Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tips on searching for a job in international education

One of my former students asked me for tips as she seeks to find another job, with a focus on international education. Here are some of the things I mentioned:
  • Figure one month of job search for each $10K of annual salary.
  • Most jobs are filled by networking rather than answering a cold add, but cold adds sometimes work.
  • It is really hard to get either a civil service or an international civil service job,
  • If you get offered a reasonable permanent job in an agency that interests you, realize it is easier to change jobs within a bureaucracy than to get in from outside.
  • For American citizens, this is a pretty good time to get a job in USAID since the Agency is seeking a couple of thousand new hires in the next three years.
  • While UNESCO has "education" in its name, there are lots of agencies that hire in international education, including the international financial institutions of the World Bank family, Note that FAO's agriculture extension program involves education skills, as does ILO's worker training and continuing education programs, WHO's health and medical education programs, etc.
  • The international agencies offer temporary positions, contract jobs, and consultancies. These can serve as good entry points to the agencies.
  • The consulting firms and NGOs are also good bets. While they don't offer career status comparable to the civil services, they offer more job opportunities,
  • Think about fellowships, not just permanent jobs.
  • Think about the long term, not just the immediate job. Make contacts, get experience and position yourself for future jobs if you can.
  • The more education and the more experience the better. Languages too!
Any of the readers who are in the process of looking for jobs, let me wish you good fortune. "You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince!"

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