Finding an international job in Brussels: The big international organizations

Brussels' role as EU capital and administrative nerve centre has attracted a lot of international organizations. In terms of international careers, there's a smorgasbord. There are so many organizations, corporations, government and non government bodies that we'll have to go through them in detail elsewhere.

For the purposes of this article, we'd just like to draw your attention to what's on offer in terms of international careers every day of the week in Brussels.

It's worth looking at the big international organizations as a whole, in terms of their roles, and their interactions with other international organizations. Professional career paths tend to cover the ranges of multiple tiers of international business and government. In a career sense, Brussels is self-sustaining, in many ways. The natural interactions of the many international organizations generates the demand for workers and creates career roles. This kind of logic is important, because it's what makes Brussels so useful as a place to base your international career. You can get a job anywhere on Earth, quite literally. As you saw in the early career path example given previously, the chances for career moves are greatly enhanced.

Many of these organizations are also employers giving top of the line international career opportunities.

Primary example: The United Nations, an overview

The United Nations is about as international as you can get in any career.

Many UN organizations have their liaison offices with the EU and Belgium in Brussels, but several have a major functional role as well. The UN presence is a natural byproduct of the administrative realities of Brussels.

Many UN organizations need a physical presence in Belgium, like the International Labor Organization, (ILO).

The UN Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO, also has a need for a physical presence. <>

These UN agencies need to be in a location to do the UN's work efficiently. The most practical place to coordinate the administration of global trade, logistics, and law is definitely Brussels. Brussels is a natural administrative hub of Europe, covering just about all aspects of the legal, financial, and industrial framework of the UN's work in one place, and the obvious place to put its liaison functions with the European Union. NATO NATO is one of the big, high capital, employers in Europe. Military and civilian employment is available within NATO, including a range of high professional value positions which are good material for those creating an international career.

NATO is a 'name brand' employer for civilians, with its headquarters in Brussels. It has a range of employment options, including internships, interim employment, and a large range of jobs across the professional, administrative, scientific spectrums.

NATO jobs are subject to screenings, in some cases, because of the sensitive nature of NATO's security role. It's worth having a look at job advertisements on NATO's Vacancies page, , to see how NATO operates its basic recruitment.

Whoever you want to work for, they probably have their European corporate headquarters in Brussels

In the 1960s, following the establishment of the 'Common Market' and NATO, Brussels started getting colonized by corporate residents from around the world.

That was the start of a real trend. Belgium is still working on attracting corporate headquarters and investment to Brussels and Antwerp, and it's doing very well.

There are even companies working exclusively on setting up corporate offices in Brussels. Having an office in Brussels is now a sort of status symbol.

In terms of international careers, that's good news for just about anyone on Earth who knows how to take advantage of the Brussels scene. If you're American, for example, you'll find that just about every listed company on the NYSE and NASDAQ has an office in Brussels. If you've got a degree, and can speak any of the major EU languages, you've already got most of the qualifications you need to start an international career in Brussels. You are also in a position to check out a range of related jobs and career moves in your chosen field while you're there. Only in Brussels do you get this degree of insight into what's possible in an international career.

Someone once said you should see Paris, and die.

Now they'd say see Brussels, pick up a phone or a laptop, and start networking.