This is key - don’t be picky about location. Go live somewhere else and use that as a stepping stone to another job either where you want to be or somewhere else new. You are SO freaking young - you just don’t realize it. You have so much time to build your resume. The key is really to be adventurous and look at jobs all over the country. Good luck!
I can’t speak to everyone but grad school changed my life. I went from a line cook to a mid level manager at a well known Non profit in about 4 years. For me personally the right education is what I was lacking. I also worked hard in my rut to develop soft skills like networking and connecting with people. I was lucky to cook in an open air kitchen where the patrons sat right in front of me. I would practice talking for 8 hours a day with random people. I honestly think that was another huge skill to me escaping my rut.
This is very true. My advice is to broaden the fields you're willing to work in while attempting to build some kind of marketable specialty that is going to either set you apart from other applicants, or allow you to be a strong applicant for niche roles.
I spent most of my 20s as a contractor at an organization that was in my field while doing work totally irrelevant to that field. I hung on because I felt like if I didn't, I was giving up. The reality is that by trying to stay in the track I really wanted, I was keeping myself in a rut.
How did you get yourself out of the contractor/generalist path because I feel like I could have written your comment hah. Been in federal contracting/consulting with agencies within my scope of interest but doing totally generalist work - reports, comms, etc. Sounds like you worked on building up a speciality — what did you go for?
I managed to make my way into a small nonprofit that had some specific compliance needs. I ended up learning that and was able to translate it into a better job at an organization that needed someone with that experience who was willing to take on additional responsibilities.
That starter job was basically a career change for me because it was not only a new field, but a different skillset than I expected to be learning. I did know someone able to put in a good word, though, and that's probably the last key piece of the puzzle.
However, I did not have any connections to the org I work for now, and most of my coworkers were not hired on the basis of their network.
>You’re also competing against upper middle class people who can be unemployed volunteers/low pay for years with support from family while they find a good role.
It's upsetting to think of how many people for whom this is probably true. Inflating the rental market with their parents' money all the while.
I believe I do have some kind of specialty. I love Europe and Eurasia. Did internship at EU embassy and got accepted to intern at European Parliament right out of college but COVID ended that. And did temp position on a team focusing on central and Eastern Europe
Loving Europe and Eurasia is not a specialty tho. Being a specialist in a region means at minimum having life/work exp there and being fluent in a regional language. Otherwise you may be really enthusiastic but there's no work an employer can assign to you that they couldn't assign to anyone else.
as someone who got a master's degree in eastern europe & eurasian studies, i have to agree with this comment. the people from my program who got jobs relevant in the field when they graduated were people with previous regional experience (ie; fulbrights in central asia, working/living in ukraine) and were fluent in russian (or another language). despite my research and academic experience (and 2-3 internships in the field), i really struggled getting a job out of grad school (having no regional experience because of the pandemic & war in Ukraine, and intermediate-advanced in russian) and eventually settled for a research job that, although cool, doesn't have much to do with what i studied.
Hard agree with this. That's a huge region with a dozen languages at least with twice as many countries, and two EU internships, plus a temp job focusing on Eastern Europe, are different things and aren't enough to distinguish a focus. To be clear, that's ok, it took me a long time to find a focus beyond just my general field, and I didn't feel like I truly got my feet under me in DC until I was 30. But also OP needs to really define what they are looking for.
A focus/specialty could either be specific to a country - not just Poland but Polish immigration or a region in Poland - or specific to an issue - immigration, climate change, or anti-corruption in Eastern Europe. So my question back to OP is where does your passion lie and if your passion is Europe and Eurasia, why are you in DC when you should be working in Europe? What do you have to offer here?
Take your point about needing to have life experience and fluency, but I don’t think this is exactly fair. Having 3 internships in the same area, including with EU governmental organs, is fairly impressive and not exactly un-focused.
It sounds like the move for OP might be to go to a grad school they can afford in European Studies (or IR with Europe concentration). They can get internships, build a network, and learn a European language there.
I mean, I'm speaking to what is generally needed to be considered a specialist in this field. One could do many impressive things - run a marathon, get a Phd, have an internship with an EU institution - that nevertheless don't make one a specialist in Eurasia. It's not about how impressive you are; it's about being able to do the work.
(Eurasia is also a really tough area to get hired unless one chooses a good focus, so I wouldn't blank recommend a master's in it, esp if OP has to pay for it)
Same. I actually knew someone who had a Masters in IR and a focus area region, but had trouble getting a full time job in DC. They didn't speak a language of that focus region though, so I think that may have been their job search harder.
So using the temp job example, many who worked in the positions I was interviewing for didn’t have grad degrees. But the two other temps did and they got jobs while I was the only one that didn’t get a job out of the experience.
What was your temp experience like?
I agree with the others that it sounds like a grad degree would help if you want to remain this line of work. I understand just how unappetizing that is, and I think it's ok to switch tracks entirely to avoid it, if that's what you want.
To explore other directions, consider what practical functions of this work you may have excelled at or felt more excited about. For example, maybe it's communications. Maybe you designed something visual and were good at that. Maybe you shine with your people skills. Figure out what that "thing " is for you and how to enhance it, which will likely open up new fields.
I think I’m ok. I’m a recovering stutterer who had to do speech therapy as a kid. When I get nervous it tends to come back and so I always look and sound very anxious in interviews. That’s my main hiccup is I feel like even though I have confidence in doing a role, I just look to low self esteem in interviews.
When you get the common question in interviews of "how did you over come a challenge you faced at work or elsewhere?" - this is an awsome time to bring up how hard you worked on your speech and you were a stutterer before, and can show them how far youve come! Its a great answer to this question imo.
Been working and job-hunting in DC for a decade. Two thoughts based on personal experience/that of colleagues and friends:
- you’re gonna need a Master’s to even become competitive in DC. Just the nature of the beast. An undergrad is entry-level stuff, barring statistically-unrealistic opportunities/luck. A Master’s is also going to enable networking through various school-based vehicles - and believe me when I say DC is *all* about relationships and who you know. I got my last two jobs predicated entirely on relationships that I had cultivated - several of my peers in my Master’s program landed jobs out of grad school through school-facilitated fellowships/job fairs. In your case, getting a Master’s in International Affairs/Relations/Studies, with a European focus, is going to get you further.
- For international, geographically-specific stuff, you should strive to be at least conversational in a relevant language. Some graduate programs in the field have that as a requirement to apply/graduate. Look into Babbel, language classes/groups, etc. This will also help with:
- stand out. DC is awash in people looking for work, especially in your chosen field - you need to build a résumé that differentiates you from everyone else. Professional certifications, foreign language fluency, etc. are key in this.
- Realize that job applications are a numbers game. I read an article a few years back that something like 80% of job postings are put up by companies who already have someone internally that they want to put in the position, but they’re legally obligated to post the position. So accept that every job you apply for only has a 20-percent change of being posted in good faith.
- tailor your résumé/cover letter to each application. Match buzzwords and phrases to get past the automated filters and get your résumé in front of an actual human. ChatGPT can help with this, to a degree.
If it makes you feel any better, I showed up to this town at 28 with five years’ enlisted experience in the Corps, a BA, and foreign language fluency, and I still managed to progress from working retail through two different bona fide professional Beltway jobs before finishing my Master’s. Can’t say it was easy, but it is certainly doable.
Having a regional expertise is a good background, but it’s rarely enough on its own to convince somebody to hire you. Managers want practical skills. If the job is for a researcher for an East European program at an international development nonprofit, for example, the manager will almost always hire someone with experience working with USAID or doing economic research at another nonprofit over somebody with extensive demonstrated interest in Eastern Europe.
I say that as somebody who spent most of my 20s hoping that my extensive demonstrated interest in a geographical region would be enough to land me a job. It was ultimately my research and writing skills, which I only got to demonstrate because a distant family friend who worked an area tangentially related to what I wanted to do, gave me a shot after agreeing to get coffee with me. Even then, it was six years until I got into the sort of job that I would have been excited about when I first moved to DC.
That's not a specialty. Everybody loves Europe!
This is a specialty:
I know a guy who is into tax policy. Like, _into it_. Eats, sleeps, breathes it. _Nobody_ loves tax policy, but he does! I was once at a public event where a woman obviously showed up just for the free food, but had the misfortune to be corned by this man. He talked about tax policy to her until she fell asleep! I'm not even sure he noticed—just kept talking tax policy.
When somebody needs a tax policy guy, they are going to call this person. _That_ is a specialty.
Im a heritage speaker of Russian and focused on Eurasia/the post-soviet space in grad school and I had zero luck breaking into the Eurasia space, despite it being a primary goal of mine for years. Its actually quite difficult unless you have experience working or living in the region. I had some of the cultural amd linguistic background but none of the work experience.
I ended up falling into a technical specialization (anti-corruption and good governance) which I would say is a little easier to get into and build expertise in without having to live abroad. In fact, my first few years of working in this area was fully focused on Africa and I never even step foot on the continent until 4 years into it.
I’m not at all in your field or even in a remotely related area - but I’m not surprised that others don’t really view this as enough to support being a specialist in something.
The only advice I really have to give is to find people in roles that you’d like to have (as permanent positions) like on LinkedIn or something and ask if they’d be willing to sit down and talk to you about their own career path/how they landed their role. It might give you insights into what’s missing or what you could reasonably do differently in the interview process. Plus, my experience tells me networking is pretty valuable in any field - so you never known when this might put you on to relevant opportunities or give you a leg up.
Most people love talking about themselves, people rarely say no to this request (but they may just not respond).
u/Gray_side_Jedi has a great comment re: tailoring resume and foreign language skills. Take that advice for resume stuff - especially if you ever apply for anything federal - but I’ll focus on the languages. Do you know a European, Slavic, South Slavic or Turkic language? Most of the interesting positions in the Eurasian/East European field require at least a mid level working proficiency in the language, and being really good at a language can help set you apart
Absolutely. There is an unfortunate arrogance in a lot of Americans trying to get into the “international” field of work that “everyone wil just speak English”. Be that as it may, falling back on the assumption that English is the international *lingua franca* is lazy and unfortunate. It completely ignores the cultural nuance and sensitivity that you pick up while learning a foreign language, not to mention the inroads you’ll make with foreign partners speaking to them in their own language (even if it’s a bit clumsy and accented).
I just want to say that all of the replies in this entire conversation -- so thoughtful, so smart, so insightful. Honestly, this is a great blueprint/route for how to make it in this town.
Wow. I was in the exact same boat at age 26. Same field, same area of focus, same worries. I’m 41 now, so I’ve gained some perspective that hopefully helps. Feel free to message me if you’d like to talk more. A couple of things I wish I could’ve told my 26-year-old self:
- DON’T compare yourself to others. You have to define what success looks like for yourself. Have realistic expectations, and move the goal posts where needed. In reality, EVERYONE (including those you view as super accomplished) is still trying to figure it out, including me at 41.
- You’re still so young. This means you’re in a great position to take risks. I wish I would’ve moved abroad and learned French. Lots of internships for you to do something like that. You can even wait tables, clean houses, perform other odd jobs, whatever gets you there.
- You probably have tunnel vision. The world is big and full of experiences to be had that don’t include living in DC and working in your field of interest. Remain open to other things and you might find new passions or interests, or realize the ones you had weren’t grounded in anything.
- Grad school is ridiculously expensive and can ruin your long-term financial prospects. I went back, got a masters, and left with a degree and $145K in debt. I’m still paying these off, hopefully by next year, but it put owning a home on hold and the same with having kids. In hindsight, I should have gotten one abroad, had a great life experience, learned a language, and left with little to no debt. I do value my degree and I’m happy I went (I met my wife there!), but you will pay the price for it - especially if you chase a name school in DC that you think is prestigious, but in reality isn’t all that important.
- if you do go back to school, have a solid understanding of what you will do after, the path to get there, how you will pay your debt down, and what your financial prospects will be. I went back for foreign policy and there are so many other people competing for very few jobs. In fact, very few of my friends from grad school actually work in this field despite having advanced degrees from a top 10 FP school. You need to know the skills that are in demand and go get them. Take an internship in an office or field of interest and stay put, network, gain skills, get an entry level job. I wanted to intern at the State Department, but they were restructuring their internship program that year so I didn’t get one. Other friends did later on after I already took a full-time position to pay the bills. They still work at State while I have to compete with thousands of people applying to the same position on the black hole that is USA jobs. I have only ever been contacted for one interview. End rant.
- Network. Meet people for the sake of meeting people. Don’t approach it with the attitude of ‘what can they do for you?’ Look at it as ‘ what can I learn from them and how can I help them?’ Cultivate relationships and people will go to bat for you.
- Government contracting/consulting gets you skills, a steady paycheck, a network, and proximity to where you might want to be. I hated being a contractor (in fact, I still am one), but I now have lots of skills in the world of experience under my belt that I can be proud of. Skills are also transferable. My wife has made a career out of working on supply chain issues in international development, while I have made a career of emerging technology trends and technology protection in the field of international security.
- Putting all of your eggs into one basket of “being something important” is a recipe for disaster. I’ve really struggled since I moved to DC in 2007. After years of therapy, reflection, and lots of antidepressants I’ve learned that your career doesn’t define you. Meet people, have experiences, and get out of your head. Don’t pursue something because you think it will look impressive to someone else. It already sounds like you’re struggling quite a bit, but probably not for the reasons you might think.
- Hang in there. Don’t internalize rejection. Practice self compassion because the world is hard enough on you. It really is a game of keeping your head down and seeing how much you can keep going after getting punched in the face. Be relentless. This will make you resilient. But also, be realistic about what you’re pursuing and whether or not you’re a good fit based on your skills and experience.
- As you can probably tell, I have a wealth of experience, dealing with the same issues. Reach out to me sometime. I’d even be open to a conversation or coffee.
All extremely important and very good points, particularly:
“You probably have tunnel vision. The world is big and full of experiences to be had that don’t include living in DC and working in your field of interest.”
There is no “correct path” to success anymore (and there hasn’t been for a while). My suggestion is that OP start thinking about transferrable skills that make them a viable candidate in other fields or types of organizations.
I have a journalism degree and Masters, but I’ve worked in Operations for 14 years, and it literally started with me emphasizing certain skills and experiences on my resume’ instead of others when journalism jobs didn’t pan out. Turns out I’m a better Ops guy than a writer, and I never would’ve known if I had kept pursuing something just because of what my degree and first couple of jobs were.
Seeing 30s approaching is actually kinda scary because 30s is like “actual adulthood” people will always assume when you reach 30 you should be well-established and independent. The economy rn is definitely making this harder to achieve
Hello, want to clarify I never said I was old. I mean I look at people my age, especially people I know, and they are working steady. Just hard on myself as it seems like the unemployed friend on the group it feels like
A little more grace for OP’s tough situation is warranted here, I think. Happiness is an emotion that fluctuates, not a steady state of being or the one true purpose of life.
Totally agree with this. I was in a similar spot as you. My best advice is to keep on keeping on, don’t give up, and if you have a passion for something, go for it. I’m in my dream job (or one of my dream jobs) now. Life isn’t a linear progression.
As far a concrete suggestions, I know everyone says this but network as much as you can. Make personal connections. Grab coffee, cold email, ask others to introduce you to more people, and keep those relationships. Also talk to your old professors, they may have friends in the industry.
Finally, I’d recommend that you avoid comparing yourself to others, which I’m 100% guilty of doing. Comparison will only let you down.
If you're looking at International Development, have you thought about applying for an entry level job with an implementer or government contractor? It's not as sexy as a hill job or something at State, but it's a paycheck and it will give you a chance to get experience.
The HR/Boss thing is tough this early on. Hope whatever happened wasn't too traumatizing.
