Wiola Stasieluk
Founder and CEO, IO Ready
I’m a young professional with over 4 years of experience in international organisations. I worked at the EU Delegation to Kenya (Kenya), UN Office on Drugs and Crime (South Africa) and the OECD (France).
Sounds great, right?
My journey has not been as smooth as it looks on my CV.
What is my story?
As someone who came from a small town in eastern Poland, had no exposure to the world of international organisations, received Polish education in public schools, learned English as a foreign language, and had parents with no connections or even the knowledge of English to help with my university and career choices, I managed to get experiences of working for the EU, UN and the OECD – all top choices for most people aspiring to have a career in international organisations.
Having a cultural diplomacy event as an EU representative and entertaining diplomats from the Polish embassy in Nairobi, Kenya
Why did I create IO Ready?
After spending YEARS of trying to figure out how to get into IOs, understood that 80% of information about the job market is unsaid, unpublished, unofficial.
YES, even at the UN, where recruitment processes are supposed to be ‘transparent’, ‘equal’
and ‘non-discriminative’.
That is, only the privileged few (the ones with diplomatic or well-connected parents, those who manage to get into elite schools, and those who can afford to do unpaid internships) have access to crucial information about getting jobs in IOs/NGOs.
Basically, until you’re ‘IN’ you will not know HOW to get in.
It is very much the chicken and an egg situation, huh?
That is why I am here to help you.
I was in your exact spot a couple of years ago and I made it my mission to empower people in accelerating their dream careers in IOs/NGOs- helping YOU get where you want to be much faster than I did!
The most memorable moments of my career
Working for the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, during Paris Peace Forum in 2018 and hanging with a bunch of presidents.
Paris Peace Forum, 2018
When I said that I was sitting next to a "bunch" of presidents, I really meant it.
Ismail Omar Guelleh, President of Djibouti
Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya (2018)
Me, bad hair day
Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo
Hassan Ali Joho, Governor of Mombasa County (2018)