International Career Day 2018

International Career Day – 15 March 2018 – Congress Center Basel 

International Career Day 2018 which took place on Thursday, 15 March 2018 was a great success and started with the traditional networking cocktail the evening before the main event. It was the first time that the event was held in Basel. 

Despite a major accident on the highway that affected all traffic and public transport in and around Basel until late into the evening our guests made it to Wildt’sches Haus where they were greeted with a glass of state wine sponsored by the government of the canton of Basel-Stadt. The representatives of the international organisations were officially welcomed by Ms Gabriele Schreier, Head of the Candidatures Section of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and State Chancellor of the canton of Basel-Stadt, Ms Barbara Schüpbach-Guggenbühl. The fairy-tale like setting in Wildt’sches Haus made for an inspiring evening with good conversations at a tasty buffet where the invitees had the opportunity to network with colleagues. 

International Career Day was opened on the morning of Thursday 15 March 2018 at the Congress Center Basel with inaugural speeches by the Deputy State Secretary of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), Krystyna Marty Lang and the Cantonal Councillor of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, Dr. Conradin Cramer. The large auditorium of the Congress Center Basel was almost full when the speakers took the floor and addressed their words of welcome and encouragement to the predominantly young crowd. Both speeches stressed the importance of working together and addressing global challenges as one since they concern us all. 

Throughout the entire day recent graduates and young professionals could visit the stands of forty-eight international organisations present at International Career Day. The diversity of topics by the organisations present was impressive: alongside the more well-known organisations such as UNDP, UN Women, UNHCR, WHO, and ICRC, to name just a few, visitors also had the chance to meet representatives from other areas such as international banking institutions of which EBRD, ADB, IMF or BIS. Guests with a more scientific profile had plenty of options to speak to organisations from their field such as EMBL, the ESRF, ESO or European XFEL. For those more interested in research and training UNITAR and UNRISD were present.

In short, there is an organisation for any profile you might have. And in addition to speaking to representatives of international organisations, visitors could attend almost forty presentations held by the exhibiting organisations throughout the day. The presentations were generally well-visited and helped clarify what the organisations could offer and how to proceed if you want to work for a specific organisation. For a comprehensive list of participating organisations, please see below. 

And this is what makes the International Career Day so unique: it brings together the vast variety of international organisations that exist and aims at mobilising an equally diverse crowd of visitors. 

Overall the event was a great success and provided a platform for networking and exchange for visitors and organisations alike. We already look forward to next year’s edition which will be held in a different Swiss city – watch this space to find out where!