SNV Junior Professionals Programme
Deadline: 22 July 2013

SNV is now looking for high potential and motivated candidates who are ready for a professional career as a development practitioner. The SNV Junior Professionals Programme (JPP) provides the right foundation for a challenging and rewarding career in an international development environment.

What is a Junior Professional?
The programme aims to grow a Junior Professional into a future senior practitioner with a solid grounding in the technical foundation of one of SNV’s sectors: Agriculture, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) or Renewable Energy. You are offered a 2-year fixed-term appointment in one of the countries where SNV works. During this period, you will gain practical ‘feet-in-the-mud’ experience while you work and learn alongside a well-qualified SNV senior advisor in one of our sector programmes. You will be exposed to SNV’s approaches and encouraged to engage with the latest developments in the sectors.

Am I eligible for the Junior Professionals Programme?
-Do you have an advanced degree in Agriculture, WASH or Renewable Energy?
-Do you have less than 3 years of relevant work experience?
-Do you possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills?
-Are you self-driven and hard working?
-Are you committed and passionate about the international development sector?
-Are you culturally sensitive?
-Do you have an excellent command of English and preferably French?

What are the salary and benefits?
SNV offers a compensation and benefits package that is internationally competitive and comparable with other non-profit organisations. You will be recruited by SNV Head Office for a fixed term appointment for two years, following which, based on performance and organisational needs, you may wish to pursue your career at SNV or another international development organisation.

How to apply?
SNV is now accepting applications for 2013 until 22 July 2013. Candidates who are interested in the JPP can apply here

What is the selection procedure?
The JP Programme will select a limited number of international, highly qualified and motivated juniors from both the Netherlands and the countries where SNV works. Shortlisted applicants will go through a thorough selection procedure in which we will seek to establish learning and growth potential to become a high performing development practitioner. Newly appointed Junior Professionals will be expected to be on board by latest October 2013.

Contact
For further information, please don’t hesitate to email us at SNVJPP [at] snvworld [dot] org

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- Ernest Hemingway

Expand the conversation: If you could ask your councillor, MP, presidential candidate One Question, what would it be? We’ll get your voice heard. Please email your question and where you live to: products [at] kubatana [dot] net

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These are the personal stories of what voting means to everyday Zimbabweans. Each edition of My Vote Zimbabwe features one person’s story in his or her own words. There’s no presenter, no interviewer – nothing to get in the way of their most memorable moments at the ballot box. Yolanda first voted when she was 19 and at university. She recalls, a bit sheepishly, the criteria she and her friends used to select their student council candidate: his looks. Today, three years later, she has different criteria…

Yolanda; My vote

My name is Yolanda, I’m 22 yrs old and I’m from Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. I was 19 years old when I voted for the very first time. We were voting for the SRC.
My friends were voting, that’s what drove me to vote

In the queue when we were voting the candidates pictures were posted on the wall. As we looked at the posters we were laughing. We were picking at all the candidates, giving them points. We were ranking them and rating them and making fun of them. This is 1/10, this is 4/10, this 9/10.

Oh man I think the candidate that made us laugh had the biggest nose and he had big ears also at the same time. He was kinda like a caricature to us, we were laughing at him, we were picking at it and making fun of it.

Then we saw another poster of this handsome candidate. So he had this nice curly hair, beautiful skin, and his eyes, I think his eye made him unique, made him handsome. His face made the whole poster light up.

When a guy is handsome its easy for girls to get swayed. I was there in the queue with my friends and we all voted for him coz he was handsome. I believe none of my friends cheated but we all told each other we’re going to vote for this guy.

From my point of view he was handsome. I can’t say I had a crush. It was just that oooh, he’s handsome. We talked about it together b4 we voted, ‘Guys we cant have him ok, so we’re going to vote for him.

After I cast my vote for the good looking guy I realised he wasn’t the candidate I should have voted for. When I saw the other candidates, coz some of the other candidates had won, and they were actually doing something for us. So I just realised we made a mistake, we just voted for a face and he was actually doing nothing.

I was supposed to vote for a person who’s going to air my views. Who’s going to enlarge my voice, a person who was going to be of service to me, and I realised his face wasn’t going to be of service to me.

The other candidates had better policies, they had great manifestos, they knew the problems that students were encountering, but I was ignorant my friends were ignorant. We didn’t vote for them.

If I ever see a good looking candidate again, I won’t be swayed by his face, but I’m going to look at what the person is about. How is he going to serve me. I’m going to look at his party, where he’s coming from, read about them and know about them what they are. How are they going to help me, so that I can make an informed decision than before.

Even if he looks like Will Smith, I won’t vote for him, I won’t be swayed by the face. Even if he’s tall, is a hunk, no. That is how I’m going to cast my vote next time,

I’m voting for a better me, and a better country.

Hey! You can listen to Yolanda here

And, if you want to share your voting story get in touch with Shaun Matsheza at Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Email Shaun at: shaun.matsheza [at] rnw [dot] nl

In Harare? Wondering where to vote 31 July?
Use our clickable map of provisional polling stations for Zimbabwe 2013 Election.

“Controlled hysteria is what’s required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It’s agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing.” — Arthur Miller