Shows
Happy UN Career PodcastIs your lack of prioritization damaging your UN Career?Hello, and welcome to this 26th episode of the Happy UN Career podcast which is all about the power of prioritization – and what happens when you fail to honour the prioritisations you’ve made. Or even to take the time to do the prioritisation in the first place.Many of my clients contact me because they’re not progressing in their career and their professional development as they would like to. Maybe you recognize this? The days race by and suddenly there went another week, another month – maybe even another year – where you did not sign up for...
2024-08-2209 minHappy UN Career PodcastThe Secret Tool for Time Optimists in the UNAre you a bit of a time optimist? Do you often take on a new task thinking: “Oh - I can easily squeeze this in between the next two meetings”? Only to find that you needed the time between meetings to go to the bathroom, find your papers, respond to an urgent email and a question from a colleague...And at the end of the day, you’re feeling deflated and behind in your work – even if you’ve been crazy busy all day? If you recognize this kind of scenario - th...
2022-05-3110 minHappy UN Career PodcastTop Tips from UN Executive Coach – Interview w Christine HeytingI’m excited to share an interview with my friend and former colleague in the UNDP – and someone I consider a mentor - Ms Christine Heyting.Christine is Australian and we met in 2013 when she worked with UNDP Headquarters in the area of performance management and leadership development. Since then, she’s been a regular contractor for various UN agencies doing missions on four continents. Before that, she was an HR Director in the private sector for about 15 years. I asked Christine to come on the podcast because I think that with her wealth o...
2022-05-101h 02Happy UN Career PodcastWork With Reality and Move Your UN Career ForwardRead the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/23 where you’ll also find the 3 keys to take control of your own reality.This episode is about a topic that is on the one hand very basic – but on the hand quite essential for how you can effectively - and successfully - deal with your career. And your life! Simply put, it's about working with the reality you’re in! Or dealing with the hand you’ve been dealt, you could say. I’ve noticed how we spend a fair bit of...
2022-03-2210 minHappy UN Career Podcast3 Keys to a To Do-List that Helps Your UN careerHello, and welcome to this 4th episode in a small series I’ve called: “Plan and Succeed”. Previously in this series, I’ve talked about effective planning principles, goalsetting and the underrated importance of having an overview. All of these things are of course interlinked and influence each other, but in this small series, I’m trying to take them apart a bit so that you can apply them more easily in your own work and life. Find the FULL show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/22 where you’ll also find the 3 keys to an effective to-d...
2021-08-2409 minHappy UN Career PodcastDr. Akjemal Magtymova: a career of dedication and diplomacyI’m thrilled to be able to share in this episode an interview with my good friend, Dr. Akjemal Magtymova. Akjemal is a national of Turkmenistan where she started her UN career in 1998 as a G5 programme assistant with UNFPA. Today (in 2021) she serves with WHO as a D2, Head of Mission and Representative in Syria. I asked Akjemal to come on the podcast because she’s had – and has - a very interesting career and I’m fascinated by her approach to work and life and how she, together with her family, has made decisions...
2021-08-1741 minHappy UN Career PodcastIs It Time to Take the Next step in Your UN Career?Is it time to get going?Hello, and welcome to this short episode which is about a mindset issue that many of us struggle with: When is it time to take the next step? Or to use my favourite car analogy: When is it time to go from “being parked” to “start driving”?Do you want something else?For this episode, I was inspired by a conversation with a new client the other day where she shared with me how for several years she had been feeli...
2021-06-1808 minHappy UN Career PodcastCreating Overview – an Underrated Professional SkillHello, and welcome to this 3rd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Plan and Succeed”.Have you ever had that feeling at the end of the workday that you couldn’t really tell what you’d been doing all day? Back in the days, I distinctively remember evenings where my husband asked how my day had been, and I responded something like “umm, ok, I guess?”. All the while I was frantically searching my brain to find out what I actually had done that day. Sure, I’d been c...
2021-06-0111 minHappy UN Career PodcastStrengthen Your UN Career With SMART GoalsHello, and welcome to this 2nd episode in a series I’ve called: “Plan & Succeed”. In the previous episode, I argued that good planning and organizational skills will help you both in your daily work – and in your career. (That’s the episode called “Can Planning Help Boost Your UN Career?” which you can find at www.barbarakandersen.com/17). Planning, structure and prioritisation will of course help you be more effective with your day-to-day tasks and projects. Which will make you feel better about your work and your professional life. And which will certainly add to...
