The right moment for an assignment?

There’s one moment that showed me why I do this work. I’m at the end of my assignment in Lebanon when war breaks out. Suddenly, our local colleagues aren’t just staff at MSF – they’re directly affected themselves.  

And in that very moment, we all know why we’re here: We stay. We help. We stand together.

I still remember how my assistant told me about her three-year-old daughter. The little girl said to her: “Mum, I’m not afraid of the bombs. I just want to stay here in our house.”  

Was I afraid myself? I wouldn’t say I felt no fear at all. But I know: MSF does everything it can to keep us safe. The safety measures work – at all times. That gives me the peace of mind to focus on what matters: our teams and the people we work for. 

My name is Verena Prinz-Wegerer, and I was born and raised in Upper Austria. I studied anthropology and educational science, and later did my master’s in social work. Before my time at MSF, I worked in health promotion in Austria and led a small team at a women’s health centre. 

In my role, everything revolves around people. In HR in particular, it’s about having the right people in the right place at the right time. But there’s no such thing as a typical working day at MSF – you never know what’s coming next. 

It roughly goes like this: work starts between 7:30 and 8 a.m. We drive from our accommodation to the office and meet our colleagues there. As a Finance and HR Manager, I work closely with every department – the medical team, logistics and coordination.  

We plan the day, have meetings, and I hire new colleagues. And of course, we respond to emergencies. We wrap up the day at around 5 or 6 p.m. 

For me, the best thing about working with MSF is the chance to meet people from all over the world and to work closely with colleagues from different cultures and societies.  

As someone from Austria, that also means: I’m the one who adapts – to new situations, to a new working routine, to a different culture.  

For me, that openness, flexibility and cultural sensitivity are the core skills for any assignment. And they help me grow: with every assignment, I develop further as a person. 

I take my running shoes on every assignment. When I need to clear my head, I go for a run – on a treadmill or in the limited space we have on assignment.  

I don’t bring books anymore: they’re just heavy, and I never read them anyway. And when I think of the best food on my assignments, it was in Lebanon – hummus.

If you’re still hesitating about applying to MSF, here’s what I’ll tell you from my own experience: there is no perfect moment. You’ll always find plenty of reasons why now isn’t the right time. You just have to do it – and I’ve never regretted it. So if you’re thinking about it – just go for it.

What should you bring with you? The ability to think outside the box and adapt. Anyone who needs a lot of structure, fixed plans and a secure environment will find assignments hard. But if you can embrace the unpredictable, an experience awaits that will make you grow – with every single assignment.