Aid worker

As an aid worker, you could:

• provide emergency aid like food, shelter and medical supplies
•  organise transport and the delivery of goods
•  recruit, train and organise local people to work as staff and volunteers
•  write reports, monitor budgets and do general administration
•  work with other agencies and government officials in affected areas
•  collaborate on building or engineering projects
•  support communities longer term, for example, to roll out healthcare or education programmes

• sensitivity and understanding
• the ability to work well with others
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• the ability to understand people’s reactions
• excellent verbal communication skills
• excellent written communication skills
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• thinking and reasoning skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• volunteering
• working towards this role

You can develop your own unique career path by working with different organisations and in different parts of the world.

With experience, you can move into senior management or advisory positions, making decisions on how relief efforts are co-ordinated.