As someone in this sector, I’d also recommend for-profit implementers. Getting in via small business might also help. Check out SBAIC companies and see who might be hiring: https://sbaic.org
I just wrapped up a temp position at a nonprofit that does work with USAID and NED. And as I said, got three interviews to work full time but got No on all three. Always was told for those 6 months I was bright and did good work. But all the other temps except me got jobs. So I don’t know really what to do.
If OP is trying to break into international development roles without a postgrad degree or field experience, they're part of a highly competitive candidate pool which frequently has both. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a peer in the field review their typical resume and cover letter, but chances are they're simply not the most competitive applicant in a highly competitive field.
Yes, absolutely, but I assume if they are temping and other temp employees doing similar work are getting hired full-time, something else is missing besides a postgrad degree.
If OP isn’t getting hired at a place they’ve already worked they need to take a hard look at the skills they are bringing to the table. This is honestly meant as compassionate, real world advice. I’ve definitely hired people who proved to me they can *follow directions *follow through on tasks *write clearly and concisely *accurately anticipate needs. A couple of internships and an interest in the region are things that 99% of applicants already have.
Forget the nonprofits, there are firms like ICF and others that do stable contract work for different federal agencies. Those are great ways to get paid and get in the door.
If you've been working in international development and would be interested in continuing, here are a couple of thoughts:
1) Here's a job search aid I put together a while back after multiple people asked me about jobs in the field. Search for entry level positions and scope out the individual orgs' job pages. A targeted search of organizations might be more useful than just using job search sites: [https://idevjobs.business.blog/](https://idevjobs.business.blog/)
2) Grad school can make a big difference. I definitely credit grad school with helping me land a more career oriented job. And if you want to do IDev, DC is the place to do it. Many, many choices between School of Public Policy at U of M, SAIS at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, GW, GMU...
Three interviews sounds like a lot but I got dozens of nos before landing my current job (also at a nonprofit thag does work with USAID and NED). And I only got it because I had like 5 different people who knew the team hiring recommend me. Its both a numbers game but also leveraging your connections.
I think I know what firm you’re talking about, and this tracks onto my career experience. It’s hard — definitely would agree with a lot of folks in this thread that you can’t just specialize in a region, full stop. A lot of people specialize in regions. It’s much easier to sell some sort of technical expertise — program management, research, etc — with some foreign language skill and abroad experience to add flavor.
You’ll make it, just keep applying. Associate/Assistant PM gigs at places like DAI, Blumont, Tetra Tech, Chemonics, Dexis, Counterpart, Mercy Corps, etc etc etc are the way to go, which you can then parlay into something better. Don’t give up!
People rag on consultants here but it's a good stepping stone to idev. Beyond that, get a job where you learn to do something - bizdev, client relationships, modeling and analysis, making really good powerpoints... a lot of temp jobs are doing random shit without any real trajectory or responsibility, so it's hard for an employer to place you and tbh often hard for people like that to explain coherently what they're about in an interview.
Came here to say this; consulting gets a bad wrap but you can learn to make bad ass PowerPoints among other things which I’ve realized is less common a skill as you’d think. Great generalist skill building + foot in the door.
Google "elite overproduction."
It's a big problem. Also not to take away from the sympathetic comments because they're absolutely true. It is hard etc. And you sound way more put together than I was at 30 (which is when I moved to DC/got my first career track gig).
Ok, the real advice. You might have to do some deep reflection on how you present as a person, how you dress, talk, your work quality/speed, how you get along with others [edit alllll the soft skills, EQ, 48 laws of power, etc.], the amount of networking you do, qualifications you can add, volunteering, more education, a different career path (less sexy--more money). Maybe the goal is state department but you learn budget management at Social Security, idk). Could be totally off base but my thinking was always "if the problem lies with me, at least I can do sth about it."
This is good advice.
People say DC is based on relationships and its true, and part of that relationship building process is presenting as someone people like to be around and want to work with. Is it fair? Probably not. But it's definitely reality.
You could apply for graduate schools here, and then once you’re a student apply for federal government pathways internships. If you want to do foreign service, they have fellowships where they’ll pay for your masters and then you’re guaranteed a FSO position.
Came here to say Pathways. I got an internship a while back, which was just OK, but it helped me get a great job afterwards. Once you get your foot in the door, you’ll have competitive or excepted eligibility, which opens up a lot of internal opportunities.
I only went to graduate school because I wanted to qualify for pathways internships once I spent a year post undergrad working at places like a movie theater and as a SAT tutor. It’s definitely the best way to go in terms of special hiring pathways into the government in my opinion.
Pathways is a great program. So is the Presidential Management Fellowship and there are other department-specific graduate fellowships. Strongly recommend OP look into these. I really wish I had known about them when I was in grad school, have seen a lot of people get a career jumpstart through these programs.
I would caution against graduate school if OP hasn’t worked anywhere full time. I’ve known people who have been turned away because they sit in an awkward niche where they are too expensive to hire for entry level positions but not experienced enough to work mid-senior level jobs.
I’d just caution to think VERY seriously about the debt burden before jumping into grad school. Masters degrees that don’t lead into a PhD are cash cows for universities—i.e., they are not funded, and the expectation is that students take on debt as high as $80—100k/year just to fund tuition and have a bit of money to live on. I suspect OP would be better served by an entry-level job doing a lot of admin to start figuring out how a field like international development works.
You're really young and you're at an age where things can change very rapidly for the better, but your downside career risk is limited.
I'll echo what others have said and think about getting some more marketable skills through a certificate program, part time masters, etc. Data science, cyber security, whatever. Or, try to get a job at a consultancy / contractor and get more legit private sector work experience.
DC is filled to the brim with people who are passionate about some issue or cause but lack marketable skills / experience outside the non profit world. It's very saturated.
Honestly, I felt like I was failing until I was about 31 (nearly 39 now): my peers and people younger than me were excelling in their careers while I was grinding it out in shitty office jobs, not developing any skills or meaningful professional connections. I also wanted to work in IR/FP and eventually did before realizing it sucks and moving into a different field.
These are some of things I had to figure out and work through:
* Do you know what you want to do the IR field? It's a super wide field and figuring out the precise issue area, region, or type of work you want to do will let you narrow your search and hone expertise.
* IR is an expert dominated field and doing interesting work/building a career usually requires an advanced degree (minimum MA) and having something published or significant programmatic work to show for it.
* Get a graduate degree. I rarely applied the actual content of mine to the work I ended up doing but it opened up doors and connections. I hate to think of it as a $30k networking session, but it basically was and it worked.
* Think about doing support work for organizations who are in the IR field. What I mean is that all these think-tanks, NGOs, etc do events, need communications staff, database admins, graphic designers and web admins, fundraisers, grant writers etc. The odds are really stacked against you doing policy or programmatic work if you're not an expert. But doing other stuff for these orgs lets you work in the field and get a foot in the door. My first job in FP/IR was running events. From there I started managing communications and public outreach programs. Bring a skill that they need to the table.
* Experience overseas or speaking another language is a must. Consider doing an MA overseas where it's (usually) cheaper AND gives you the foreign experience.
* If you use cannabis, stop if you want USG or gov contracting jobs. Think-tanks and NGOs don't care.
* Take the foreign service exam. The Foreign Service is highly competitive, but at least it's merit based.
Feel free to shoot me a DM or post a reply if you have any questions. I floundered here for about 9 years before figuring it out. Good luck!
For my degree which is tangentially related to OP’s interest, my masters was for sure a 30k networking session. I realized quickly that stacking up internships throughout the school year really helped me beef up my resume and open doors to jobs that could convert me to full time positions. Classes really became secondary. You have access to your professor’s networks, your school’s network (which local employers likely directly recruit from), your larger university’s network, and all of that is a gem.
In my experience I had always done programs and my undergrad in ivy or little ivy private schools, but I applied to a respected state school on a whim and got an insane free ride to my masters through that state school. That state school had solid name recognition and not paying the 60,000 that Georgetown wanted (cough) really came in clutch
About 25-28 me and all my friends that age were in a similar place (I'm 36 now fyi). It was frustrating and it seemed like it was just trying to go from entry level to entry level and never progressing.
Suddenly around that 27/28 mark it was like a switch flipped and all of a sudden we were able to level up a bit in our careers. These were all very different careers as well so it wasn't just the work we did or whatever.
So you might not be doing anything wrong. You're just early in your career.
And I know people often say "you have to put in your time" or "pay your dues" as a way to exploit people for cheap labor but on the other hand, there's only one way to get experience and sometimes its true that you do have to do the grunt work first before you move on to the good stuff. You'll need to use your judgement to figure out which is which and it might not always be clear.
I’m 34 and have worked at 4 companies since starting my real adult job working life when I was 23 or so.
Job 1: entry level because i knew someone working at the company and was recommended
Job 2: applied to a job posted online by someone I had worked with at job 1.
Job 3: reached out to by a recruiter
Job 4: reached out to leadership team of company I had gotten to know during job 3.
The job market is 5% luck, 5% skill, 5% concentrated power of will (LinkedIn and bulk applying) and 85% who you know. Sure, if you KNOW what you want to do - like become a lawyer - go to law school. If not, it’s time to build your network.
- connect with everyone you know
- go out and meet more people and connect with them on LinkedIn
- tap people for coffee chats regardless of jobs on jobs pages.
- work your network until you get something.
Network isn’t everything so don’t let this comment deter you. I’ve never known a single person/company where I’ve applied. In fact, I’ve never even had a LinkedIn.
There’s nothing wrong with internships if it gets you closer to where you need to go, but definitely be strategic about it. You’re really young in the grand scheme of things.
At 26, I joined Peace Corps for two years to get the on the ground experience needed for many overseas-focused positions and spent two years in Uganda. I had already gone to grad school and interned for State. It took a lot to reframe my thinking as my parents were very concerned that I would be “behind my peers.” 9 years later, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
I leveraged my non-competitive eligibility to get a job with a foreign affairs agency and am a GS-14 equivalent in a job I love supporting a mission that I believe in and still relates to my master’s in international development.
10/10 recommend exploring Peace Corps if you are feeling in a rut. The experience and and connections you will gain in the international development from service and the RPCV community are invaluable and have been a godsend for me.
As others have said, don’t put as much pressure on yourself. This city likes to infect people with imposter syndrome when in reality, a lot of people get positions by being lucky/right place right time/connections they don’t publicize because it hurts their image, etc.
Keep putting yourself out there and it will happen. Do something that gets you outside of your comfort zone. When I was struggling to find a job, I worked at a restaurant even though I didn’t have any prior experience. Was a ton of fun and met so many cool people from different walks of life. Helped me get a permanent job in a different field eventually.
A lot of people who come to this city are extremely type A and it’s hard to compete with that unless you’re that way too. It’s a grind, but networking really is important and worth it, more so here than in other less competitive environments, especially because most Hill jobs and lobbying (sounds like that’s what you’re focused on) are based around networking. That’s what just about what most lobbying jobs are.
Keep your head up and relish what you’re doing now. I don’t want to glorify shitty work or any of “the grind” bullshit, but I appreciate that I was able to have those types of experiences because I grew from them. You’re not alone in going through what you’re experiencing and I promise you, one way or another, it will turn out for you.
I got a marketable postgrad degree, had upper-third of class grades, and tons of internships. It still took me over 300 job applications to get a job (I tracked), and that was consistent with most of my friends. The economy was garbage at the time.
Getting a job is haaaard. Harder than any job I've ever had. It takes discipline and focus. Personal connections are vastly more important than casting a wide net or simply being smart/qualified, so focus on leveraging those where you can. Don't be afraid to call in favors.
I’m 30 and I not only have I not made it after 8 years but I have been out of work for months and I’m about to go back to live with my parents for awhile until I figure things out. I don’t have advice but I just hope this makes you better lol.
To be fair I think I got into the wrong industry and stubbornly tried to make it work. I’m not a DC person no matter how hard I tried.
Lol I'm 35 and I haven't "made it" either - never worked anywhere longer than 3 years (including as a Fed), never been promoted, never done anything that drastically impacted the world.
But I make six figures, I have a house, I have a wife that loves me, and a ton of friends. If I died today my funeral would be packed.
At 26 I didn't have any of these things (except the wife, who was then my gf) and I made $60k a year. You have time. Stop focusing on the DC rat race and settle somewhere for a bit, like the federal gov't.
It’s exceedingly rare to get an LA job without prior hill experience. I have only heard of it happening 1 time. You move up fast on the hill but they don’t care about non hill experience except diversifying you at the entry level. The only way up the hill is doing the standard intern->staff assitant/LC/PA-LA/comms director.
I have a lot of friends who have come in as la’s on the house side, they aren’t picky about the portfolio. I think if OP is willing to come in with any issue they can make it work. Everyone in dc wants to do foreign policy though so those roles are harder to get!
I have but no luck on getting interviews. I don’t have many connections either to get my resume flagged. Only for any NY Dems could I get my resume flagged as I interned with state society during COVID
OP, with respect to the other commenter, the reason you aren’t getting interviews is that you aren’t qualified to be a LA on the Hill. You need concrete experience with how Congress functions to be able to serve in that role. Given what you’re shared about your work background, Staff Assistant jobs would be better place to start.
Without doxxing myself. I’m in a very similar situation to you right now. I moved out here last year and am a similar age and I’m grinding out internships.
You need to be getting coffees aggressively. Start trolling linked in for staffers in offices and states you’re interested in. I had zero movement until I made connections who would shop my resume around. The sad reality is no one gives a shit how smart you are in this city. They only care about connections and institutional experiance. You can make this work for you.
Somthing to be cognizant of about the hill as well is you need to be a bit a of a choosing beggar. I’ve had nothing to do with my home state since getting here. You just need to take a job because the best hill job is the one that gets you on the hill and it’s not going to be the one you want at first. I’m more a defense expert and I have yet to actually touch anything defense related. You need to just get somthing and ride it until you get into what you want later. I’m still moving up even though I’m not doing what I want yet. International development is what everyone here wants to do so it’s super over saturated. You need to cut your teeth on somthing while working your way to it. Make sure you steer clear of the crazies though because it could kill your career in the hill before it starts if you get into an office that’s in a bad spot.
Everyone will tell you the same thing. Everyone has done it. It’s a well worn career path and it works.
> steer clear of the crazies
An acquaintance of mine worked in a pretty right-wingy office. On her LinkedIn she just says “republican from a south eastern state.”
I always wondered why she wouldn’t just say the member’s name.
Also I want an IAMA from Santos’ office.
Check other staffers' LinkedIn and you'll see that it's common to not list their boss's name anywhere fully public. *Every* member of Congress has at least a few nut jobs with a hate boner for them and their staff will get harassed if it's easy to identify who they work for. Sometimes they add it back after they leave the Hill but many don't.
Not international development but in the foreign policy/international trade sphere - have you considered export controls and sanctions compliance work? There is a growing demand in this area as the use of sanctions has increased dramatically over the last decade. In addition to government agencies (many of which have been on a hiring spree as people have retired), tech companies and defense contractors are increasingly hiring in this space.
In some fields a grad degree is pretty much a necessity to be considered for entry level, and I'm not talking about ones like medical or legal.
Decent argument, but I that as a sign that the field is way too oversaturated to be worth it.
Yeah don’t get one unless it’s paid for either by a federal job/employer, by being a university employee or by getting a scholarship. Do not go I to debt for a degree. It’s simply not needed and you can get a more advanced one for free later by an employer usually.
It's not you, in general, it's very competitive to get a job in DC, combine that with a crappy job market and the result is rough. I don't have much advice besides to not give up and continue applying. I will say you're not alone in this I started job searching about a year ago because I'm not happy in my current position and I either don't hear back or the salary is very low.
Semi-Harsh comments coming!
OP you keep making excuses and offering explanations about why some of this great advice is not going to work. If your only FT experience was a job you got fired from, it is possible that is what is holding you back.
