Ref. GE-N-00008-16

The professional lives of ICRC international staff are generally played out abroad, in conflict situations and zones. They require great flexibility and the ability to bear up under severe physical and mental stress.

After several years of activity, staff needs and motivation change. Their personal lives change over time: they marry, have children, shoulder greater family responsibilities, etc. Those changes make it more complicated to accept an assignment in a conflict zone. It is at that point that many people decide to give fresh impetus to their professional lives and start on a process of professional reorientation.

Providing staff with support

In 1995, in order to help experienced staff wishing to give a new direction to their professional lives, the ICRC established a specific structure: the Career Advisory Service (SAR). Its role is to provide advice and support for professional development and reorientation.

The Career Advisory Service is a basic component of the ICRC's human resources management policy, whose aim is to develop staff members' skills and promote their external and internal employability.

The Career Advisory Service plays a key role in helping staff to:

• maintain and develop their professional capacity;

• facilitate their professional development;

• promote their professional reorientation