Are UN internships paid?

It varies by organization. Historically many UN internships were unpaid, but a growing number of agencies now provide a monthly stipend. Interns are still responsible for their own travel, visa, insurance, and living costs in what are often expensive duty stations.

Does a UN internship or consultancy lead to a staff job?

Neither guarantees a staff position. UN rules often impose a cooling-off period after an internship before you can be recruited, and consultancy time does not automatically convert to staff status. The real value is experience, references, and an inside view of how recruitment works.

What is the difference between an IICA and a LICA consultant contract?

IICA (International Individual Contractor Agreement) contracts are for internationally recruited contractors and are broadly benchmarked to the Professional scale (IICA-2 ≈ P-3). LICA (Local Individual Contractor Agreement) contracts are locally recruited and benchmarked to the General Service scale, paid in local currency.

Do UN consultants pay tax?

Yes. Unlike UN staff salaries, consultant fees (IICA/LICA) and intern stipends are not tax-exempt. Consultants are personally responsible for declaring and paying income tax in their country of tax residence — the UN does not withhold tax, and the fact that payment is not routed through the host country does not make it tax-free.

Is there a break in service before applying for a UN staff position?

Usually yes for interns and consultants. UN rules impose a mandatory break in service (cooling-off period) between a non-staff engagement and staff employment, so you cannot move straight from intern or consultant to staff. UN Volunteer (UNV) assignments generally do not trigger the same break-in-service requirement, which makes UNV a friendlier route toward staff roles.

Entering the UN as an Intern or Consultant — Is It Worth It?

Updated June 2026 · 7 min read

Most people don't walk straight into a UN staff post. The two most common doors in are an internship or a consultancy (an IICA or LICA individual contract). Both put "United Nations" on your CV — but they differ enormously in pay, security, and what they actually lead to. This guide lays out the trade-offs honestly so you can decide whether either is worth it for your situation.

Often I'm asked whether it's worth applying for an internship or a consultancy — usually by people who've already discovered that landing a UN staff position is incredibly tough. An internship or a consultancy feels like the realistic way in, and in many ways it is. But before you commit, it's worth being clear-eyed about two things almost nobody mentions up front: taxes and the break in service rule. Both quietly change the maths.

Intern vs. Consultant at a glance

	Internship	Consultancy (IICA / LICA)
Pay	Stipend or unpaid (varies by agency). Rarely covers living costs in HQ cities.	Paid a daily/monthly fee. IICA-2 ≈ P-3, IICA-3 ≈ P-4; LICA tracks GS in local currency.
Duration	Typically 2–6 months.	Weeks to a year, often renewed — but renewal is never guaranteed.
Benefits	Generally none (no pension, limited/none insurance).	No staff benefits — no UNJSPF pension, no dependency allowances, limited leave.
Job security	Fixed end date, no expectation of continuation.	Contract-by-contract; can end at short notice.
Path to staff	No direct route; cooling-off period often applies before recruitment.	No automatic conversion, but builds directly relevant experience + references.
Best for	Students / recent grads testing the sector and building a network.	Mid-career professionals wanting paid, substantive UN experience — and experienced retirees: IICA can be lucrative and is a good way to keep seasoned experts contributing.

The honest case for saying yes

Foot in the door. Internal experience and references matter enormously in UN recruitment; both routes give you them.
Network. You meet the people who sit on selection panels and hear about vacancies before they're public.
Real, citable work. Consultancies in particular let you point to concrete UN deliverables on your CV.
Learning the system. Inspira, competency-based interviews, the P-11 — you learn how the machine actually works.

The honest case for hesitating

The money. Unpaid internships in Geneva or New York can cost you thousands. Consultancies pay, but with no pension, no dependency allowances, and no job security.
No guaranteed conversion. Neither route automatically becomes a staff contract — and rules can actively bar a quick hop from intern to staff.
"Permanent temporary." Some people spend years on back-to-back consultancies without ever crossing into staff status.