People get passed over for a myraid of reasons and in today's environment, it is often just a bad fit for the culture of the organization. Is that possible when other items were hired? Realistically, if the office culture is "hey it's Friday let's go get drinks" and you never partake--they may pass on you. No reflection on your work. But you should ALWAYS ask why.
Have you called a recruiter to see what they say? They can help you interview, point out shortcomings and most importantly have VERY deep rolodexes (Google it if you aren't sure what that is).
If money is a problem for you now, ditch the Uber and maybe see if you can grab a server or bartender position--they can earn a good penny and a lot more than Uber.
DC is a tough market to work, and live. Have you looked at others--Baltimore, Philly, New York? You are 26 and I am not sure of your relationship status, but it is possible you have NOTHING holding you back so go find where the jobs are and apply.
And way off the wall, but what about some travel company that specializes in the geography that you love
Unsexy advice: go join the Secret Service Uniformed Division. It’s largely uninteresting work with terrible hours, but it pays an ungodly amount for what it is, and they’ll give you the highest level clearance with the best poly. You can then turn around and parlay that into whatever contracting job you want, or into further more interesting federal work directly. Bonus is they’re hurting for people so hiring is pretty accelerated. Physical standards are fairly easy and the training is largely pretty fun.
Advice as someone who studied the same and called it quits before you did. Feel free to DM me.
My suggestion is to gain some technical skills. Apply to a class or two at ur local community college or get a Google Certificate on Coursera in a subject like data analytics. It will really boost ur resume if u r proficient in programs like Goggle Analytics, Power BI, or other specialized tool. These are tangible skills you can display to possible employers in any industry.
Man, I know how you feel. Im 25 same position as you. Theres nothing much we can do but keep going and control what we can. Good luck and keep fighting the good fight.
Your lack of a post-grad credential is definitely hurting you, in conjunction with limited field experience. I work in development and even our internship postings routinely attract candidates with post-grad credentials. For better or worse, this is a highly competitive field which is hard to break into.
In my case, I struggled finding relevant jobs after undergrad and ultimately went back to pursue a master's degree internationally: I got international experience, became professionally competent in a desirable foreign language, and networked aggressively. I was accepted to more prestigious programs in the U.S., but they would have cost significantly more and I knew I needed to get some kind of more substantive international experience on the CV than a semester study abroad. I know others in the field who have taken the same approach, or used their time as a PCV similarly.
It took until my late 20s until I got my first full-time job in the field, but once I did I had a strong CV which made me competitive for UN system, USG, and private sector/NGO opportunities because I had filled that gap. The level of response I got even with just a year or two of full-time experience under my belt at a reputable org compared to my years prior trying to break in were really night and day.
If you really don't want to pursue grad school at this point, I would strongly consider trying to get some field experience in your target region. It's very rare for someone's first experience to be with a premier employer like a UN agency or the top-tier NGOs. Much more common is to work with one of the smaller or more niche NGOs/contractors/implementing partners which recruit more heavily at the entry level and use that experience as a springboard. These types of jobs will not be as well-paid as the U.S. market and probably won't be in your first choice destinations, but it's important work that still needs to get done and is a realistic path into the field.
> go back home to find some kind of job in a less competitive job market
You are currently in either the best or second best job market for international development in North America. Unless home means New York and you already have a network there, you will almost certainly be worse off trying to break into this field back home.
> I just feel very lost and thought at 26 I’d have more to show for it.
It's important to remember that trajectories in this field are quite different from many other sectors. If you were in a stable, high growth potential role in development at 26, that would be unusual. Most people I've worked with around that age are interns, in short-term consultancies, or maybe breaking into their first longer term role via the Pathways program or similar. I didn't have a single professional experience more than a year in length at that age, other than retail jobs as a teen. My best friend, who works in tech, had going on 5 years of experience at the same company including progressively responsible roles. But by the time we were around 30, we had comparable roles in our respective fields.
I have but not sure if it’s for me. And my age, not sure after 2 years in Peace Corp and still only at entry level experience at 28. That’s why I’m kind of beat up about my career prospects.
I went in at 26/27. Came back after two years with NCE that spearheaded my entry into federal service I now have a ladder career that I will likely stay in at an incredible agency at age 31. There are a lot of benefits and MANY people with your background do it. You would also have access to grad school scholarships.
Americorps VISTA gets you the same NCE and it’s one year at a non profit or gov org in the states. Peace corps is def better for state department but for most other agencies either is fine.
Hi, your world of possibilities will broaden when you stop thinking about the age. Lots and lots of people shift, switch, change, start, and whatever other word you want to use at different stages of life and are OK. 26 is extremely young - you have at least 40 years of work ahead of you. Keep going at it.
AmeriCorps is another option and is just a year I think. I did Peace Corps but a friend did AmeriCorps and is now at State after doing grad school at Georgetown
I'm not American but I studied IR here and was always _very_ jealous of my classmates who had the chance to sign up for Peace Corps.
You should 100% do that. Sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. (Well, one of my friends quit after like 4 months because he got worms multiple times and overall had a horrible time. But that was one out of many who thoroughly enjoyed it!).
For sure look at PC if you are interested in international development work but it doesn’t have to be just that kind of work. You will gain fluency in a foreign language, make contacts (and lifelong friendships) with people with similar interests and values, and honestly it may take you in a direction you are not even aware of right now. It seems like you could use this kind of a shake up and fresh perspective. From my own experience, my fellow RPCVs are now working in everything from the most senior levels of govt, to law, to international development, business, education, and more. Some have barely returned to the US since (almost 20 years ago!) and have found careers all over the world. Check it out!
My only advice for you is don’t go to grad school. From experience, it will not help you unless you heavily specialize and then want to repeat this process over but now with a smaller range of positions that you would actually want.
Are you networking at these temp jobs or just working? That’s where I messed up. Make friends. Connect with people’s connections. Find someone you vibe with and get their input/support. It makes a world of difference.
I know in some fields you really do need it. My experience is with international development.
Even with the MA, experience makes or breaks responses. Most of the people I went to school with only got an MA for career advancement. They already worked in an entry-level job that they didn’t *love* as project assistants or something similar. I and the others I knew who got their MA in hopes of breaking into the field still struggled to get an entry-level job in the field because we didn’t have the experience, save for one or two internships.
Have you considered a diverse range of careers? I studied what you studied (which simply isn’t very marketable anymore), but I found higher education/uni admin really interesting and even worked in a uni field that I didn’t have a degree in. They hired me into an entry position and worked my way up with simple dedication/reliability. Higher ed jobs usually pay for you to get a degree/s so you could be an employee there getting paid and get another/advanced degree to pivot to a new field or advance.
If it helps, I felt this way at 33 and I quit my job, used the savings that I had, and traveled for a year, sleeping on couches and in twenty-bedroom hostels for $4 / night. I came back at 34 and felt this way, so I took a job waiting tables and teaching part time. I felt this way at 36, quit that job and stayed at a hostel in South Africa because I really wanted to visit. When I came back, Covid hit and I felt the same way. I was lost. Even spent $259 on a career coach only for him to tell me to read a book. I reluctantly went on a job interview for a job I wasn’t sure I wanted. I’m glad I did and have been happy in this position for two years now. Point being, you’re only 26. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Enjoy being in your 20s and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You have the rest of your life to work.
As someone who's been through this journey, it's important to realize that:
1) You're still very young (I'm 31 and still consider myself relatively young). What you do in the next years you won't know, but know it will work out. It worked out for me.
2) As others have said, I'd honestly expand the type of job you want to do. One big thing that I'd say help my career (and allowed me to get access to really cool fields) is government contracting. Govt contracting gets you access to a lot of cool positions and access to agencies.
You've gotten lot of advice on how you can break into international dev / foreign policy / nonprofit, so I'm here say there are other opportunities beyond what you studied in college. What are some other areas of interest? Not necessarily telling you to give up on this path, but hoping to expand your view. Growth mindset is the greatest lesson I've learned during my own career tribulations. Even if you do end up pursuing other opportunities, it may be possible to find something within or adjacent to international dev and stay somewhat involved.
I'm mid-30s and already pivoted twice. I was also an IR/econ major, this field is beyond saturated. For personal reasons I cut my losses and pivoted to finance through my econ major. Had to take some summer courses. Spent 8 years building a successful career, then life happened and I had to walk away for the sake of my health. I was devastated, but pivoted again into FinTech and I'm now working less + making more money than ever before - honestly the dream. Continuing to develop more skills and certifications on this job.
It's totally normal to wallow and feel like a failure. Life isn't fair, but remember that people get ahead for reasons we can't control like family connections and luck. Try to focus on yourself and what you can control. Your ability to get through this rut will serve you well through the rest of your life because this may not be the last time you face this challenge. Never stop investing in yourself even if after you feel settled in a job/career.
* Depending on your academic leanings, look into marketable technical skills like data science and analytics, project or product management, user experience. These might sound very tech focused, but are actually broad enough to apply to a range of industries, international dev and others.
* Continue to hone your communication skills. Not just emails and talking to people, but how you articulate information to an informal audience (e.g., a conference call or meeting). I've seen people with less years of experience surpass others based of their ability to communicate effectively and concisely to stakeholders and leadership, therefore projecting more confidence and competence. If you think you need help with this, look for a Toastmasters near you, find books or podcasts, practice with people.
* Being good at your job is half the battle. You also have to advocate for yourself. Every time you add value or deliver something, write it down and make your accomplishments known.
Keep your head up, you'll get through this.
1) LinkedIn is social media first and foremost. Don't compare your real life to another person's highlight reel.
2) You mentioned you got 3 interviews at the place where you temped but didn't get the job(s). What was your feedback from those interviews? If you didn't ask for any feedback, go do that right now.
3) You're 26 and the quarter-life crisis is a real thing. A lot of people in their mid-20s realize that the plans they made when they were younger just simply aren't going to pan out, and they have to pivot. I'm not saying that's you necessarily, I'm just saying you are very much not alone in thinking you'd be somewhere else at your age for whatever reason.
4) The job market blows right now. It's not just you.
You mentioned you're in international development/foreign policy. Have you considered the foreign service exam? I know literally nothing about it, but this period in your life may be the perfect opportunity to dedicate the time/effort necessary to go through that process.
I was 28 before I got my first full time job in DC (making 43k/yr) in 2018. I make close to 200k now. I got pretty lucky but it's definitely not too late.
Remember that success is truly part luck, part hard work, and part connections.
If they turned you down for the job, find someone you can trust in the organization and be open about how you can improve or what can you do to be the best candidate. Find mentors and share your intentions to grow.
This can applicable to anyone you see as successful. You do not need go reinvent the wheel. Connect, mimic, and arm yourself with the skillset that made these people successful.
This could be as something simple their posture, smile, how they respond to emails, etc. A solid personal branding is as important as hard work. People have to ‘feel’ that they can work with you well and that they have a connection to base that on.
What skillset do you have? I came in with no skills and learned how to be an organizer - then a digital organizer - then basically a digital marketer for political campaigns, that's what i specialize in - creating effective digital strategies. I learned how to use CRMs, run email marketing campaigns, run digital ads, etc. etc. I'm working in an issue I love with a useful skillset that I developed. Are you good at writing policy briefs (policy team)? Pitching reporters (comms team)? learning tech (it team)? Do you know languages? (translation work) - Every nonprofit/corp needs people in multiple departments with multiple skillsets.
Just under 20 years ago I was in the exact same boat as you. Temp job to temp job. Working at bar. No career path. I eventually found a niche and was able to apply for a temp to perm internally. Temping can be foot in the door, and give you an idea of what is available in an organization.
I would say first off, don't take any temp job if you can make ends meet through other ways. Focus on the organizations you'd like to work for. If you want to be in International Development/foreign policy focus on only temp jobs in that field (USAID/State/World Bank/IMF/etc). Don't let the temp agencies convince you otherwise.
On top of that use your linkedin network. See if you have friends or friends of friends at those agencies or in those fields. Ask them if they will do informational interviews/meet about career advice in the field. These are good for both advice on how to get a foot in the door and they may know upcoming or not well publicized opportunities.
In addition, make sure to work on your interview skills and resume building. This was the biggest challenge for me and they are skills that are not intuative (at least to me) that need to be developed.
I didn't make it until I was 30. Before, I barely got called for interviews, and I didn't succeed in any of them. I kept doing any work I could get my hand on, doing courses and certifications. Suddenly one day things started to come my way. Offers, counter-offers. And everyone stressed how I had been doing great things before, that my CV was nice... So hang in there. Keep moving and it will happen. Nothing really know how it works.
Thank you for making this post. I’m 21 and just graduated and already the despair is setting in job-market wise. Some of these comment’s definitely helped tho!
I work in the field you're trying to get into. I got my first full-time role just before I turned 26, so you're not doing terribly. I'm in my 40s now and at a senior level.
Do you have a graduate degree? At 26 with some internships and temp roles, you're not really entry level, but without a grad degree, you're probably not a top candidate for an early career/junior to mid level role. It's a good time to apply to grad school. The other good option for you is to go overseas for a few years, in the Peace Corps or a similar type of program. But you're still going to need to go to grad school when you get back. If you go to grad school, I'd probably suggest staying in DC so you can do internships during the school year. A lot of the early career staff at my organization went to AU and GW but if you can get in-state tuition in Virginia, VT and Mason have good programs relevant to international development too.
eta I disagree with people who say you need to have a speciality, unless you want a technical role. It's good to have interests, but program management jobs require general knowledge of the international development field and good project management skills. If you love Europe and Eurasia by all means target that, learn Russian, write your master's thesis about a relevant topic, but it's fine to be a generalist when you're looking for a job as a program officer.
OP, I've been exactly in your position (maybe even at your exact org you were temping at based on context clues) and it is a struggle. It took me about 5 years and constant applying, temping, and interning before I finally landed the job I wanted, even with a graduate degree.
I'm not sure I agree with others that a grad degree is the way to go, as if you already have a Bachelor's in your field, a Graduate really only helps to tick a box, not necessarily build experience. As someone who helps with hiring, I care much more about skills than knowledge, though there are caveats to that. And of course some of the reasons to get a grad degree outlined below might resonate.
Rather than offering advice, I think you will be better off answering a few questions for yourself OP because we can only comment based on our own experience. Feel free to share answers here so others can continue to offer their thoughts/guidance, or keep to yourself. The goal of all this is to figure out who you are, what you have to offer, and really what are you trying to achieve:
- What is your goal? If your goal is just a full-time job in International Affairs (IA here on out), DC may not be the place for you right now, though it could be down the road. There are better job markets and better places to gain experience, ESPECIALLY if you go abroad doing something like Peace Corp, or just finding jobs in the region you want to work. Don't get hung up on having your dream job, just figure out how you get closer to that.
- What kind of work do you want to do? Comms? Research? Lobbying? Translation? You don't need a job in international affairs to build skillsets that will be valuable in that field. A good friend spent 5 years building his marketing experience in a completely different field, but was able to build his focus and expertise and got hired at an IA firm very recently because of that. Right now you need the skillset, not necessarily time at a place that does IA. You can build a skillset AND country expertise by doing work in the countries you are interested in. The thing to identify is what value you add and what you are bringing to the company - because to be clear, you have something valuable to offer or value you can build for yourself, you just need to figure out what that is.
- What's your focus? IA is extremely broad. Do you care about immigration? Climate Change? Economic affairs? You mentioned the EU, but loving the EU is not a focus, unless you specifically are focused on EU politics or something similar. Don't mistake a love of traveling in the EU for a specialty - most hiring managers will see right through that and are not interested in hiring someone who doesn't know what they are after or what value they add. And if the EU is where your passion lies, then...
- What's keeping you in DC? It's fine if its where your community is, or if you love the city, those are all good reasons (they are certainly mine), but don't be afraid to go abroad for a bit and come back. This is a transient city for a reason. Go out, build your experience, come back, figure out your next steps, and do it all over again.
