After much research and deliberation I have finally decided what I want to do with my Political Science emphasis in International Relations degree which should be in my hands in December 2012. After reading about several of different opportunities and programs, I have decided that I would like to work for the Department of State. So what does this mean? Essentially the Department of State, or the State Department, is in charge of all 265+ embassies around the world. Once you are admitted to the program, a lengthy process, you will be given 2-3 year posts in any one of the embassies. The posting are kind of run like the military, or LDS mission calls in that you don't really know where your next assignment will be. Most of these foreign places have government housing and they pay for nearly everything, aka private schooling, transportation, travel home to the US ect. Also for 95% of the posts your family is more than welcome!! It is going to be a career full of adventures, foreign cultures, missionary work, and lots of surprises along the way I am sure!!
There are 5 main career paths in the Foreign Service Officer category. The one that I am most interested in is the political advisor. Starting out, a political advisor is responsible for communicating with and being informed on local politics and which political factions will most favor the US interests in the area. This is so they are able to advise the Ambassador one way or another. One great thing too, for me at least, is that no language is required!! However, for my degree I have to take 4 semesters of a language. So going in I will hopefully be bilingual.
I also have been able to put together a rough 2 year plan for myself:
Spring Semester 2012 - Continue working on my classes. Pass all 19 credits I am registered for.
Summer 2012 - Make bank in Alaska!! Whoop Whoop!!
Fall Semester 2012 - Keep working on my classes, hopefully graduate in December
Spring Semester 2013 - Work on my resume so I am awesome on paper too :) Internship possibility
Summer 2013 - If I didn't do an internship in the spring then do it now
Fall Semester 2013 - Start the process for acceptance into the State Department
Also a couple of my long term professional goals are first, get accepted into the State Department as a political advisor. Complete a full- adventure filled career at the State Department retiring speaking 14 different languages (hopefully ha) and have one of those cool studies with a bunch of foreign stuff I have collected. After that I would love to teach at a college or university about my experiences in the foreign service.
So I came to this conclusion last week and it is amazing how having a specific professional goal has made me want to learn all I can from my Political Science classes even though they are sometimes really boring. I know that life doesn't always go as planned, but at least I have a plan now so I can tell if it is not going according to plan ha.
Right now I am at the networking point so if you know someone who is in or has been a Foreign Service Officer and can e-mail me their contact information that would be great! My e-mail is jordan.giles03@gmail.com. I am also open to any other career advice you may have!
Thank you for reading and I hope that you have a great day!!
Jordan
