Volunteer, grow, and learn together with IFSA’s Officials! – 35+ positions open for application!

Open Call IFSA Official positions 2020/21

IFSA Officials volunteer to commit one year of their student- or young professional career in contributing to the IFSA Network. This can take many forms: from being the FAO representative for IFSA members, to exploring your creative side in designing for social media, to connecting with the Local Committees in your region and helping them engage in international IFSA activities and cross-national meetings. Whether you are interested in communication, capacity development, or policy, IFSA offers a wide range of opportunities.

Depending on the position you take on, you will spend anywhere from several hours to several days per week on your tasks. You will not do this alone, IFSA has around 50 Officials who communicate in an online network consisting of Officials, alumni, consulting members, etc. You will frequently attend or organize online meetings related to your fellow Officials’ work or to annual events like the International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) or Interim taking place halfway through every IFSA term. There is always someone to share your volunteering experience with or to simply chat about the forestry world!

Current positions open for application range from communication-related activities, to sustaining partnerships, to ensuring an online learning platform, to being responsible for IFSA’s presence on social media, to mentoring our members to develop their forestry career, and much more. To apply for one of the open positions, you need to follow the steps indicated below.

If you are unsure about what an IFSA Official position is and whether it is a fit for you, or if you have general questions about IFSA, please use this form or send an email to vicepresident@ifsa.net

To gain more insight into what it is like to become an Official position check out https://ifsa.net/get-involved/become-an-ifsa-official/

    List of Positions

    IFSA is divided into 3 Departments: Internal, External and Membership. To get an overview check the IFSA Structure. For a detailed description of each position check the attached Job Description.

    For the 2020/21 term, the new IFSA Board and Heads of Commissions have already been elected during the Online IFSS (with the exception of the newly-established Head of Partners Commission). See the new Board and Heads of Commissions here: ifsa.net/team

    Before applying for a position, we strongly advise you to get in touch with the respective Councilor for the position you are interested in (ifsa.net/structure). They can help you with specific questions and with getting you in touch with the Head of Commission and the previous position holder.

    Please note that in the following list, Head of Commission is abbreviated to HoC and Head of Sub-Commission to HoSC.

    Internal Department

    Contact the Internal Councilor

    Communication Commission:

    • HoSC Design
    • HoSC Publications
    • HoSC Social Media
    • HoSC Web
    • HoSC Podcast
    • HoSC Wikipedia

    Capacity Development Commission:

    • HoSC Carbon and Sustainability
    • HoSC Cultural Competencies
    • HoSC Forestry Education and Training
    • HoSC Language
    • HoSC Mentorship
    • HoSC Tree House
    • HoSC TreE-Learning

    External Department

    Contact the External Councilor

    Partners Commission

    • HoC Partners Commission
    • HoSC CIFOR / YIL
    • HoSC EFI
    • HoSC FAO
    • HoSC ITTO
    • HoSC IUFRO
    • HoSC RECOFTC
    • HoSC The Forest Dialogue
    • HoSC IUCN

    International Processes Commission

    • HoSC Forest Europe
    • HoSC UNEP
    • HoSC UNFCCC/UNCCD
    • HoSC UNFF ( currently open only 1 person for a 2 year term)

    Membership Department

    Contact the Membership Councilor

    Regional Representatives

    • Northern America RR (2 positions)
    • Northern Europe RR (2 positions)
    • Southern Africa RR (2 positions)
    • Latin America RR (1 position)

    How to apply

    If you are interested in applying for an IFSA Official position, you first need to ensure that you comply with the requirements. If you do, use the Job Descriptions to familiarize yourself with the position and contact the Councilor overseeing the respective department (via the linked email addresses).

    The application consists of a letter of support from your LC, a motivation letter (max. 800 words) and a video (max. 2 minutes) and needs to be submitted by the 14th of September 2020.

    Requirements

    In order to apply to an official position you MUST comply with those requirements:

    • You need to be a member of an IFSA Local Committee and either be an active student or have graduated no longer than one year ago.
    • Proficiency in English, as it is the official language of IFSA and therefore the only means of communication between Officials.
    • Good internet connection: given the fact that all the work as an Official is done remotely (especially because of the travel restrictions imposed by COVID-19), a good internet connection is crucial to effectively accomplish your tasks.
    • Access to a Computer or tablet.
    • You can apply only to one position in this call. However, if you are not selected you can still run in the case of subsequent open calls or become a commissioner.

    Motivation letter

    The motivation letter should cover all the following points and be no longer than 800 words. Note that these points correspond to the criteria that are used to evaluate the motivation letter.

    • What is your background?
      • Introduction: name, age, country, university, current studies
      • LC of membership
    • What is your previous experience in IFSA at the international level (participation and/or organisation of IFSA international meetings, IFSA partner events, commissioner or official position)?
    • What is your previous experience in IFSA at the regional and local level (participation and/or organisation of regional events, activity in own LC, position held in own LC)? [Only relevant for Regional Representatives or applicants without international experience]
    • Why are you interested in applying for this position?
    • What is your understanding of the position you are running for?
      • Role of the position
      • Tasks of the position
      • Functioning of the position within the Department/Commission
    • What are your overall plans for the IFSA term?
    • Consideration of required skills (see list above for general and Job Descriptions for specific requirements)

    Video

    Record a video (max. 2 minutes) where you introduce yourself and present the main points from the motivation letter.

    Some tips for the video:

    • If the video is longer than 2 minutes, just shorten it talking about the key points from your letter; the other points are covered by the letter;
    • Ensure good lighting
    • Make sure the sound is clear and has good volume so the video is easy to understand (no background noise/music)

    Application procedure

    You must send one email with the subject: Name of position you are applying – Applicant’s name to opencall@ifsa.net with all of the following documents attached:

    1. A verification letter from your Local Committee (LC) signed by the President of your LC, verifying that you are a member of the LC in PDF format.
      In case you are the President of your LC, ask the Vice President to sign it. The headed letter of your LC must be used for the letter. Here you can find a template for the verification letter.
    2. The motivation letter in PDF format (max 800 word).
    3. A video (max 2 minutes)
    4. If you are applying for a position in the Communication Commission (Web, Social Media, Podcast, Design, Publications) you may attach your portfolio.

    The deadline for submission is 14 September 2020 23:59 UTC+2.

    Applications that do not follow this procedure (eg. late, incomplete or sent to an email address other than opencall@ifsa.net) will not be considered.
    In case of technical issues with the submission of the application, please send an email to opencall@ifsa.net specifying the problem that you are encountering.
    Both successful and unsuccessful applications will receive an answer within 10 days after the deadline. In this timeframe, candidates can be contacted for an online interview.

    For any questions you can write an email to vicepresident@ifsa.net.

    Good luck with your application,

    The IFSA Board