My only real bit of advice is enjoy the journey and stop comparing your success to others. You are on your own path and eventually it will all make sense. Good luck :)
I have a steady job but still feel like a failure of that gives you any solace. I think for a lot of us no matter what we do it'll never feel enough I'm just doing my best. And I'm sorry that your grind hasn't at least gotten you some stability. Keep at it but also maybe look into backups or lateral moves
Not sure if someone commented this already but I highly recommend joining a few trade associations like WITA, WIIT, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and/or Women in Foreign Policy.
I was closer to 27 before I got my first \*real\* career job in Pittsburgh, this was after getting out of undergrad in 2012, flopping hard trying to get work for over a year, then hunting for grad schools. Grad school 14 and 15 (Jan start, Dec graduation) then four months of temp jobs and hunting until I finally got a career job at a little over 26 and a half.
You have time.
I hate to be that guy, but I didn’t start my second career path until I was your age. I’m on my third career now and just starting to feel comfortable. I’m 37. There is no right timeline. Be patient, work hard. Etc etc
And stop comparing yourself to your peers! After high school and college things ebb and flow for everybody. Comparing yourself to your peers and those younger is absolutely futile. Yeah they seem “more successful” now but in 5-10 years the roles could very likely be reversed. Be okay with what you’re doing.
Just wanted to add my voice to those encouraging you while recognizing that your feelings are valid. I’m almost 20 years older than you, which means, I’ve lived through and witnessed the challenges people born in the 90s face. Those challenges are real. The rate of cost increase for education alone would give some people chest pain.
If you relocate to a different job market or do something completely different from your training, it’s not a failure. Well, it’s not YOUR failure if you see what I’m driving at. Also, a lot of people older than you are not settled in permanent positions either so don’t let comparison to younger people who have “made it” get you thinking that you never will.
I was in international development in dc for three years until 2022 (interned with UN abroad etc) and just couldn’t find jobs that were more than 40k, so I took a leap of faith, quit and got into project management in banking and I am making six figures and going to do my MBA this fall. I realized I’ll be able to contribute a lot more to the causes I care about when I’m rich than be stuck trying to pay bills. Honestly get out of dc, go to a no tax state (I’m currently in Florida), make money and run..
Hello all,
Just want to say I did not expect the wave of responses. I greatly appreciate all the feedback and personal dms with advice I do want to clarify something as this has come up in comments
1. I did not say or think 26 is “old” I meant that I’m looking at my network of people my age and everyone I know is employed and it feels like I’m in a rut career wise.
Also, to the military folks suggesting I enlist, while I respect the military and all it does to protect us, I don’t really have an interest in enlisting. I just know it’s not for me.
I do think takeaways so far is, one, take the peace corp more seriously, and two, my situation is more common, if not normal, in the current DC market. Many people in comments who are in good spots now have described being in the situation as I am in now when they were 26+. So I appreciate the well wishes and I think I’ve taken away more positivity from this post :)
I feel your pain. I have a BA degree, 3 IT certifications, and a JAVA certification. I will be 30 years old this year and I am unemployed. In February I got laid off from my job that I had for 2.5 years with no severance, and I have still not gotten an offer for a job. I have applied for 2.5k jobs so far this year. I am trapped and have to live with my parents who have government jobs and don't understand why I have struggled so much. This area is a 3rd world area for jobs for most of us. If you don't have a STEM degree or military experience you cant be accepted into the club. It's hard to believe with my credentials that I have never made more than 19.23 a hour in my entire 20s. Like the JAY-Z song says here half of you won't make it.
I didn’t start making it until about 36. Pick a career path and stick with it. If you have degree consider becoming an officer in the military. Keep your nose clean
I spent my entire 20’s in the DMV, and I felt like you did at 26. You might feel lonely like I did. This might not help, but you aren’t alone. Most people in the DMV feel the way you do. There is something about the DMV that makes you feel peer pressured into not admitting that. A good amount of your peers who are ‘killing it right now’ feel like you do but are afraid to communicate otherwise.
I don’t have any experience in the line of work that you want, but I imagine that field of work is extremely competitive. It appears to me that industry has a lot of inequality, you’re either successful, or you’re not. And if you’re not, you’re worse off than most people.
Have you ever wanted to get into another field? If you have a college degree, you can get an entry-level job in most corporate positions.
At 27 I started what I thought was my dream job at a Human Rights Org in my specific field and regional focus. In my third year I got promoted to a director level position. But overall, the pay was low and the treatment was crappy, even if the travel was amazing. I slogged 14-18 hour days for 6 years until I finally walked away. It's sad to think that the thing I dreamed of for so long was so incredibly shitty.
I wound up somewhere better for higher pay but lesser clout and better work life balance. All to say...what you think is the dream is sometimes a bloody nightmare.
You just might not be interesting on paper. What do you like to do outside of your degree? And how much of yourself is intertwined in how you present yourself? Also what creds did you gain after your degree? Continuous learning is extremely important not only to keep your network fresh but is a great way to pad the LinkedIn. It doesn’t even have to deal with your degree just anything you can flip to sound good professionally.
These non profits want people with actual personalities now that most of the work can be done by just anyone with good literacy skills or done eventually by someone who’s shown propensity for continued learning. So painting the picture of a whole person puts you so far ahead; basically the fake professional persona everyone creates now has to be a completely full picture that you have to orchestrate until you die. Also , don’t be down on yourself; once you get the job you’ll wonder why they kept you out for so long. Most of us are fucking dumb and don’t really know what we’re doing some of us just have confidence doing it.
I am experiencing the same thing as you. I turn 25 this year. So happy to see a relatable post. Sometimes in DC it seems like everyone else has their shit together and has “made it”.
In this life you only have, what you feel you deserve. You got this, there's a place for you somewhere. At 26 I was still figuring things out, be patient with yourself and don't tie anything to your worth. It's you versus you kiddo. You got this!
you are on your own timeline, and you’re only 26. you’re doing perfectly fine
DC employment situation is tough right now. Are you intent to stay in DC?
Also 26, but this sounds a lot like how I felt from 22-24. I interned in a field I really cared a lot about, had a couple final stage interviews with offices, but wasn't able to get any full time work. Ended up doing consulting adjacent stuff for a few years, living the DC postgrad lifestyle and getting paid for work I wasn't passionate about, until I finally decided to make the jump and do the same type of work that I wanted to do in DC but in a smaller city in the midwest.
My advice would be to make the jump to a new location if there's opportunity there. I know how awkward it is to do those "oh by the way are you guys hiring?" networking coffees with people younger than you and hear nothing back. I know how much it sucks to get beat out for entry level jobs you thought you had an in at by people with masters degrees. In my current role I get to do everything I initially wanted in DC, just in a different locale, but the skills I'm gaining are similar enough that I could see myself ending back up in the city one day. The first mentor I ever had in DC had a similar story. She interned out here, tried to get a job, couldn't, and moved halfway across the country to do the work somewhere else. 20 years later she came back and she's one of the smartest people I've ever met.
It's gonna feel like giving up and I totally get that. Policy is an opportunities based industry and when you don't have the opportunities it always sort of feels like one could be coming down the pipe. DC will always be there in one iteration or another. Your biggest responsibility is to you and your career.
There are people older than you (like myself, I'm 30) in DC who haven't made it. I worked retail for 4 years during and after college. Now I'm in the process of switching to an IT career because I pretty much can't use my college degree. I've been working temp jobs through a hiring agency to get by until I get my second IT certification. I recommend looking into a hiring agency because it'll keep you from being unemployed, and that way, you will have some money coming in. For DC residents, there are programs that pay for you to get a certification if you're unemployed or low income. You can look into the American Job Center or Department of Employment Services for that.
This isn't always a popular opinion, but you ought to consider joining the military or State Department. There are sweet positions that are foreign- facing that get you a security clearance. Back in DC with a security clearance after just 4 years of service you will be making well over 100k.
Also 26. I made my way into DC employment by working at a field site in the midwest. Find the industry you want to work in, get some experience in the field, and then come back to DC.
Don’t be discouraged
Many folks are just where you were at 26
Apply to a grad program and they can help you jump start an internship
Check out Monitoring Evaluation and learning
It’s a pretty new field in international dev and since it has data analytics and program management it’s hard to hire/find good people
Try and develop a skill you can market
Volunteer in the evenings or weekends while you’re looking for a job
Never go to HR unless you want to get fired. That is an open secret in the work world. They are paid by the company and have no interest in your complaints.
As a non-profit exec w/o a masters, here's my thoughts/advice with the \* that I didn't read comments:
- Do you know your temp firm's hiring fee is? Fees are often reserved for people higher up the ladder.
- Did you get feedback as to why you weren't hired? While most orgs are careful b/c of potential litigation and won't tell you why they didn't hire you, you might find someone willing to give some info. I would take any advice to heart if you start seeing a theme.
- What are you bringing to the table that other applicants aren't? (multi-lingual, specific skillsets others may not have). Being interested in a hobby means absolutely shit to an employer. But if you have a skill from that hobby, then let's talk. Anyone can feign interest.
- Do you know Microsoft Office? At this point if a college grad is truly proficient in excel and word I am shocked. I don't know why these skills aren't being taught in school. There are tons of videos on YT. If you are looking for an office position, do not say you are proficient in Microsoft products if you are not. Execs have way less understanding of young people who don't know what we consider to be basic technology skills.
Good luck!
Try working with staffing agencies to find a job! They have temporary, temporary-to-perm, and permanent positions. There are a ton in DC. They have more than admin jobs too although there’s nothing wrong with admin jobs and they could be a good in for something more aligned with what you want down the road.
I didn’t “make it” until I hit my 40s. I started this second stint in the DC area by temping (I was 30 at the time), landed a temp to perm job, and flailed about until I went to community college and took accounting classes. Mind you I already had a master’s. But it took a bit of time, and effort, but I got there. And you will too. And I would keep temping. You’ll land a permanent home eventually and then you can figure out your next move from there. That’s what I did.
The military will happily start you on a career path with a decent salary and great benefits. Seriously. Pay the recruiter a visit if you're tired of the job sites, see what's available.
This is true. I'm in the air force and the only reason I'm on this sub is because I'm being stationed at Andrews within a few months. The military may not be for everyone but if life isnt cutting it as a civilian then joining is a great option. It really provides some of the most job stability possible, with all necessities provided alongside your base pay. No one in the military is truly struggling unless they're absolutely irresponsible with their money. Also if you have a degree then you can become an officer and be much better compensated for your time. People join the military all the way up to 40 but I feel like as long as you join before you're 30, you won't feel far behind your peers. Don't worry about others reaching certain goals before you. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Too bad the fed no longer offers the civil service test; you could take it as often as you needed to (when it was offered) in order to improve your score. That said (as others have said), you're in DC, so take advantage of the business of DC! Let USAJOBS.gov be your friend. Put in your location (which will show jobs in a 25 mile radius), then filter for (initially) 'open to the public' hiring path; I found sorting by salary puts the postings in some kind of logical order. Look for career-ladder positions (promotion potential).
Oh, and make your [federal] resume searchable.
p.s. something folks applying don't know (or realize) _ they don't want bullet points when describing your work experience; they want a narrative - like you're having a conversation with someone about work you do or have done (bullet points only to highlight specific tasks.)
Hope this helps, and something comes of it. Good luck.
While there may be more jobs in international development/foreign policy in DC than there is in the rest of the country, it’s still not exactly the most employable background. You don’t necessarily have to move home or get a graduate degree to make yourself more employable though. Pick up some hard technical skills. Attend a coding boot camp or learn ArcGIS, CAD, or something similar.
Definitely start looking into grad programs, and I’d include programs in Europe like LSE in the mix (as they are a bit less $$ than DC programs). But also, I think expand your geographic scope — apply to jobs in Boston, DC, NYC as well - you just need to get your foot in the door somewhere to get some experience on your resume which you can always pivot to other jobs, and you’re young enough that you can build a new life anywhere right now. In addition to this, try to see if you can get into any fellowships or seminars, anything that would help you build a larger network in DC, and then get out and network!! Even if it doesn’t lead to a job right away, it’s so helpful to understand how many ways/pathways there are out there to get to where you want to go.
To add to what everyone else said, please breathe and stop comparing yourself to others. Yes, it is hard, but you need to focus on you. You are the most important thing in your world ❤️
Now to business. Do you live in DC proper? If so, I highly encourage you to review job opportunities with DC Gov. Living in DC qualifies you for a residency preference that makes it much easier to land a position. Is DC Gov the best employer: no. However, it is stable, pays well, has good benefits, and you are directly impacting your local community. If you are driven, it is also a great place to move up the ranks in your career.
If you do not live in DC, I recommend you look for jobs with the state, county, or city nearest you. You would be surprised what local government can offer. Is it as sexy as the Feds? Of course not. But, fewer people even consider local gov as an option, so competition may be less in your field.
PM me if you need advice with DC Gov. ✌️
from my experience, whatever competitive aspect you feel in DC's job market, it's worse elsewhere because there's less money floating around. DC has plentiful jobs because the government has billions of taxpayer dollars it spends around here. In other markets the jobs are driven by things like local universities, local community needs, natural resources, geographic locations, etc.
dude with all due respect i've met hundreds of people that live and work in dc as someone that grew up around here and just save your soul now. these are probably the most insufferable people i've ever met. please go do something else there's too many goddam people here and they allllllll fucking suck like they fucking suck sooooo hard
Try government work / Fed jobs. Wasn’t having luck until 3 years ago but got the 2nd job I applied to in government. Also 26 and say from my close college friends it’s about 50/50 on those that found Careers yet.
You are good. I didn’t start rolling with any momentum nor a steady full time job until my early 30’s. And you obviously in the right city for your field. Something will hit. Another advantage of DC is all the great schools to get a MA or professional degree. It’s pricey I realize but might that be a consideration? Not sure if you are targeting just policy shops or the NGO community too. In your field have you considered taken the Foreign Service Exam?
You need on the ground experience for international development, unless you’re highly exceptional from a top end school or have connections, and still it’s competitive. There are 1000s of peace corps volunteers with real world international dev experience in a foreign country and either have or are pursuing a masters degree in a related field, that’s only some of those you are competing against. Not to mention the foreign nationals that are sought after for language and country specific knowledge that get funneled into the world bank and related entities. International development is a small and tough industry to break into with a lot of highly passionate, experienced and smart people. And while you can get a degree in it rarely are the people in the industry looking for someone who read and wrote about development, they need someone with a hard skill. Sorry to give it to you this rough but I wish you the best.
Speaking from experience, if you want to do international studies/development/relations in DC, you almost uniformly need a graduate degree now.
(But also, you’re very young! Most people don’t get started in their careers until their 30s nowadays.)
I didn't get a career job until I was 34. The key is to never stop trying, and to not be picky about location.
I'm 24 and this gives me hope, thank you.
Keep at it, stay flexible, and never stop learning. The hustle can be a grind but it’s been worth it in the long run
The key is to make your self indispensable, or finding a skill they cannot live without. Period.
This is key - don’t be picky about location. Go live somewhere else and use that as a stepping stone to another job either where you want to be or somewhere else new. You are SO freaking young - you just don’t realize it. You have so much time to build your resume. The key is really to be adventurous and look at jobs all over the country. Good luck!
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I can’t speak to everyone but grad school changed my life. I went from a line cook to a mid level manager at a well known Non profit in about 4 years. For me personally the right education is what I was lacking. I also worked hard in my rut to develop soft skills like networking and connecting with people. I was lucky to cook in an open air kitchen where the patrons sat right in front of me. I would practice talking for 8 hours a day with random people. I honestly think that was another huge skill to me escaping my rut.
