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Civil Service Assignments with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
The SDC has been recognized as an institution certified for the performance of civil service by the competent authorities. It has established clear criteria for the performance of civil service. The number of slots open for civil service motives is limited. The SDC supports the performance of civil service. It directly proposes opportunities to perform civil service in Switzerland and abroad.
Civil service vacancies will be published on SDC’s internet site under Job vacancies.
Unfortunately, spontaneous application cannot be taken into consideration. Many thanks for your understanding.
Civil Service Assignments in Switzerland
Assignments at SDC Headquarters in Bern are possible provided that the neutrality of the job market is guaranteed (Guidelines of the Civil Service Authorities) and that there is an established need within the SDC organizational units.
The following criteria must be met for a civil service assignment at SDC Headquarters:
- University/University of Applied Sciences education (Bachelors Degree)
- Interest in issues of development cooperation and politics, curiosity about foreign societies and other cultures
- flair for the written word
- good computer literacy
- good knowledge of two national languages, as well as English
- able to adapt easily
- independent
- reliable
- at least 3 months still remaining before completion of civil service (weekends count against civil service requirement time)
The above criteria are obligatory requirements for a civil service assignment at HQs.
Civil Service Assignments abroad
Assignments abroad are to be considered as an exception to the rule and must emerge as being a reasonable solution. Moreover, the following criteria must be met:
- minimum 25 years of age
- complete course of professional training or several years of study
- experience in working abroad, preferably in the area of international cooperation
- knowledge of the language/s spoken in the country of assignment
- comprehensive knowledge of the country of assignment or of one comparable
- Specialized competence in the domain of deployment, e.g., professional experience as a volunteer in development cooperation, training in tropical medicine, agricultural expert
- flair for the written word
- maturity and self-reliance
- physical and psychological resistance
- ability to communicate
- capacity to work as member of a team and readiness to cooperate
- interest in foreign cultures
- tolerance towards uncustomary behaviour
- independence
- reliability
The above criteria are obligatory requirements for a civil service assignment abroad.
Fundamental Rules for Assignments abroad
Civil service abroad is to be performed in one uninterrupted assignment. The minimum duration of an assignment is for 6 months; a duration of 12 months is advantageous. An assignment abroad can be extended for a maximum of 3 months. Such assignments may be had exclusively in SDC priority countries.
As a rule, those performing civil service are integrated into existing projects and programmes. Such assignments can unfold in a Swiss Cooperation Office, with a Swiss partner organization, or
within a local organization.
Applications
Civil service vacancies will be published on SDC’s internet site under Job vacancies.
A complete application file should contain
- a letter of motivation
- a filled-out biographical questionnaire
- a confirmation of the number of days for which civil service is still to be performed
- attestations and certifications
and is to be sent to the address indicated in the ad published.
Only those application files complete with the above-mentioned documents and those candidacies that fully comply with the above-mentioned criteria, will be processed.