APPLY

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) keeps a register of staff available to work in the field. Each successful candidate is added to this pool of available staff and will be offered a mission at one of our projects around the world when a suitable position becomes available. Many MSF projects are located in or near conflict or post-conflict areas and you will face many challenges both on a professional and personal level. Therefore, we ask each candidate to take part in an elaborate recruitment procedure to ensure you are suited to the work we do in the field.

Recruitment Procedure and Posting
If you want to work with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and feel you have the professional background, work experience, motivation and character that MSF seeks in its field staff, we invite you to apply online. Please first read the information below outlining our recruitment procedure. (Keep in mind that as we receive a great number of applications, it may take some time before we contact you.)

1: Screening & Selection
If your residence is not in the Netherlands we advice you to check here by which international MSF Office you could apply. If it comes to an interview in one of our recruitment offices MSF is not reimbursing your travel expenses. This list will redirect field applicants to the proper MSF office.

Find out which MSF office processes applications from your country:

 

You are currently a resident of: Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, US Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

We will assess your written application based on a generic profile, looking at your qualifications, work and life experience and motivation. You will be invited for an interview if we think your skills and experience match our requirements.

2: Interview 
If the MSF Office in the Netherlands processes your application, the intake interview takes place at the headquarters in Amsterdam. The objective is to find out whether you and MSF are a good match in terms of expectations and ambitions. We will also ask you to take an online personality assessment (25 minutes). The assessment is geared to give us useful information on your skills, personality and working style. Applicants for some positions will be required to take a skills test, a technical skills test or to work on a case study related to your field position. In total, the interview can take one to one and a half hours. (The tests and case study call for an equal amount of time.) After a successful interview, you will be asked to provide two relevant, professional references. Please be aware that MSF cannot reimburse your travel costs.

3: Acceptance into MSF's register
Successful candidates are then added to the MSF international staff register and will be sent on mission at one of our projects around the world when a suitable position becomes available. You can be posted at any of our projects. We will try to post you as soon as possible after you enter the pool, but bear in mind that many factors must be taken into account. Our main consideration will be to ensure we have a good match between you and the project. It can take anywhere from one week to several months before you are posted. When possible, we will take your term of notice with your current employer into account. We will do our utmost to keep you informed about the matching process.

4: Preparation Course
All new field staff will be asked to take a special, one-week, pre-departure course provided by MSF: the Preparation Primary Departure Course (PPD). It will give you more insight into the organisation and the work we do. The course covers topics such as humanitarian emergency aid, MSF's identity, charter and principles, roles and responsibilities in an MSF team, our activities, safety, stress and cross-cultural communication. The courses are held on set dates throughout the calendar year. If an emergency occurs, we might need to post you before you have been able to take the course. In that case, we will provide you with a personal briefing about the mission and the organisation before you depart.

5: Postings
When we think we have a good match, we will send you the job profile for one or several projects. If you accept the posting, you will receive briefings at our headquarters in Amsterdam by staff from the appropriate departments. We ask all our staff to show their commitment to our charter, principles and code of conduct by giving their written agreement, prior to departure, to follow them. On arrival in the project country, you will get a full briefing on the project and the specific working conditions from our staff already working there.

Apply

• Before you apply, there are a couple of questions you might want to ask yourself.
  
• Can I put my personal life at home 'on hold' for 9 to 12 months? Am I prepared to have little or no contact with loved ones over an extended period of time?
• Do my family, partner and friends support my decision? How do their concerns/fears affect my decision and what difficulties/hardships might they encounter in my absence?
• How do I feel about living/working in areas of insecurity where my life may be in danger?
• Am I able to adapt quickly to fast-paced, changing environments?
• Am I able to cope with periods of boredom and isolation?
• Do I thrive when working in a multi-cultural environment, can I accept the challenge of having to adapt to different cultures and work styles?
• Do I have excellent mental and physical health to stand the rigours of a highly stressful environment and possibly poor living conditions?
• Do I have the professional qualifications and work experience outlined by MSF?
• Do I have the capacity to work independently and make sound decisions without consultation, even in unfamiliar situations?
• Do I work well in a team, respecting the role every member plays and operating co-operatively?
• Do I have the ability to work long hours on a continual basis, if required?
• How quickly and accurately do I develop sensitivity to the nuances of other cultures? What experiences have I had in working/living with people whose heritage, values, beliefs, etc. are different from my own? How do I cope with this?
• What in my professional or personal experience has prepared me for an assignment with MSF overseas? Do I have overseas intercultural experience that would help prepare me?

To apply, we ask you to download our application form (PDF) and complete it. Then send it to us by e-mail (not by regular mail) along with your CV. Send your e-mail to: fieldrecruitment@amsterdam.msf.org

Working for MSF is a commitment. Learn more about work and life as an MSF field staff member
MSF has a Code of Good Practice: download