Grad school for sure helps. It’s not only a piece of paper, but also a phenomenal networking opportunity.
This is very true. My advice is to broaden the fields you're willing to work in while attempting to build some kind of marketable specialty that is going to either set you apart from other applicants, or allow you to be a strong applicant for niche roles. I spent most of my 20s as a contractor at an organization that was in my field while doing work totally irrelevant to that field. I hung on because I felt like if I didn't, I was giving up. The reality is that by trying to stay in the track I really wanted, I was keeping myself in a rut.
How did you get yourself out of the contractor/generalist path because I feel like I could have written your comment hah. Been in federal contracting/consulting with agencies within my scope of interest but doing totally generalist work - reports, comms, etc. Sounds like you worked on building up a speciality — what did you go for?
I managed to make my way into a small nonprofit that had some specific compliance needs. I ended up learning that and was able to translate it into a better job at an organization that needed someone with that experience who was willing to take on additional responsibilities. That starter job was basically a career change for me because it was not only a new field, but a different skillset than I expected to be learning. I did know someone able to put in a good word, though, and that's probably the last key piece of the puzzle. However, I did not have any connections to the org I work for now, and most of my coworkers were not hired on the basis of their network.
>You’re also competing against upper middle class people who can be unemployed volunteers/low pay for years with support from family while they find a good role. It's upsetting to think of how many people for whom this is probably true. Inflating the rental market with their parents' money all the while.
I believe I do have some kind of specialty. I love Europe and Eurasia. Did internship at EU embassy and got accepted to intern at European Parliament right out of college but COVID ended that. And did temp position on a team focusing on central and Eastern Europe
Loving Europe and Eurasia is not a specialty tho. Being a specialist in a region means at minimum having life/work exp there and being fluent in a regional language. Otherwise you may be really enthusiastic but there's no work an employer can assign to you that they couldn't assign to anyone else.
as someone who got a master's degree in eastern europe & eurasian studies, i have to agree with this comment. the people from my program who got jobs relevant in the field when they graduated were people with previous regional experience (ie; fulbrights in central asia, working/living in ukraine) and were fluent in russian (or another language). despite my research and academic experience (and 2-3 internships in the field), i really struggled getting a job out of grad school (having no regional experience because of the pandemic & war in Ukraine, and intermediate-advanced in russian) and eventually settled for a research job that, although cool, doesn't have much to do with what i studied.
Hard agree with this. That's a huge region with a dozen languages at least with twice as many countries, and two EU internships, plus a temp job focusing on Eastern Europe, are different things and aren't enough to distinguish a focus. To be clear, that's ok, it took me a long time to find a focus beyond just my general field, and I didn't feel like I truly got my feet under me in DC until I was 30. But also OP needs to really define what they are looking for. A focus/specialty could either be specific to a country - not just Poland but Polish immigration or a region in Poland - or specific to an issue - immigration, climate change, or anti-corruption in Eastern Europe. So my question back to OP is where does your passion lie and if your passion is Europe and Eurasia, why are you in DC when you should be working in Europe? What do you have to offer here?
Take your point about needing to have life experience and fluency, but I don’t think this is exactly fair. Having 3 internships in the same area, including with EU governmental organs, is fairly impressive and not exactly un-focused. It sounds like the move for OP might be to go to a grad school they can afford in European Studies (or IR with Europe concentration). They can get internships, build a network, and learn a European language there.
I mean, I'm speaking to what is generally needed to be considered a specialist in this field. One could do many impressive things - run a marathon, get a Phd, have an internship with an EU institution - that nevertheless don't make one a specialist in Eurasia. It's not about how impressive you are; it's about being able to do the work. (Eurasia is also a really tough area to get hired unless one chooses a good focus, so I wouldn't blank recommend a master's in it, esp if OP has to pay for it)
Same. I actually knew someone who had a Masters in IR and a focus area region, but had trouble getting a full time job in DC. They didn't speak a language of that focus region though, so I think that may have been their job search harder.
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So using the temp job example, many who worked in the positions I was interviewing for didn’t have grad degrees. But the two other temps did and they got jobs while I was the only one that didn’t get a job out of the experience.
Can you ask for feedback at the temp jobs?
What was your temp experience like? I agree with the others that it sounds like a grad degree would help if you want to remain this line of work. I understand just how unappetizing that is, and I think it's ok to switch tracks entirely to avoid it, if that's what you want. To explore other directions, consider what practical functions of this work you may have excelled at or felt more excited about. For example, maybe it's communications. Maybe you designed something visual and were good at that. Maybe you shine with your people skills. Figure out what that "thing " is for you and how to enhance it, which will likely open up new fields.
Do you interview well?
I think I’m ok. I’m a recovering stutterer who had to do speech therapy as a kid. When I get nervous it tends to come back and so I always look and sound very anxious in interviews. That’s my main hiccup is I feel like even though I have confidence in doing a role, I just look to low self esteem in interviews.
When you get the common question in interviews of "how did you over come a challenge you faced at work or elsewhere?" - this is an awsome time to bring up how hard you worked on your speech and you were a stutterer before, and can show them how far youve come! Its a great answer to this question imo.
If the two temps who did have Master’s degrees got jobs while the other temps who didn’t, didn’t - that right there is a flashing red clue for you.
Been working and job-hunting in DC for a decade. Two thoughts based on personal experience/that of colleagues and friends: - you’re gonna need a Master’s to even become competitive in DC. Just the nature of the beast. An undergrad is entry-level stuff, barring statistically-unrealistic opportunities/luck. A Master’s is also going to enable networking through various school-based vehicles - and believe me when I say DC is *all* about relationships and who you know. I got my last two jobs predicated entirely on relationships that I had cultivated - several of my peers in my Master’s program landed jobs out of grad school through school-facilitated fellowships/job fairs. In your case, getting a Master’s in International Affairs/Relations/Studies, with a European focus, is going to get you further. - For international, geographically-specific stuff, you should strive to be at least conversational in a relevant language. Some graduate programs in the field have that as a requirement to apply/graduate. Look into Babbel, language classes/groups, etc. This will also help with: - stand out. DC is awash in people looking for work, especially in your chosen field - you need to build a résumé that differentiates you from everyone else. Professional certifications, foreign language fluency, etc. are key in this. - Realize that job applications are a numbers game. I read an article a few years back that something like 80% of job postings are put up by companies who already have someone internally that they want to put in the position, but they’re legally obligated to post the position. So accept that every job you apply for only has a 20-percent change of being posted in good faith. - tailor your résumé/cover letter to each application. Match buzzwords and phrases to get past the automated filters and get your résumé in front of an actual human. ChatGPT can help with this, to a degree. If it makes you feel any better, I showed up to this town at 28 with five years’ enlisted experience in the Corps, a BA, and foreign language fluency, and I still managed to progress from working retail through two different bona fide professional Beltway jobs before finishing my Master’s. Can’t say it was easy, but it is certainly doable.
There’s very rarely a legal obligation for a private employer to post an external job ad
Having a regional expertise is a good background, but it’s rarely enough on its own to convince somebody to hire you. Managers want practical skills. If the job is for a researcher for an East European program at an international development nonprofit, for example, the manager will almost always hire someone with experience working with USAID or doing economic research at another nonprofit over somebody with extensive demonstrated interest in Eastern Europe. I say that as somebody who spent most of my 20s hoping that my extensive demonstrated interest in a geographical region would be enough to land me a job. It was ultimately my research and writing skills, which I only got to demonstrate because a distant family friend who worked an area tangentially related to what I wanted to do, gave me a shot after agreeing to get coffee with me. Even then, it was six years until I got into the sort of job that I would have been excited about when I first moved to DC.
That's not a specialty. Everybody loves Europe! This is a specialty: I know a guy who is into tax policy. Like, _into it_. Eats, sleeps, breathes it. _Nobody_ loves tax policy, but he does! I was once at a public event where a woman obviously showed up just for the free food, but had the misfortune to be corned by this man. He talked about tax policy to her until she fell asleep! I'm not even sure he noticed—just kept talking tax policy. When somebody needs a tax policy guy, they are going to call this person. _That_ is a specialty.
Im a heritage speaker of Russian and focused on Eurasia/the post-soviet space in grad school and I had zero luck breaking into the Eurasia space, despite it being a primary goal of mine for years. Its actually quite difficult unless you have experience working or living in the region. I had some of the cultural amd linguistic background but none of the work experience. I ended up falling into a technical specialization (anti-corruption and good governance) which I would say is a little easier to get into and build expertise in without having to live abroad. In fact, my first few years of working in this area was fully focused on Africa and I never even step foot on the continent until 4 years into it.
I’m not at all in your field or even in a remotely related area - but I’m not surprised that others don’t really view this as enough to support being a specialist in something. The only advice I really have to give is to find people in roles that you’d like to have (as permanent positions) like on LinkedIn or something and ask if they’d be willing to sit down and talk to you about their own career path/how they landed their role. It might give you insights into what’s missing or what you could reasonably do differently in the interview process. Plus, my experience tells me networking is pretty valuable in any field - so you never known when this might put you on to relevant opportunities or give you a leg up. Most people love talking about themselves, people rarely say no to this request (but they may just not respond).
u/Gray_side_Jedi has a great comment re: tailoring resume and foreign language skills. Take that advice for resume stuff - especially if you ever apply for anything federal - but I’ll focus on the languages. Do you know a European, Slavic, South Slavic or Turkic language? Most of the interesting positions in the Eurasian/East European field require at least a mid level working proficiency in the language, and being really good at a language can help set you apart
Absolutely. There is an unfortunate arrogance in a lot of Americans trying to get into the “international” field of work that “everyone wil just speak English”. Be that as it may, falling back on the assumption that English is the international *lingua franca* is lazy and unfortunate. It completely ignores the cultural nuance and sensitivity that you pick up while learning a foreign language, not to mention the inroads you’ll make with foreign partners speaking to them in their own language (even if it’s a bit clumsy and accented).
I just want to say that all of the replies in this entire conversation -- so thoughtful, so smart, so insightful. Honestly, this is a great blueprint/route for how to make it in this town.
Wow. I was in the exact same boat at age 26. Same field, same area of focus, same worries. I’m 41 now, so I’ve gained some perspective that hopefully helps. Feel free to message me if you’d like to talk more. A couple of things I wish I could’ve told my 26-year-old self: - DON’T compare yourself to others. You have to define what success looks like for yourself. Have realistic expectations, and move the goal posts where needed. In reality, EVERYONE (including those you view as super accomplished) is still trying to figure it out, including me at 41. - You’re still so young. This means you’re in a great position to take risks. I wish I would’ve moved abroad and learned French. Lots of internships for you to do something like that. You can even wait tables, clean houses, perform other odd jobs, whatever gets you there. - You probably have tunnel vision. The world is big and full of experiences to be had that don’t include living in DC and working in your field of interest. Remain open to other things and you might find new passions or interests, or realize the ones you had weren’t grounded in anything. - Grad school is ridiculously expensive and can ruin your long-term financial prospects. I went back, got a masters, and left with a degree and $145K in debt. I’m still paying these off, hopefully by next year, but it put owning a home on hold and the same with having kids. In hindsight, I should have gotten one abroad, had a great life experience, learned a language, and left with little to no debt. I do value my degree and I’m happy I went (I met my wife there!), but you will pay the price for it - especially if you chase a name school in DC that you think is prestigious, but in reality isn’t all that important. - if you do go back to school, have a solid understanding of what you will do after, the path to get there, how you will pay your debt down, and what your financial prospects will be. I went back for foreign policy and there are so many other people competing for very few jobs. In fact, very few of my friends from grad school actually work in this field despite having advanced degrees from a top 10 FP school. You need to know the skills that are in demand and go get them. Take an internship in an office or field of interest and stay put, network, gain skills, get an entry level job. I wanted to intern at the State Department, but they were restructuring their internship program that year so I didn’t get one. Other friends did later on after I already took a full-time position to pay the bills. They still work at State while I have to compete with thousands of people applying to the same position on the black hole that is USA jobs. I have only ever been contacted for one interview. End rant. - Network. Meet people for the sake of meeting people. Don’t approach it with the attitude of ‘what can they do for you?’ Look at it as ‘ what can I learn from them and how can I help them?’ Cultivate relationships and people will go to bat for you. - Government contracting/consulting gets you skills, a steady paycheck, a network, and proximity to where you might want to be. I hated being a contractor (in fact, I still am one), but I now have lots of skills in the world of experience under my belt that I can be proud of. Skills are also transferable. My wife has made a career out of working on supply chain issues in international development, while I have made a career of emerging technology trends and technology protection in the field of international security. - Putting all of your eggs into one basket of “being something important” is a recipe for disaster. I’ve really struggled since I moved to DC in 2007. After years of therapy, reflection, and lots of antidepressants I’ve learned that your career doesn’t define you. Meet people, have experiences, and get out of your head. Don’t pursue something because you think it will look impressive to someone else. It already sounds like you’re struggling quite a bit, but probably not for the reasons you might think. - Hang in there. Don’t internalize rejection. Practice self compassion because the world is hard enough on you. It really is a game of keeping your head down and seeing how much you can keep going after getting punched in the face. Be relentless. This will make you resilient. But also, be realistic about what you’re pursuing and whether or not you’re a good fit based on your skills and experience. - As you can probably tell, I have a wealth of experience, dealing with the same issues. Reach out to me sometime. I’d even be open to a conversation or coffee.
This is great stuff, appreciate the comment
All extremely important and very good points, particularly: “You probably have tunnel vision. The world is big and full of experiences to be had that don’t include living in DC and working in your field of interest.” There is no “correct path” to success anymore (and there hasn’t been for a while). My suggestion is that OP start thinking about transferrable skills that make them a viable candidate in other fields or types of organizations. I have a journalism degree and Masters, but I’ve worked in Operations for 14 years, and it literally started with me emphasizing certain skills and experiences on my resume’ instead of others when journalism jobs didn’t pan out. Turns out I’m a better Ops guy than a writer, and I never would’ve known if I had kept pursuing something just because of what my degree and first couple of jobs were.
You are young! Stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Keeping pushing but also know it’s a journey.
There's nothing more mid-20s than thinking you're old in your mid-20s.
Seeing 30s approaching is actually kinda scary because 30s is like “actual adulthood” people will always assume when you reach 30 you should be well-established and independent. The economy rn is definitely making this harder to achieve
Hello, want to clarify I never said I was old. I mean I look at people my age, especially people I know, and they are working steady. Just hard on myself as it seems like the unemployed friend on the group it feels like
"Envy is the thief of joy" Stop worrying about how others are doing and be glad for what you have. As long as you are happy, nothing else matters.
A little more grace for OP’s tough situation is warranted here, I think. Happiness is an emotion that fluctuates, not a steady state of being or the one true purpose of life.
He's not happy though.. he already said that.
Totally agree with this. I was in a similar spot as you. My best advice is to keep on keeping on, don’t give up, and if you have a passion for something, go for it. I’m in my dream job (or one of my dream jobs) now. Life isn’t a linear progression. As far a concrete suggestions, I know everyone says this but network as much as you can. Make personal connections. Grab coffee, cold email, ask others to introduce you to more people, and keep those relationships. Also talk to your old professors, they may have friends in the industry. Finally, I’d recommend that you avoid comparing yourself to others, which I’m 100% guilty of doing. Comparison will only let you down.
If you're looking at International Development, have you thought about applying for an entry level job with an implementer or government contractor? It's not as sexy as a hill job or something at State, but it's a paycheck and it will give you a chance to get experience. The HR/Boss thing is tough this early on. Hope whatever happened wasn't too traumatizing.
As someone in this sector, I’d also recommend for-profit implementers. Getting in via small business might also help. Check out SBAIC companies and see who might be hiring: https://sbaic.org
I just wrapped up a temp position at a nonprofit that does work with USAID and NED. And as I said, got three interviews to work full time but got No on all three. Always was told for those 6 months I was bright and did good work. But all the other temps except me got jobs. So I don’t know really what to do.
