Grace Kagendo I.

Evaluation Officer
Happy to mentor
Happy to be contacted

About me

Grace Kagendo I.
Social Policy and Social Work
Public Administration
Taught Postgraduate
Wentworth
2010
Kenya

My employment

Evaluation Officer
United Nations World Food Programme
Kenya
Charity and voluntary sector
Large business (250+ employees)
2004

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A day in the life of a Evaluation Officer in Kenya

Progressively consolidating knowledge, skills and work experience is key to career development. The choice of what courses to study while working should be guided by this so that everything builds up over time

How I looked for work

I looked for my first job after undergrad by walking door-to-door. I picked the telephone directory and listed key software development companies in Nairobi-Kenya (I studied computer science) and made a plan to walk to each of them and ask for a job. I got a job with the first one (a small software firm downtown). This approach requires courage but I think its fun to try if you are targeting working in you city. All my jobs since then (5 employers in total) have been through referrals. As a young person, once you get your first job, it is absolutely important to have the right networks and make sure as many people as possible have your CV and your profile. Most importantly, the surest way to get the next best job is to give your current job your best shot and then make sure the right people know that you are a good performer. The next most important thing is to continually learn and consolidate your skills and knowledge. Studying project management and later public administration helped to consolidate my skills and knowledge and that has helped me move up steadily since that first job in downtown Nairobi.

How studying in the UK affected my job seeking

There are rare programmes of study that allow one to steadily deepen their understanding of their area of work and their organisation at the same time. The online MA in public administration at York allowed me to do that. The most important aspect of the MA programme is that instead of examinations the students write essays to answer specific questions. For the 8 essays I chose subjects that were directly relevant and helped me to deepen my understanding of my organisation and its work. For example I wrote an essay on strategic planning processes in UN WFP and looked at how this has changed over time since 2004.

In 2008 when I was studying for my MA, there was a new position as head of Monitoring and Evaluation which I got largely because I had started gaining useful knowledge to function in that role. In 2011 I was given a very critical role to lead a strategic planning process, again largely because after my MA I had consolidated knowledge in this area. I can credit my career progress since 2008 to my study at York and most importantly to how I applied what I learnt during the 3 years.

How I found out about the job

Already worked there

The recruitment process

The United Nations is very systematic when recruiting. The positions get advertised on national news papers and shortlisted candidates go through a written test; Anyone that gets 50% and above in the written is invited for oral interview. The final ranking of candidates weights the oral and written scores depending on the type of job. It is very important to pass very well for the written because the oral interview is very unpredictable, although it is based on competency testing.

My career goals when I graduated

To get a stable middle level position that involves working on developing policies, strategies, programmes and performance management.

My career history

I have moved from being a software developer, to programme planning (as assistant), to heading the monitoring and evaluation unit and to my current position as evaluation officer. In a span on 11 years I have moved up 4 steps (2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014) within the United Nations career levels, which is considered fast progress.

What has helped my career to progress

First, deliberately planning career moves including willingness to lose some $ if the move is strategic. For example my move from UNICEF to UN WFP in 2004 involved a reduction in salary since I was moving to a position that was lower. However it was strategic move since the new position was in programme planning which was more diverse and thus offered potential for growth.

Second, being very reliable and letting the people I work for (my supervisors) and with (my team members) be my career sales people. There are few things that are useful in career progression than being consistently reliable. This is especially useful in organisations that are large systems like the UN. Soon people will start saying things like 'if you want the best officer, I know one and she is so and so'. Third, choosing to study subjects that consolidate my knowledge, skills and experience.

Having a undergrad degree in computer science gave me skills in managing information from a technology view; studying a post grad diploma in project management combined the systems thinking that comes with being a software developer with the process-oriented approach that is project management.

And finally, studying public administration gave me the big picture knowledge of why the UN was doing what it was doing, why the Governments that we support design their policies the way they do, and most importantly why performance management is big deal in the public sector. By the end, I had a solid set of knowledge and skills that are very complementary,.

Courses taken since graduation

Started PhD in governance and public policy.

How my studies have helped my career

Progressively working to build solid understanding of world development issues and acquire skills that are useful makes career moves smooth.

What surprised me about my career so far

How useful my skills in information technology continue to be even when my job does not require me to perform technical tasks.

Where I hope to be in 5 years

A senior policy analyst with the UN or any other international organisation or the Government.

My advice to students considering work

First think of how you see what you have studied and the job you are looking for coming together; If you have a dream job, identify as soon as possible the gaps you have in knowledge and strategize how to fill those gaps.

Your career is your project that you need to manage very well, starting from now; While being flexible and trying new things is fun, it is counter-productive to spend some years studying one thing and then get a job that has nothing to do with that which you have studied.

Likewise, while seeking the best paying job may be the most sensible thing to do (economically speaking) it is also counter-productive to choose a job that is in no way leading you to where you see yourself in 2, 5, 10 years. So if you have a choice of a lower paying job which makes best use of your skills and is in line with your long-range plan/dream, take that and build on it. You will be glad you did this when with time your knowledge, skills and experience consolidate and build up to enable you to reach where you want to be. If you are young, you certainly have time to allow for this.

Other advice

We learn so we can know and use that knowledge to live better lives and contribute to a better world. Never stop learning.

What I do

As evaluation officer with the United Nations world food programme based in Rome Italy, I manage evaluations of different programmes in different countries. I also provide technical support to staff at country level who commission and manage evaluation.

Skills I use and how I developed them

Understanding of public policy processes and international development concepts. My masters study at York gave me a good foundation on these, but I have had to continually update my knowledge as the world evolves. Project management skills are very critical in my current job because evaluation is the last leg of the project cycle management, and it is process-heavy. I have honed these skills over several years working as a Monitoring and Evaluation officer as well as taking a post-graduate diploma course in PM. Negotiation and problem solving skills are also vital because my job requires working with consultants from across the globe to carry out evaluations in different countries; a lot of time is spent negotiating rules of engagement, roles and responsibilities of many stakeholders in the evaluation process and solving problems as they arise. The best way I have acquired these skills is to observe and work with people that are good at doing this. I have been lucky to be supervised by some great problem solvers. Finally, patience is needed given that one evaluation can last from between 6 months to one year from the day a decision is made to evaluate a programme to the day the final evaluation report is presented.

What I like most

First, the systematic nature of evaluation process allows for a logical flow of work and most importantly for long-range planning; I know one year in advance which project in which country will be evaluated so I can start studying all I need to know about that country. Second, the fact that each evaluation is conducted by a different set of consultants which means I get to work with lots of different people from different cultures. A lot to learn all the time. Third, evaluation is a fairly new profession, so there are on going debates about its practice, methodologies and professionalization. This means I have to keep abreast of these developments and engage in the intellectual debates, so no dull moment.

What I like least

That the evaluation policy in my organisation does not allow evaluation officers to be part of the evaluation teams. This means I do not get to travel to the countries where the projects are. I do all my work from Rome, and that can get boring after some time.

What surprised me most

I was quite surprised to find out that there are NOT many good evaluation consultants out there. I used to think that with all the think tanks and consultancy firms around the world, there should be excess supply of good evaluators. I suppose this is because evaluation is fairly new field and also because it is very multi-disciplinary in nature. A good evaluator of education programmes may not be necessarily a good evaluator of agriculture programmes and so on. This is what makes it exciting.

Next steps...

If you like the look of Grace Kagendo’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Grace Kagendo a message to find out more about their career journey. If you feel you would benefit from more in-depth conversations, ask Grace Kagendo to be your mentor.

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