2021-04-2017 minHappy UN Career PodcastCan Planning Help Boost Your UN Career?Welcome to this 1st episode in a new series called: “Plan and Succeed”.In the last few episodes, I’ve talked about some of the big issues around career and work life. Your visions. Your dreams. And your values. So, basically all about what fulfils you in your work and life.However, a very important element in succeeding with all of this is your ability to make your visions and dreams tangible. And take action on them. So, in this new series I’ll share some very simple, but very effective technique...
2021-04-0809 minHappy UN Career PodcastWhat Will Your UN Career Look Like 10 Years from Now?Welcome to this 5th episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and Your CV”.In the previous episode, I talked about how to use all the work you have to do anyway for your annual performance review to fuel your own work on your career development. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/15.In today’s episode, I want you to take a longer view of your career. You could say that we’re going to have a look into the crystal ball! Because I want to invite you...
2021-03-1011 minHappy UN Career Podcast3 Ways to Get a UN Career Boost from Your Performance Review ProcessWelcome to today’s episode which is related to something many of us dread - the annual performance review process! Oh, the hours I spent on this in my UN career. And, to be frank, not always convinced that the value of the process compared to the time I and everybody else invested in it. So, although I very much agreed with the theory of the performance review (I was working in Human Resources after all!) – I must say that I didn’t personally look forward to the process. Having to evaluate myself. Try to write about how bri...
2021-02-2609 minHappy UN Career Podcast3 Reasons Why You Need Goals for the Next YearHello, and welcome to this 14th episode in the Happy UN Career Podcast - about 3 reasons why you want to set goals for the next year (and the 8 steps you need)!So, today’s episode is about looking forward in the next year – even if that seems difficult in the midst of the pandemic. But most of us are geared in such a way that we function best with something to look forward to.And if the outside world is not providing that – you should look to create it yourself.I be...
2021-02-1614 minHappy UN Career PodcastHow to Let 2020 Help You Grow in Your UN CareerHello, and welcome to today’s episode which is about using the end of the year to take stock and celebrate everything you did and all that you accomplished in 2020. Remember the Career Car analogy that I talked about in Episode 3? Well, imagine that you’ve been driving for a while now. The traffic has been dense, and you’ve often had to find new routes – trying to get around big holes in the road or avoiding an accident you could see further up the road. But you’ve still been driving as fast as you c...
2020-12-3110 minHappy UN Career PodcastDo You Need Others to Approve of Your Career?Welcome to this 12th episode of the Happy UN Career Podcast!I’m so pleased to see that the podcast has been well received by you who are listening to this. Because without you – there really wouldn’t be much point in doing this.It’s very interesting to see the metrics for the different episodes and I can see already that some episodes are particularly popular. One of them is episode 10, the one I called “Take a Chance” where I interviewed my former colleague from UNDP, Mike Dodd, about how he...
2020-12-1611 minHappy UN Career Podcast5 Key Principles for a Great CVHello, and welcome to this 3rd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.In the previous episode in this series (the episode called “Why You Always Want to Have an Updated CV!”) I talked about 5 problems you solve by always having a good, updated CV. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/9.As I also promised in that episode, I’m back today to talk about some important guiding principles for writing a CV you’ll feel proud of – and that you’ll be happy to share with your...
2020-12-0115 minHappy UN Career PodcastTake a Chance - Interview w Mike Dodd (UNDP)I’m thrilled to be able to share an interview with my good friend and former colleague, Mike Dodd. Mike is from the UK and he started with UNDP in 1991 and retired at the end of 2015. I asked Mike to come on the podcast because I think he’s had a very interesting career path, but maybe more importantly – because of the way he has approached work and career and the way he’s taken decisions in his own career over the years. Mike began as a UN Volunteer in Zimbabwe, moved to supporting the global roll...
2020-11-1725 minHappy UN Career PodcastWhy You Always Want to Have an Updated CVHello, and welcome to this 2nd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.In the previous episode (the one I called “Keep Your UN Career Open - Look for Jobs”) I talked about the importance of staying open to new opportunities. Regularly looking at vacancies and applying. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/8.In that last episode, I also promised that I would share some guiding principles on CV writing, but while preparing for that I realised that there’s an important point I wanted to br...
