UN Jargon and Acronyms to Remove From Your CV

DSA, SSA, TOR, duty station, Member States. You know exactly what they mean. Almost nobody outside the UN does. Here's how to change UN insider language for plain words any potential employer could understand.

Why Jargon Hurts Your Resume

Inside the UN, acronyms are a handy shortcut. Outside, they're just confusing. (The UN has acronyms for its acronyms. Your future employer doesn't know that and doesn't want to.) A recruiter who sees three unfamiliar acronyms in the first paragraph will probably move to the next candidate. And the screening software that many employers use (called an ATS) can't match UN acronyms to the skills in a job ad, so it may never show your resume to a person at all.

A Translation Table: UN Words to Everyday Words

Here's a simple swap list. Replace UN terms with common professional words:

• Duty station -> Work location / Regional office
• Member States -> National governments / Government partners
• TOR (Terms of Reference) -> Scope of work / Project charter
• SSA / IC contract -> Independent consultancy contract
• Implementing partners -> Partner NGOs / Local subcontractors
• Field mission -> Overseas deployment / Emergency field operation
• CERF / Pooled funds -> Emergency relief grant funds
• OIOS -> Internal audit and oversight office

What to Keep

Don't remove real expertise, though. Terms such as 'monitoring and evaluation (M&E)', 'public-private partnerships', 'supply chain logistics' and 'disaster risk reduction' add authority, because people outside the UN know them too. Write agency names in full, for example 'United Nations Development Programme'.