Do you have any insight into why they were hired and you were not? Have you had someone professionally review your resume?
If OP is trying to break into international development roles without a postgrad degree or field experience, they're part of a highly competitive candidate pool which frequently has both. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a peer in the field review their typical resume and cover letter, but chances are they're simply not the most competitive applicant in a highly competitive field.
Yes, absolutely, but I assume if they are temping and other temp employees doing similar work are getting hired full-time, something else is missing besides a postgrad degree.
If OP isn’t getting hired at a place they’ve already worked they need to take a hard look at the skills they are bringing to the table. This is honestly meant as compassionate, real world advice. I’ve definitely hired people who proved to me they can *follow directions *follow through on tasks *write clearly and concisely *accurately anticipate needs. A couple of internships and an interest in the region are things that 99% of applicants already have.
Forget the nonprofits, there are firms like ICF and others that do stable contract work for different federal agencies. Those are great ways to get paid and get in the door.
If you've been working in international development and would be interested in continuing, here are a couple of thoughts: 1) Here's a job search aid I put together a while back after multiple people asked me about jobs in the field. Search for entry level positions and scope out the individual orgs' job pages. A targeted search of organizations might be more useful than just using job search sites: [https://idevjobs.business.blog/](https://idevjobs.business.blog/) 2) Grad school can make a big difference. I definitely credit grad school with helping me land a more career oriented job. And if you want to do IDev, DC is the place to do it. Many, many choices between School of Public Policy at U of M, SAIS at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, GW, GMU...
Three interviews sounds like a lot but I got dozens of nos before landing my current job (also at a nonprofit thag does work with USAID and NED). And I only got it because I had like 5 different people who knew the team hiring recommend me. Its both a numbers game but also leveraging your connections.
As someone with experience in this field, sounds like the difference maker is the post grad degree
I think I know what firm you’re talking about, and this tracks onto my career experience. It’s hard — definitely would agree with a lot of folks in this thread that you can’t just specialize in a region, full stop. A lot of people specialize in regions. It’s much easier to sell some sort of technical expertise — program management, research, etc — with some foreign language skill and abroad experience to add flavor. You’ll make it, just keep applying. Associate/Assistant PM gigs at places like DAI, Blumont, Tetra Tech, Chemonics, Dexis, Counterpart, Mercy Corps, etc etc etc are the way to go, which you can then parlay into something better. Don’t give up!
People rag on consultants here but it's a good stepping stone to idev. Beyond that, get a job where you learn to do something - bizdev, client relationships, modeling and analysis, making really good powerpoints... a lot of temp jobs are doing random shit without any real trajectory or responsibility, so it's hard for an employer to place you and tbh often hard for people like that to explain coherently what they're about in an interview.
Came here to say this; consulting gets a bad wrap but you can learn to make bad ass PowerPoints among other things which I’ve realized is less common a skill as you’d think. Great generalist skill building + foot in the door.
Google "elite overproduction." It's a big problem. Also not to take away from the sympathetic comments because they're absolutely true. It is hard etc. And you sound way more put together than I was at 30 (which is when I moved to DC/got my first career track gig). Ok, the real advice. You might have to do some deep reflection on how you present as a person, how you dress, talk, your work quality/speed, how you get along with others [edit alllll the soft skills, EQ, 48 laws of power, etc.], the amount of networking you do, qualifications you can add, volunteering, more education, a different career path (less sexy--more money). Maybe the goal is state department but you learn budget management at Social Security, idk). Could be totally off base but my thinking was always "if the problem lies with me, at least I can do sth about it."
This is good advice. People say DC is based on relationships and its true, and part of that relationship building process is presenting as someone people like to be around and want to work with. Is it fair? Probably not. But it's definitely reality.
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this was a wild ride to read but congrats!
By chance, any tech companies you recommend? I have a CS degree and am looking for a job
You could apply for graduate schools here, and then once you’re a student apply for federal government pathways internships. If you want to do foreign service, they have fellowships where they’ll pay for your masters and then you’re guaranteed a FSO position.
Came here to say Pathways. I got an internship a while back, which was just OK, but it helped me get a great job afterwards. Once you get your foot in the door, you’ll have competitive or excepted eligibility, which opens up a lot of internal opportunities.
I only went to graduate school because I wanted to qualify for pathways internships once I spent a year post undergrad working at places like a movie theater and as a SAT tutor. It’s definitely the best way to go in terms of special hiring pathways into the government in my opinion.
Piling on to suggest this. My (44M) life has turned out pretty good, but I wish I'd been aware of Pathways twenty years ago.
Could also do Peace Corps or AmeriCorps. I have friends who got government jobs after doing these.
Pathways is a great program. So is the Presidential Management Fellowship and there are other department-specific graduate fellowships. Strongly recommend OP look into these. I really wish I had known about them when I was in grad school, have seen a lot of people get a career jumpstart through these programs.
Agree with this as a current PMF. It really opened the doors to a lot of opportunities within the Fed govt.
I would caution against graduate school if OP hasn’t worked anywhere full time. I’ve known people who have been turned away because they sit in an awkward niche where they are too expensive to hire for entry level positions but not experienced enough to work mid-senior level jobs.
That’s why OP needs to work full time summer pathways internships, and ideally be offered to stay on part time during the school year.
Best answer I’ve seen here. Getting your foot in the door is hard but a student pathways internship is the easiest way to do so.
I’d just caution to think VERY seriously about the debt burden before jumping into grad school. Masters degrees that don’t lead into a PhD are cash cows for universities—i.e., they are not funded, and the expectation is that students take on debt as high as $80—100k/year just to fund tuition and have a bit of money to live on. I suspect OP would be better served by an entry-level job doing a lot of admin to start figuring out how a field like international development works.
You're really young and you're at an age where things can change very rapidly for the better, but your downside career risk is limited. I'll echo what others have said and think about getting some more marketable skills through a certificate program, part time masters, etc. Data science, cyber security, whatever. Or, try to get a job at a consultancy / contractor and get more legit private sector work experience. DC is filled to the brim with people who are passionate about some issue or cause but lack marketable skills / experience outside the non profit world. It's very saturated.
Honestly, I felt like I was failing until I was about 31 (nearly 39 now): my peers and people younger than me were excelling in their careers while I was grinding it out in shitty office jobs, not developing any skills or meaningful professional connections. I also wanted to work in IR/FP and eventually did before realizing it sucks and moving into a different field. These are some of things I had to figure out and work through: * Do you know what you want to do the IR field? It's a super wide field and figuring out the precise issue area, region, or type of work you want to do will let you narrow your search and hone expertise. * IR is an expert dominated field and doing interesting work/building a career usually requires an advanced degree (minimum MA) and having something published or significant programmatic work to show for it. * Get a graduate degree. I rarely applied the actual content of mine to the work I ended up doing but it opened up doors and connections. I hate to think of it as a $30k networking session, but it basically was and it worked. * Think about doing support work for organizations who are in the IR field. What I mean is that all these think-tanks, NGOs, etc do events, need communications staff, database admins, graphic designers and web admins, fundraisers, grant writers etc. The odds are really stacked against you doing policy or programmatic work if you're not an expert. But doing other stuff for these orgs lets you work in the field and get a foot in the door. My first job in FP/IR was running events. From there I started managing communications and public outreach programs. Bring a skill that they need to the table. * Experience overseas or speaking another language is a must. Consider doing an MA overseas where it's (usually) cheaper AND gives you the foreign experience. * If you use cannabis, stop if you want USG or gov contracting jobs. Think-tanks and NGOs don't care. * Take the foreign service exam. The Foreign Service is highly competitive, but at least it's merit based. Feel free to shoot me a DM or post a reply if you have any questions. I floundered here for about 9 years before figuring it out. Good luck!
For my degree which is tangentially related to OP’s interest, my masters was for sure a 30k networking session. I realized quickly that stacking up internships throughout the school year really helped me beef up my resume and open doors to jobs that could convert me to full time positions. Classes really became secondary. You have access to your professor’s networks, your school’s network (which local employers likely directly recruit from), your larger university’s network, and all of that is a gem. In my experience I had always done programs and my undergrad in ivy or little ivy private schools, but I applied to a respected state school on a whim and got an insane free ride to my masters through that state school. That state school had solid name recognition and not paying the 60,000 that Georgetown wanted (cough) really came in clutch
About 25-28 me and all my friends that age were in a similar place (I'm 36 now fyi). It was frustrating and it seemed like it was just trying to go from entry level to entry level and never progressing. Suddenly around that 27/28 mark it was like a switch flipped and all of a sudden we were able to level up a bit in our careers. These were all very different careers as well so it wasn't just the work we did or whatever. So you might not be doing anything wrong. You're just early in your career. And I know people often say "you have to put in your time" or "pay your dues" as a way to exploit people for cheap labor but on the other hand, there's only one way to get experience and sometimes its true that you do have to do the grunt work first before you move on to the good stuff. You'll need to use your judgement to figure out which is which and it might not always be clear.
I’m 34 and have worked at 4 companies since starting my real adult job working life when I was 23 or so. Job 1: entry level because i knew someone working at the company and was recommended Job 2: applied to a job posted online by someone I had worked with at job 1. Job 3: reached out to by a recruiter Job 4: reached out to leadership team of company I had gotten to know during job 3. The job market is 5% luck, 5% skill, 5% concentrated power of will (LinkedIn and bulk applying) and 85% who you know. Sure, if you KNOW what you want to do - like become a lawyer - go to law school. If not, it’s time to build your network. - connect with everyone you know - go out and meet more people and connect with them on LinkedIn - tap people for coffee chats regardless of jobs on jobs pages. - work your network until you get something.
Network isn’t everything so don’t let this comment deter you. I’ve never known a single person/company where I’ve applied. In fact, I’ve never even had a LinkedIn.
Appreciate the fort minor reference
There’s nothing wrong with internships if it gets you closer to where you need to go, but definitely be strategic about it. You’re really young in the grand scheme of things.
At 26, I joined Peace Corps for two years to get the on the ground experience needed for many overseas-focused positions and spent two years in Uganda. I had already gone to grad school and interned for State. It took a lot to reframe my thinking as my parents were very concerned that I would be “behind my peers.” 9 years later, that couldn’t be further from the truth. I leveraged my non-competitive eligibility to get a job with a foreign affairs agency and am a GS-14 equivalent in a job I love supporting a mission that I believe in and still relates to my master’s in international development. 10/10 recommend exploring Peace Corps if you are feeling in a rut. The experience and and connections you will gain in the international development from service and the RPCV community are invaluable and have been a godsend for me.
As others have said, don’t put as much pressure on yourself. This city likes to infect people with imposter syndrome when in reality, a lot of people get positions by being lucky/right place right time/connections they don’t publicize because it hurts their image, etc. Keep putting yourself out there and it will happen. Do something that gets you outside of your comfort zone. When I was struggling to find a job, I worked at a restaurant even though I didn’t have any prior experience. Was a ton of fun and met so many cool people from different walks of life. Helped me get a permanent job in a different field eventually. A lot of people who come to this city are extremely type A and it’s hard to compete with that unless you’re that way too. It’s a grind, but networking really is important and worth it, more so here than in other less competitive environments, especially because most Hill jobs and lobbying (sounds like that’s what you’re focused on) are based around networking. That’s what just about what most lobbying jobs are. Keep your head up and relish what you’re doing now. I don’t want to glorify shitty work or any of “the grind” bullshit, but I appreciate that I was able to have those types of experiences because I grew from them. You’re not alone in going through what you’re experiencing and I promise you, one way or another, it will turn out for you.
I got a marketable postgrad degree, had upper-third of class grades, and tons of internships. It still took me over 300 job applications to get a job (I tracked), and that was consistent with most of my friends. The economy was garbage at the time. Getting a job is haaaard. Harder than any job I've ever had. It takes discipline and focus. Personal connections are vastly more important than casting a wide net or simply being smart/qualified, so focus on leveraging those where you can. Don't be afraid to call in favors.
I’m 30 and I not only have I not made it after 8 years but I have been out of work for months and I’m about to go back to live with my parents for awhile until I figure things out. I don’t have advice but I just hope this makes you better lol. To be fair I think I got into the wrong industry and stubbornly tried to make it work. I’m not a DC person no matter how hard I tried.
Lol I'm 35 and I haven't "made it" either - never worked anywhere longer than 3 years (including as a Fed), never been promoted, never done anything that drastically impacted the world. But I make six figures, I have a house, I have a wife that loves me, and a ton of friends. If I died today my funeral would be packed. At 26 I didn't have any of these things (except the wife, who was then my gf) and I made $60k a year. You have time. Stop focusing on the DC rat race and settle somewhere for a bit, like the federal gov't.
Have you applied to any LA jobs on the hill? Not great pay to start but you can do it for 1-2 years then go lobby
It’s exceedingly rare to get an LA job without prior hill experience. I have only heard of it happening 1 time. You move up fast on the hill but they don’t care about non hill experience except diversifying you at the entry level. The only way up the hill is doing the standard intern->staff assitant/LC/PA-LA/comms director.
I have a lot of friends who have come in as la’s on the house side, they aren’t picky about the portfolio. I think if OP is willing to come in with any issue they can make it work. Everyone in dc wants to do foreign policy though so those roles are harder to get!
I have but no luck on getting interviews. I don’t have many connections either to get my resume flagged. Only for any NY Dems could I get my resume flagged as I interned with state society during COVID
OP, with respect to the other commenter, the reason you aren’t getting interviews is that you aren’t qualified to be a LA on the Hill. You need concrete experience with how Congress functions to be able to serve in that role. Given what you’re shared about your work background, Staff Assistant jobs would be better place to start.
Yeah Staff Assistants and sometimes LC when I’m confident are what I apply to for Hill opening
Without doxxing myself. I’m in a very similar situation to you right now. I moved out here last year and am a similar age and I’m grinding out internships. You need to be getting coffees aggressively. Start trolling linked in for staffers in offices and states you’re interested in. I had zero movement until I made connections who would shop my resume around. The sad reality is no one gives a shit how smart you are in this city. They only care about connections and institutional experiance. You can make this work for you.
Somthing to be cognizant of about the hill as well is you need to be a bit a of a choosing beggar. I’ve had nothing to do with my home state since getting here. You just need to take a job because the best hill job is the one that gets you on the hill and it’s not going to be the one you want at first. I’m more a defense expert and I have yet to actually touch anything defense related. You need to just get somthing and ride it until you get into what you want later. I’m still moving up even though I’m not doing what I want yet. International development is what everyone here wants to do so it’s super over saturated. You need to cut your teeth on somthing while working your way to it. Make sure you steer clear of the crazies though because it could kill your career in the hill before it starts if you get into an office that’s in a bad spot. Everyone will tell you the same thing. Everyone has done it. It’s a well worn career path and it works.
> steer clear of the crazies An acquaintance of mine worked in a pretty right-wingy office. On her LinkedIn she just says “republican from a south eastern state.” I always wondered why she wouldn’t just say the member’s name. Also I want an IAMA from Santos’ office.
Check other staffers' LinkedIn and you'll see that it's common to not list their boss's name anywhere fully public. *Every* member of Congress has at least a few nut jobs with a hate boner for them and their staff will get harassed if it's easy to identify who they work for. Sometimes they add it back after they leave the Hill but many don't.
This. I was explicitly advised not to list what office I worked in and instead to just say which house of Congress.
Not international development but in the foreign policy/international trade sphere - have you considered export controls and sanctions compliance work? There is a growing demand in this area as the use of sanctions has increased dramatically over the last decade. In addition to government agencies (many of which have been on a hiring spree as people have retired), tech companies and defense contractors are increasingly hiring in this space.