Taxes: consultants are not tax-exempt

This is the single most common surprise. UN staff salaries are effectively tax-exempt — income tax is replaced by an internal "staff assessment". Interns and consultants get no such privilege. A consultant's fees (IICA/LICA) and an intern's stipend are ordinary income, and you are personally responsible for declaring and paying tax on them in your country of tax residence.

Crucially, the fact that the money isn't routed through — or "integrated into" — the host country's payroll does not make it tax-free. The UN won't withhold tax for you, won't issue a local tax statement, and won't sort out your social contributions. That's all on you. So when you compare a consultancy fee to a staff salary, remember you're often comparing a pre-tax number to a tax-exempt one — the real gap is bigger than the headline figures suggest.

Plan for it: set aside a portion of every consultancy payment for tax, and get advice on your residency and any double-taxation treaties before you sign. Rules differ by nationality and duty station — this guide is not tax advice.

The break in service — why you can't go straight from intern to staff

This is the big one, and it deserves emphasis: you generally cannot roll straight from an internship or a consultancy into a staff position. UN rules impose a break in service (a mandatory cooling-off period) between a non-staff engagement and staff employment.

Interns are typically barred from being employed by the same organization for a set period after the internship ends (commonly several months).
Consultants / individual contractors face mandatory breaks too, plus ceilings on how many months you can work consecutively before a forced gap.

In practice this means there is no seamless "intern today, staff tomorrow" path. Even if a perfect staff vacancy opens while you're inside the building, you may be ineligible to take it up until your break has elapsed — during which you have no UN income and no guarantee the post will still be there. That waiting period is precisely where the risk lives: you've invested time and money to get a foot in the door, and then the door asks you to step back outside for a while before it lets you in properly.

Don't get caught out: check the exact break-in-service period for the specific organization and contract type before you start, and budget for that gap (financially and on your visa) as part of the decision. Rules vary by agency and change over time — always confirm against the official HR policy and the vacancy notice.

So — is it worth it?

Short answer: it depends on what you're optimizing for and what you can afford. As a rough rule of thumb:

Student / recent graduate, can afford it: an internship is often worth it as a low-risk way to test the sector and build a network.
Mid-career, need income: a consultancy is usually the stronger bet — paid, substantive, and CV-relevant — provided you treat it as a stepping stone, not a destination.
Need stability now: be cautious. Go in with a time limit and a plan to convert the experience into a staff application.

Before you commit, model the actual numbers. Use the UN Salary Calculator to compare estimated IICA/LICA consultant pay against the Professional and GS staff scales for the same duty station — it's the clearest way to see what you'd be giving up or gaining.

Compare consultant vs staff pay →

How to make either route count

Set a deadline and a goal before you start (e.g. "two consultancies, then apply for a P-3").
Keep a running record of concrete deliverables and the people who can be references.
Watch for staff vacancies the whole time — read our application guide and grades guide to target the right level.
Set a saved search / Telegram alert so you never miss the staff opening you've been building toward.

UN Volunteers (UNV) vs internships — a different route with no break in service

It's worth separating out the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, because people lump it in with internships and it really isn't the same thing. UNV is not part of the internship scheme: volunteers are mobilised through UNV itself, which holds agreements with many UN organizations and deploys volunteers to them on what works much like a secondment. You're doing substantive assignment work, not shadowing, and you receive a Volunteer Living Allowance plus certain entitlements rather than a student stipend.

The practical reason this matters for the rest of this guide: UNV assignments generally do not trigger the same break-in-service requirement before you can apply for or take up a staff position. That makes UNV one of the friendlier bridges into the system — you can often move toward a staff role without the forced unpaid gap that catches interns and consultants. It's still no guarantee of conversion, and conditions vary by organization and assignment, but the absence of a mandatory cooling-off period removes one of the biggest risks discussed above.

Note: UN internship and consultancy terms vary by organization and change over time. Always confirm pay, duration, and eligibility on the official vacancy notice before applying. Salary figures shown via the calculator are estimates based on published ICSC scales.