Aid Worker Careers: What Makes a Good Aid Worker?

While I'm traveling, my global health co-blogger Alanna Shaikh - also the blogger extraordinaire behind the development blog Blood and Milk - has kindly agreed to write a series of guest posts on aid worker careers. The third post is below.

Aside from all the obvious stuff you need to be good at international humanitarian relief work – local language skills, relevant experience, writing skills, organizational skills, and so on, there are certain personality qualities that I think make you better at this kind of career. This is wholly unscientific and based on personal observation, so please correct me in the comments.

1. Being able to be cynical and optimistic at the same time. You need to consistently expect and plan for the worst possible outcome, and yet retain faith in your ability to change things. Yes, this basically requires believing two opposite things simultaneously, but F. Scott Fitzgerald says it’s possible, and he knew a thing or two about expatriate like. It’s not an easy thing to do, and it’s why so many aid workers (and Fitzgerald characters) drink.

2. Being able to adapt very quickly to new situations. Good aid workers can accept a new baseline for normal overnight. They learn to drink their cola warm and like it that way, accept strange living conditions, and roll with rapid changes to their job description.

3. Empathy. Being able to put yourself into someone else’s shoes is key to designing good programs and communicating across cultures. It also helps you get along with colleagues, survive communal living, and face stressful situations without strangling anyone.

4. Warmth. People can sense it when you see them as equals and are trying to understand where they come from. Even if you fail, making the effort has value to the people you work with. I have seen people who were completely clueless about the culture they were in and constantly making huge potentially offensive mistakes, yet they were beloved by host communities and local staff because they radiated warmth. Having a friendly heart will take you further than a sane person would ever expect.

[Photo credit - pondspider]