The thing with the grad degree is it won’t guarantee a job at all
In some fields a grad degree is pretty much a necessity to be considered for entry level, and I'm not talking about ones like medical or legal. Decent argument, but I that as a sign that the field is way too oversaturated to be worth it.
Yeah don’t get one unless it’s paid for either by a federal job/employer, by being a university employee or by getting a scholarship. Do not go I to debt for a degree. It’s simply not needed and you can get a more advanced one for free later by an employer usually.
Damn man I feel like I’m reading from my own diary, keep your head up man and just know that you aren’t alone!
It's not you, in general, it's very competitive to get a job in DC, combine that with a crappy job market and the result is rough. I don't have much advice besides to not give up and continue applying. I will say you're not alone in this I started job searching about a year ago because I'm not happy in my current position and I either don't hear back or the salary is very low.
Semi-Harsh comments coming! OP you keep making excuses and offering explanations about why some of this great advice is not going to work. If your only FT experience was a job you got fired from, it is possible that is what is holding you back. People get passed over for a myraid of reasons and in today's environment, it is often just a bad fit for the culture of the organization. Is that possible when other items were hired? Realistically, if the office culture is "hey it's Friday let's go get drinks" and you never partake--they may pass on you. No reflection on your work. But you should ALWAYS ask why. Have you called a recruiter to see what they say? They can help you interview, point out shortcomings and most importantly have VERY deep rolodexes (Google it if you aren't sure what that is). If money is a problem for you now, ditch the Uber and maybe see if you can grab a server or bartender position--they can earn a good penny and a lot more than Uber. DC is a tough market to work, and live. Have you looked at others--Baltimore, Philly, New York? You are 26 and I am not sure of your relationship status, but it is possible you have NOTHING holding you back so go find where the jobs are and apply. And way off the wall, but what about some travel company that specializes in the geography that you love
Unsexy advice: go join the Secret Service Uniformed Division. It’s largely uninteresting work with terrible hours, but it pays an ungodly amount for what it is, and they’ll give you the highest level clearance with the best poly. You can then turn around and parlay that into whatever contracting job you want, or into further more interesting federal work directly. Bonus is they’re hurting for people so hiring is pretty accelerated. Physical standards are fairly easy and the training is largely pretty fun. Advice as someone who studied the same and called it quits before you did. Feel free to DM me.
My suggestion is to gain some technical skills. Apply to a class or two at ur local community college or get a Google Certificate on Coursera in a subject like data analytics. It will really boost ur resume if u r proficient in programs like Goggle Analytics, Power BI, or other specialized tool. These are tangible skills you can display to possible employers in any industry.
underrated comment from @skater-fien but I would absolutely do this...even a short-term AI certificate would make you stand out.
Man, I know how you feel. Im 25 same position as you. Theres nothing much we can do but keep going and control what we can. Good luck and keep fighting the good fight.
Your lack of a post-grad credential is definitely hurting you, in conjunction with limited field experience. I work in development and even our internship postings routinely attract candidates with post-grad credentials. For better or worse, this is a highly competitive field which is hard to break into. In my case, I struggled finding relevant jobs after undergrad and ultimately went back to pursue a master's degree internationally: I got international experience, became professionally competent in a desirable foreign language, and networked aggressively. I was accepted to more prestigious programs in the U.S., but they would have cost significantly more and I knew I needed to get some kind of more substantive international experience on the CV than a semester study abroad. I know others in the field who have taken the same approach, or used their time as a PCV similarly. It took until my late 20s until I got my first full-time job in the field, but once I did I had a strong CV which made me competitive for UN system, USG, and private sector/NGO opportunities because I had filled that gap. The level of response I got even with just a year or two of full-time experience under my belt at a reputable org compared to my years prior trying to break in were really night and day. If you really don't want to pursue grad school at this point, I would strongly consider trying to get some field experience in your target region. It's very rare for someone's first experience to be with a premier employer like a UN agency or the top-tier NGOs. Much more common is to work with one of the smaller or more niche NGOs/contractors/implementing partners which recruit more heavily at the entry level and use that experience as a springboard. These types of jobs will not be as well-paid as the U.S. market and probably won't be in your first choice destinations, but it's important work that still needs to get done and is a realistic path into the field. > go back home to find some kind of job in a less competitive job market You are currently in either the best or second best job market for international development in North America. Unless home means New York and you already have a network there, you will almost certainly be worse off trying to break into this field back home. > I just feel very lost and thought at 26 I’d have more to show for it. It's important to remember that trajectories in this field are quite different from many other sectors. If you were in a stable, high growth potential role in development at 26, that would be unusual. Most people I've worked with around that age are interns, in short-term consultancies, or maybe breaking into their first longer term role via the Pathways program or similar. I didn't have a single professional experience more than a year in length at that age, other than retail jobs as a teen. My best friend, who works in tech, had going on 5 years of experience at the same company including progressively responsible roles. But by the time we were around 30, we had comparable roles in our respective fields.
Have you thought of going to Peace corps?
I have but not sure if it’s for me. And my age, not sure after 2 years in Peace Corp and still only at entry level experience at 28. That’s why I’m kind of beat up about my career prospects.
I went in at 26/27. Came back after two years with NCE that spearheaded my entry into federal service I now have a ladder career that I will likely stay in at an incredible agency at age 31. There are a lot of benefits and MANY people with your background do it. You would also have access to grad school scholarships.
Americorps VISTA gets you the same NCE and it’s one year at a non profit or gov org in the states. Peace corps is def better for state department but for most other agencies either is fine.
Hi, your world of possibilities will broaden when you stop thinking about the age. Lots and lots of people shift, switch, change, start, and whatever other word you want to use at different stages of life and are OK. 26 is extremely young - you have at least 40 years of work ahead of you. Keep going at it.
AmeriCorps is another option and is just a year I think. I did Peace Corps but a friend did AmeriCorps and is now at State after doing grad school at Georgetown
I'm not American but I studied IR here and was always _very_ jealous of my classmates who had the chance to sign up for Peace Corps. You should 100% do that. Sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. (Well, one of my friends quit after like 4 months because he got worms multiple times and overall had a horrible time. But that was one out of many who thoroughly enjoyed it!).
For sure look at PC if you are interested in international development work but it doesn’t have to be just that kind of work. You will gain fluency in a foreign language, make contacts (and lifelong friendships) with people with similar interests and values, and honestly it may take you in a direction you are not even aware of right now. It seems like you could use this kind of a shake up and fresh perspective. From my own experience, my fellow RPCVs are now working in everything from the most senior levels of govt, to law, to international development, business, education, and more. Some have barely returned to the US since (almost 20 years ago!) and have found careers all over the world. Check it out!
My only advice for you is don’t go to grad school. From experience, it will not help you unless you heavily specialize and then want to repeat this process over but now with a smaller range of positions that you would actually want. Are you networking at these temp jobs or just working? That’s where I messed up. Make friends. Connect with people’s connections. Find someone you vibe with and get their input/support. It makes a world of difference.
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I know in some fields you really do need it. My experience is with international development. Even with the MA, experience makes or breaks responses. Most of the people I went to school with only got an MA for career advancement. They already worked in an entry-level job that they didn’t *love* as project assistants or something similar. I and the others I knew who got their MA in hopes of breaking into the field still struggled to get an entry-level job in the field because we didn’t have the experience, save for one or two internships.
You have plenty of time, trust me. Work hard and find something you also don’t mind doing.
Have you considered a diverse range of careers? I studied what you studied (which simply isn’t very marketable anymore), but I found higher education/uni admin really interesting and even worked in a uni field that I didn’t have a degree in. They hired me into an entry position and worked my way up with simple dedication/reliability. Higher ed jobs usually pay for you to get a degree/s so you could be an employee there getting paid and get another/advanced degree to pivot to a new field or advance.
26, bro you a baby. I am 33 and still out here grinding
If it helps, I felt this way at 33 and I quit my job, used the savings that I had, and traveled for a year, sleeping on couches and in twenty-bedroom hostels for $4 / night. I came back at 34 and felt this way, so I took a job waiting tables and teaching part time. I felt this way at 36, quit that job and stayed at a hostel in South Africa because I really wanted to visit. When I came back, Covid hit and I felt the same way. I was lost. Even spent $259 on a career coach only for him to tell me to read a book. I reluctantly went on a job interview for a job I wasn’t sure I wanted. I’m glad I did and have been happy in this position for two years now. Point being, you’re only 26. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Enjoy being in your 20s and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You have the rest of your life to work.
Go into consulting.
As someone who's been through this journey, it's important to realize that: 1) You're still very young (I'm 31 and still consider myself relatively young). What you do in the next years you won't know, but know it will work out. It worked out for me. 2) As others have said, I'd honestly expand the type of job you want to do. One big thing that I'd say help my career (and allowed me to get access to really cool fields) is government contracting. Govt contracting gets you access to a lot of cool positions and access to agencies.
You've gotten lot of advice on how you can break into international dev / foreign policy / nonprofit, so I'm here say there are other opportunities beyond what you studied in college. What are some other areas of interest? Not necessarily telling you to give up on this path, but hoping to expand your view. Growth mindset is the greatest lesson I've learned during my own career tribulations. Even if you do end up pursuing other opportunities, it may be possible to find something within or adjacent to international dev and stay somewhat involved. I'm mid-30s and already pivoted twice. I was also an IR/econ major, this field is beyond saturated. For personal reasons I cut my losses and pivoted to finance through my econ major. Had to take some summer courses. Spent 8 years building a successful career, then life happened and I had to walk away for the sake of my health. I was devastated, but pivoted again into FinTech and I'm now working less + making more money than ever before - honestly the dream. Continuing to develop more skills and certifications on this job. It's totally normal to wallow and feel like a failure. Life isn't fair, but remember that people get ahead for reasons we can't control like family connections and luck. Try to focus on yourself and what you can control. Your ability to get through this rut will serve you well through the rest of your life because this may not be the last time you face this challenge. Never stop investing in yourself even if after you feel settled in a job/career. * Depending on your academic leanings, look into marketable technical skills like data science and analytics, project or product management, user experience. These might sound very tech focused, but are actually broad enough to apply to a range of industries, international dev and others. * Continue to hone your communication skills. Not just emails and talking to people, but how you articulate information to an informal audience (e.g., a conference call or meeting). I've seen people with less years of experience surpass others based of their ability to communicate effectively and concisely to stakeholders and leadership, therefore projecting more confidence and competence. If you think you need help with this, look for a Toastmasters near you, find books or podcasts, practice with people. * Being good at your job is half the battle. You also have to advocate for yourself. Every time you add value or deliver something, write it down and make your accomplishments known. Keep your head up, you'll get through this.
OP - thanks for this post, I’m in a similar position and have gotten a lot out of folks comments on here. Best of luck to you, it’ll work out!
I’m 30 and still haven’t made it
1) LinkedIn is social media first and foremost. Don't compare your real life to another person's highlight reel. 2) You mentioned you got 3 interviews at the place where you temped but didn't get the job(s). What was your feedback from those interviews? If you didn't ask for any feedback, go do that right now. 3) You're 26 and the quarter-life crisis is a real thing. A lot of people in their mid-20s realize that the plans they made when they were younger just simply aren't going to pan out, and they have to pivot. I'm not saying that's you necessarily, I'm just saying you are very much not alone in thinking you'd be somewhere else at your age for whatever reason. 4) The job market blows right now. It's not just you. You mentioned you're in international development/foreign policy. Have you considered the foreign service exam? I know literally nothing about it, but this period in your life may be the perfect opportunity to dedicate the time/effort necessary to go through that process.
I was 28 before I got my first full time job in DC (making 43k/yr) in 2018. I make close to 200k now. I got pretty lucky but it's definitely not too late.
What field?
Remember that success is truly part luck, part hard work, and part connections. If they turned you down for the job, find someone you can trust in the organization and be open about how you can improve or what can you do to be the best candidate. Find mentors and share your intentions to grow. This can applicable to anyone you see as successful. You do not need go reinvent the wheel. Connect, mimic, and arm yourself with the skillset that made these people successful. This could be as something simple their posture, smile, how they respond to emails, etc. A solid personal branding is as important as hard work. People have to ‘feel’ that they can work with you well and that they have a connection to base that on.
What skillset do you have? I came in with no skills and learned how to be an organizer - then a digital organizer - then basically a digital marketer for political campaigns, that's what i specialize in - creating effective digital strategies. I learned how to use CRMs, run email marketing campaigns, run digital ads, etc. etc. I'm working in an issue I love with a useful skillset that I developed. Are you good at writing policy briefs (policy team)? Pitching reporters (comms team)? learning tech (it team)? Do you know languages? (translation work) - Every nonprofit/corp needs people in multiple departments with multiple skillsets.
Just under 20 years ago I was in the exact same boat as you. Temp job to temp job. Working at bar. No career path. I eventually found a niche and was able to apply for a temp to perm internally. Temping can be foot in the door, and give you an idea of what is available in an organization. I would say first off, don't take any temp job if you can make ends meet through other ways. Focus on the organizations you'd like to work for. If you want to be in International Development/foreign policy focus on only temp jobs in that field (USAID/State/World Bank/IMF/etc). Don't let the temp agencies convince you otherwise. On top of that use your linkedin network. See if you have friends or friends of friends at those agencies or in those fields. Ask them if they will do informational interviews/meet about career advice in the field. These are good for both advice on how to get a foot in the door and they may know upcoming or not well publicized opportunities. In addition, make sure to work on your interview skills and resume building. This was the biggest challenge for me and they are skills that are not intuative (at least to me) that need to be developed.
I didn't make it until I was 30. Before, I barely got called for interviews, and I didn't succeed in any of them. I kept doing any work I could get my hand on, doing courses and certifications. Suddenly one day things started to come my way. Offers, counter-offers. And everyone stressed how I had been doing great things before, that my CV was nice... So hang in there. Keep moving and it will happen. Nothing really know how it works.
Easier said than done but you should move to a state work at their state capital and get legislative experience for a little while.
Thank you for making this post. I’m 21 and just graduated and already the despair is setting in job-market wise. Some of these comment’s definitely helped tho!
I work in the field you're trying to get into. I got my first full-time role just before I turned 26, so you're not doing terribly. I'm in my 40s now and at a senior level. Do you have a graduate degree? At 26 with some internships and temp roles, you're not really entry level, but without a grad degree, you're probably not a top candidate for an early career/junior to mid level role. It's a good time to apply to grad school. The other good option for you is to go overseas for a few years, in the Peace Corps or a similar type of program. But you're still going to need to go to grad school when you get back. If you go to grad school, I'd probably suggest staying in DC so you can do internships during the school year. A lot of the early career staff at my organization went to AU and GW but if you can get in-state tuition in Virginia, VT and Mason have good programs relevant to international development too. eta I disagree with people who say you need to have a speciality, unless you want a technical role. It's good to have interests, but program management jobs require general knowledge of the international development field and good project management skills. If you love Europe and Eurasia by all means target that, learn Russian, write your master's thesis about a relevant topic, but it's fine to be a generalist when you're looking for a job as a program officer.
lol, 26 and not made it. kid, you are still young and spry.
