Sean T asked:
I am saving up to go to grad school next year and I want to study International Relations.
I am saving up to go to grad school next year and I want to study International Relations.
Are the career options dire in this field? What realistically can I look forward to doing? Consulting, CIA, Foreign Service, etc? What else?
Any input? Can you make a living with this educational path?
Tags: International Career, International Politics, International Relations
If you also know a language and are interested in business, you could have a business career in a multinational company.
There are many career options with this degree, but you have to have impeccable credentials and no criminal background of any kind to get the type of clearance required for a position with the CIA or in the US State Department. You can get a position with the State Department in one of the American embassies overseas, or you could work for USAID, or you could work for the United Nations or any international agency such as NATO, IMF, or the World Bank, etc. The key is to be able to speak at least 1 other language besides your native English (2 or more would be better). If you have these language skills you will find work easily in US government service overseas.
The CIA has been actively recruiting people ever since the 9-11 incident years ago, so you could check them out as well.
You could also check out the FBI because they also do a lot of collaboration with Interpol.
If you take some business courses with this degree program you could even go apply for a position with a multinational corporation as a part of their corporate communications department. These large corporations are always needing to get in bed with one government or another to negotiate deals, and that’s where people with your background come in.
You have a good choice of a graduate course. The world needs people of this field in the foregin service.
The salaries and other perquisites of the job in the foreign service are good aside from seeing faraway places.
As an inspiration for you, believe in ” The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.”