by providing supporting documentation.
The selected candidate will need to provide UNHCR with a proof of health insurance coverage applicable to the assigned internship location and a certificate of good health from a qualified medical practitioner certifying their fitness for work and travel. In the event the selected candidate is not able to produce the required certificates, they will not be admitted to the Internship Programme.
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If you are a person with a disability and you expect you may face challenges during the recruitment process, you can indicate it in your application form.
There are options to select any health conditions you may have and outline any necessary adjustments related to disabilities during the recruitment phases. Providing this information is optional. It will be treated as strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of finding out how to better assist you during the recruitment process.
Adjustments for candidates with disabilities will be provided as best as possible and as needed upon request.
All candidates will be assessed based on meeting the requirements for each vacancy in relation to experience, skills, and education.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Please note that UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing, training, or any other fees).
We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background.