2020-11-1008 minHappy UN Career PodcastKeep Your UN Career Open – Look for Jobs!Hello, and welcome to this 1st episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”!In the last episode, I suggested that you should prioritise time to work on your CV and keep yourself updated about vacancies. Even if you’re perfectly happy in your current job! So, in this and the next episode, I’ll delve into the CV and job-hunting sphere. When I speak to my clients, they often tell me that they think they ought to look for another job...
2020-11-0312 minHappy UN Career PodcastAre You Ready to Take Action in Your UN Career?Hello, and welcome to this episode which is all about taking action!In all the episodes until now, I’ve offered you ways to reflect on what works and what doesn’t work in your career and work life. And then I’ve suggested that you look for and decide on action points. Big or small. So today, I’ll share some tips that will help you do exactly that: take action. Because it might seem like there’s so much you could do or should do?
2020-10-2010 minHappy UN Career PodcastPump your Wheel of Life and help your UN career!Hello, and welcome to this episode which I’ve called “Pump your Wheel of Life and help your UN career!" (Alluding to my favourite career car analogy...)This episode belongs to the “What drives you and what drains you?” series and today we’re going to talk about drivers on a more existential level, you could say because we’re going to look at your whole life. Not just the work part.Because, often when we think about work and career, we think in a quite linear and traditional way. We think in interests (ho...
2020-10-1312 minHappy UN Career PodcastAre You Feeling Stuck in Your Career?Hello, and welcome to today’s episode which is on a topic that probably ranks among the top 3 most burning issues among my clients. And it’s all about feeling stuck in your job.If you recognize this, it may be because you feel your career has plateaued. Maybe your duty station is saturated when it comes to relevant positions in your area. Or maybe you can’t – or won’t - move to a different duty station due to family reasons.There can be a feeling that you don’t have a way out. Or d...
2020-10-0712 minHappy UN Career PodcastHow Was Your Career Journey?In the previous episode, I talked about how you can learn a lot of details about what motivates you and what drains you from your daily work life. That was episode 3, which you can find at barbarakandersen.com/3.Today, I’ll show you how to take a long-distance view and get a bigger perspective. Because you’re going to take a look at (and hopefully appreciate!) everything you’ve done in your career so far. A Trip Down Memory LaneOne of the most popular exercises I use with my...
2020-09-2310 minHappy UN Career PodcastWhat Drives You – And What Drains You?Hello, and welcome to this second episode in a small series I’ve called: “What Drives You – And What Drains You?” And I thought that that would also be a fitting title for today’s episode.In the previous episode (the one I called “Your UN Career Project Starts Here” – which is episode number 2) I talked about how we can easily get so caught up in work and the struggles of daily life that we lose track of what we really want for ourselves. So, for many of us, we’ve gotten a bit out of touch – o...
2020-09-1512 minHappy UN Career PodcastWhat's the Happy UN Career Podcast All About?When I talk to people in the UN, they often tell me something along these lines: “Working in the UN is a dream come true. I’m so proud to be here and to work for a cause that is close to my values and ideals. And I really enjoy and appreciate the multicultural environment. But…”They may be feeling stuck somehow. Unfulfilled maybe. Sometimes underappreciated. Often overwhelmed with the workload. There’s a feeling that they’re missing out on something. I know that feeling, because that was me too. I worked wit...
2020-09-0302 minHappy UN Career PodcastMy UN Story and Why This PodcastHello – and welcome to the Happy UN Career Podcast!I look so much forward to be sharing guidance and advice with you on how to create that happy UN career. But first I thought I’d you give you a little bit of information about who I am – and why you should be listening to me.My Story With the UN I am Danish and I started out working in Human Resources in an international private sector business in Copenhagen way back in the 90’s. I loved the international environment, so when I sa...
2020-09-0306 minHappy UN Career PodcastYour UN Career Project Starts HereHello, and welcome to the first episode in a small series I’ve called: What Drives You – And What Drains You? Most people I talk to are well into their careers. If you’re anything like them, you’ve had years of serious and hard study followed by years of trying to get into your chosen field and maybe your favourite organization. And at the same time, you may also be starting a family. So, life’s been busy. The days of lounging with your friends over coffee chatting and plotting your dream lives and careers probably seem very d...
2020-09-0307 min