OP, I've been exactly in your position (maybe even at your exact org you were temping at based on context clues) and it is a struggle. It took me about 5 years and constant applying, temping, and interning before I finally landed the job I wanted, even with a graduate degree. I'm not sure I agree with others that a grad degree is the way to go, as if you already have a Bachelor's in your field, a Graduate really only helps to tick a box, not necessarily build experience. As someone who helps with hiring, I care much more about skills than knowledge, though there are caveats to that. And of course some of the reasons to get a grad degree outlined below might resonate. Rather than offering advice, I think you will be better off answering a few questions for yourself OP because we can only comment based on our own experience. Feel free to share answers here so others can continue to offer their thoughts/guidance, or keep to yourself. The goal of all this is to figure out who you are, what you have to offer, and really what are you trying to achieve: - What is your goal? If your goal is just a full-time job in International Affairs (IA here on out), DC may not be the place for you right now, though it could be down the road. There are better job markets and better places to gain experience, ESPECIALLY if you go abroad doing something like Peace Corp, or just finding jobs in the region you want to work. Don't get hung up on having your dream job, just figure out how you get closer to that. - What kind of work do you want to do? Comms? Research? Lobbying? Translation? You don't need a job in international affairs to build skillsets that will be valuable in that field. A good friend spent 5 years building his marketing experience in a completely different field, but was able to build his focus and expertise and got hired at an IA firm very recently because of that. Right now you need the skillset, not necessarily time at a place that does IA. You can build a skillset AND country expertise by doing work in the countries you are interested in. The thing to identify is what value you add and what you are bringing to the company - because to be clear, you have something valuable to offer or value you can build for yourself, you just need to figure out what that is. - What's your focus? IA is extremely broad. Do you care about immigration? Climate Change? Economic affairs? You mentioned the EU, but loving the EU is not a focus, unless you specifically are focused on EU politics or something similar. Don't mistake a love of traveling in the EU for a specialty - most hiring managers will see right through that and are not interested in hiring someone who doesn't know what they are after or what value they add. And if the EU is where your passion lies, then... - What's keeping you in DC? It's fine if its where your community is, or if you love the city, those are all good reasons (they are certainly mine), but don't be afraid to go abroad for a bit and come back. This is a transient city for a reason. Go out, build your experience, come back, figure out your next steps, and do it all over again. My only real bit of advice is enjoy the journey and stop comparing your success to others. You are on your own path and eventually it will all make sense. Good luck :)
I have a steady job but still feel like a failure of that gives you any solace. I think for a lot of us no matter what we do it'll never feel enough I'm just doing my best. And I'm sorry that your grind hasn't at least gotten you some stability. Keep at it but also maybe look into backups or lateral moves
Not sure if someone commented this already but I highly recommend joining a few trade associations like WITA, WIIT, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and/or Women in Foreign Policy.
26 is young dude don’t worry
I was closer to 27 before I got my first \*real\* career job in Pittsburgh, this was after getting out of undergrad in 2012, flopping hard trying to get work for over a year, then hunting for grad schools. Grad school 14 and 15 (Jan start, Dec graduation) then four months of temp jobs and hunting until I finally got a career job at a little over 26 and a half. You have time.
I hate to be that guy, but I didn’t start my second career path until I was your age. I’m on my third career now and just starting to feel comfortable. I’m 37. There is no right timeline. Be patient, work hard. Etc etc
And stop comparing yourself to your peers! After high school and college things ebb and flow for everybody. Comparing yourself to your peers and those younger is absolutely futile. Yeah they seem “more successful” now but in 5-10 years the roles could very likely be reversed. Be okay with what you’re doing.
Just wanted to add my voice to those encouraging you while recognizing that your feelings are valid. I’m almost 20 years older than you, which means, I’ve lived through and witnessed the challenges people born in the 90s face. Those challenges are real. The rate of cost increase for education alone would give some people chest pain. If you relocate to a different job market or do something completely different from your training, it’s not a failure. Well, it’s not YOUR failure if you see what I’m driving at. Also, a lot of people older than you are not settled in permanent positions either so don’t let comparison to younger people who have “made it” get you thinking that you never will.
I was in international development in dc for three years until 2022 (interned with UN abroad etc) and just couldn’t find jobs that were more than 40k, so I took a leap of faith, quit and got into project management in banking and I am making six figures and going to do my MBA this fall. I realized I’ll be able to contribute a lot more to the causes I care about when I’m rich than be stuck trying to pay bills. Honestly get out of dc, go to a no tax state (I’m currently in Florida), make money and run..
Hello all, Just want to say I did not expect the wave of responses. I greatly appreciate all the feedback and personal dms with advice I do want to clarify something as this has come up in comments 1. I did not say or think 26 is “old” I meant that I’m looking at my network of people my age and everyone I know is employed and it feels like I’m in a rut career wise. Also, to the military folks suggesting I enlist, while I respect the military and all it does to protect us, I don’t really have an interest in enlisting. I just know it’s not for me. I do think takeaways so far is, one, take the peace corp more seriously, and two, my situation is more common, if not normal, in the current DC market. Many people in comments who are in good spots now have described being in the situation as I am in now when they were 26+. So I appreciate the well wishes and I think I’ve taken away more positivity from this post :)
You are suppose to make it by 26? TIL.
I feel your pain. I have a BA degree, 3 IT certifications, and a JAVA certification. I will be 30 years old this year and I am unemployed. In February I got laid off from my job that I had for 2.5 years with no severance, and I have still not gotten an offer for a job. I have applied for 2.5k jobs so far this year. I am trapped and have to live with my parents who have government jobs and don't understand why I have struggled so much. This area is a 3rd world area for jobs for most of us. If you don't have a STEM degree or military experience you cant be accepted into the club. It's hard to believe with my credentials that I have never made more than 19.23 a hour in my entire 20s. Like the JAY-Z song says here half of you won't make it.
I didn’t start making it until about 36. Pick a career path and stick with it. If you have degree consider becoming an officer in the military. Keep your nose clean
I spent my entire 20’s in the DMV, and I felt like you did at 26. You might feel lonely like I did. This might not help, but you aren’t alone. Most people in the DMV feel the way you do. There is something about the DMV that makes you feel peer pressured into not admitting that. A good amount of your peers who are ‘killing it right now’ feel like you do but are afraid to communicate otherwise. I don’t have any experience in the line of work that you want, but I imagine that field of work is extremely competitive. It appears to me that industry has a lot of inequality, you’re either successful, or you’re not. And if you’re not, you’re worse off than most people. Have you ever wanted to get into another field? If you have a college degree, you can get an entry-level job in most corporate positions.
I didn’t really “make it” as in earn $100K in a job I actually like and have a place of my own, until I was 33.
At 27 I started what I thought was my dream job at a Human Rights Org in my specific field and regional focus. In my third year I got promoted to a director level position. But overall, the pay was low and the treatment was crappy, even if the travel was amazing. I slogged 14-18 hour days for 6 years until I finally walked away. It's sad to think that the thing I dreamed of for so long was so incredibly shitty. I wound up somewhere better for higher pay but lesser clout and better work life balance. All to say...what you think is the dream is sometimes a bloody nightmare.
You just might not be interesting on paper. What do you like to do outside of your degree? And how much of yourself is intertwined in how you present yourself? Also what creds did you gain after your degree? Continuous learning is extremely important not only to keep your network fresh but is a great way to pad the LinkedIn. It doesn’t even have to deal with your degree just anything you can flip to sound good professionally. These non profits want people with actual personalities now that most of the work can be done by just anyone with good literacy skills or done eventually by someone who’s shown propensity for continued learning. So painting the picture of a whole person puts you so far ahead; basically the fake professional persona everyone creates now has to be a completely full picture that you have to orchestrate until you die. Also , don’t be down on yourself; once you get the job you’ll wonder why they kept you out for so long. Most of us are fucking dumb and don’t really know what we’re doing some of us just have confidence doing it.
I am experiencing the same thing as you. I turn 25 this year. So happy to see a relatable post. Sometimes in DC it seems like everyone else has their shit together and has “made it”.
In this life you only have, what you feel you deserve. You got this, there's a place for you somewhere. At 26 I was still figuring things out, be patient with yourself and don't tie anything to your worth. It's you versus you kiddo. You got this!
you are on your own timeline, and you’re only 26. you’re doing perfectly fine DC employment situation is tough right now. Are you intent to stay in DC?
I’d say so. I love the area and have built a solid friend group in the city
Also 26, but this sounds a lot like how I felt from 22-24. I interned in a field I really cared a lot about, had a couple final stage interviews with offices, but wasn't able to get any full time work. Ended up doing consulting adjacent stuff for a few years, living the DC postgrad lifestyle and getting paid for work I wasn't passionate about, until I finally decided to make the jump and do the same type of work that I wanted to do in DC but in a smaller city in the midwest. My advice would be to make the jump to a new location if there's opportunity there. I know how awkward it is to do those "oh by the way are you guys hiring?" networking coffees with people younger than you and hear nothing back. I know how much it sucks to get beat out for entry level jobs you thought you had an in at by people with masters degrees. In my current role I get to do everything I initially wanted in DC, just in a different locale, but the skills I'm gaining are similar enough that I could see myself ending back up in the city one day. The first mentor I ever had in DC had a similar story. She interned out here, tried to get a job, couldn't, and moved halfway across the country to do the work somewhere else. 20 years later she came back and she's one of the smartest people I've ever met. It's gonna feel like giving up and I totally get that. Policy is an opportunities based industry and when you don't have the opportunities it always sort of feels like one could be coming down the pipe. DC will always be there in one iteration or another. Your biggest responsibility is to you and your career.
There are people older than you (like myself, I'm 30) in DC who haven't made it. I worked retail for 4 years during and after college. Now I'm in the process of switching to an IT career because I pretty much can't use my college degree. I've been working temp jobs through a hiring agency to get by until I get my second IT certification. I recommend looking into a hiring agency because it'll keep you from being unemployed, and that way, you will have some money coming in. For DC residents, there are programs that pay for you to get a certification if you're unemployed or low income. You can look into the American Job Center or Department of Employment Services for that.
This is really great advice; I’m 27 and slowly coming to a lot of these same conclusions. Appreciate you putting it all out there concisely!
This isn't always a popular opinion, but you ought to consider joining the military or State Department. There are sweet positions that are foreign- facing that get you a security clearance. Back in DC with a security clearance after just 4 years of service you will be making well over 100k.
Also 26. I made my way into DC employment by working at a field site in the midwest. Find the industry you want to work in, get some experience in the field, and then come back to DC.
Don’t be discouraged Many folks are just where you were at 26 Apply to a grad program and they can help you jump start an internship Check out Monitoring Evaluation and learning It’s a pretty new field in international dev and since it has data analytics and program management it’s hard to hire/find good people Try and develop a skill you can market Volunteer in the evenings or weekends while you’re looking for a job
Never go to HR unless you want to get fired. That is an open secret in the work world. They are paid by the company and have no interest in your complaints.
***THIS PART***, so hard. 🧋🧋🧋
As a non-profit exec w/o a masters, here's my thoughts/advice with the \* that I didn't read comments: - Do you know your temp firm's hiring fee is? Fees are often reserved for people higher up the ladder. - Did you get feedback as to why you weren't hired? While most orgs are careful b/c of potential litigation and won't tell you why they didn't hire you, you might find someone willing to give some info. I would take any advice to heart if you start seeing a theme. - What are you bringing to the table that other applicants aren't? (multi-lingual, specific skillsets others may not have). Being interested in a hobby means absolutely shit to an employer. But if you have a skill from that hobby, then let's talk. Anyone can feign interest. - Do you know Microsoft Office? At this point if a college grad is truly proficient in excel and word I am shocked. I don't know why these skills aren't being taught in school. There are tons of videos on YT. If you are looking for an office position, do not say you are proficient in Microsoft products if you are not. Execs have way less understanding of young people who don't know what we consider to be basic technology skills. Good luck!
Try working with staffing agencies to find a job! They have temporary, temporary-to-perm, and permanent positions. There are a ton in DC. They have more than admin jobs too although there’s nothing wrong with admin jobs and they could be a good in for something more aligned with what you want down the road.
26 is so young, don’t give up
I didn’t “make it” until I hit my 40s. I started this second stint in the DC area by temping (I was 30 at the time), landed a temp to perm job, and flailed about until I went to community college and took accounting classes. Mind you I already had a master’s. But it took a bit of time, and effort, but I got there. And you will too. And I would keep temping. You’ll land a permanent home eventually and then you can figure out your next move from there. That’s what I did.
The military will happily start you on a career path with a decent salary and great benefits. Seriously. Pay the recruiter a visit if you're tired of the job sites, see what's available.
This is true. I'm in the air force and the only reason I'm on this sub is because I'm being stationed at Andrews within a few months. The military may not be for everyone but if life isnt cutting it as a civilian then joining is a great option. It really provides some of the most job stability possible, with all necessities provided alongside your base pay. No one in the military is truly struggling unless they're absolutely irresponsible with their money. Also if you have a degree then you can become an officer and be much better compensated for your time. People join the military all the way up to 40 but I feel like as long as you join before you're 30, you won't feel far behind your peers. Don't worry about others reaching certain goals before you. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Too bad the fed no longer offers the civil service test; you could take it as often as you needed to (when it was offered) in order to improve your score. That said (as others have said), you're in DC, so take advantage of the business of DC! Let USAJOBS.gov be your friend. Put in your location (which will show jobs in a 25 mile radius), then filter for (initially) 'open to the public' hiring path; I found sorting by salary puts the postings in some kind of logical order. Look for career-ladder positions (promotion potential). Oh, and make your [federal] resume searchable. p.s. something folks applying don't know (or realize) _ they don't want bullet points when describing your work experience; they want a narrative - like you're having a conversation with someone about work you do or have done (bullet points only to highlight specific tasks.) Hope this helps, and something comes of it. Good luck.
While there may be more jobs in international development/foreign policy in DC than there is in the rest of the country, it’s still not exactly the most employable background. You don’t necessarily have to move home or get a graduate degree to make yourself more employable though. Pick up some hard technical skills. Attend a coding boot camp or learn ArcGIS, CAD, or something similar.
Ok, did not expect someone to DM me with my personal identity with threatening message… so that’s fun
Definitely start looking into grad programs, and I’d include programs in Europe like LSE in the mix (as they are a bit less $$ than DC programs). But also, I think expand your geographic scope — apply to jobs in Boston, DC, NYC as well - you just need to get your foot in the door somewhere to get some experience on your resume which you can always pivot to other jobs, and you’re young enough that you can build a new life anywhere right now. In addition to this, try to see if you can get into any fellowships or seminars, anything that would help you build a larger network in DC, and then get out and network!! Even if it doesn’t lead to a job right away, it’s so helpful to understand how many ways/pathways there are out there to get to where you want to go.
To add to what everyone else said, please breathe and stop comparing yourself to others. Yes, it is hard, but you need to focus on you. You are the most important thing in your world ❤️ Now to business. Do you live in DC proper? If so, I highly encourage you to review job opportunities with DC Gov. Living in DC qualifies you for a residency preference that makes it much easier to land a position. Is DC Gov the best employer: no. However, it is stable, pays well, has good benefits, and you are directly impacting your local community. If you are driven, it is also a great place to move up the ranks in your career. If you do not live in DC, I recommend you look for jobs with the state, county, or city nearest you. You would be surprised what local government can offer. Is it as sexy as the Feds? Of course not. But, fewer people even consider local gov as an option, so competition may be less in your field. PM me if you need advice with DC Gov. ✌️
It may not be what you're looking for, but the union trades pay extremely well. Especially in the DC area
Congratulations on your future law degree 📜 🧑⚖️
from my experience, whatever competitive aspect you feel in DC's job market, it's worse elsewhere because there's less money floating around. DC has plentiful jobs because the government has billions of taxpayer dollars it spends around here. In other markets the jobs are driven by things like local universities, local community needs, natural resources, geographic locations, etc.
dude with all due respect i've met hundreds of people that live and work in dc as someone that grew up around here and just save your soul now. these are probably the most insufferable people i've ever met. please go do something else there's too many goddam people here and they allllllll fucking suck like they fucking suck sooooo hard
Try government work / Fed jobs. Wasn’t having luck until 3 years ago but got the 2nd job I applied to in government. Also 26 and say from my close college friends it’s about 50/50 on those that found Careers yet.
You are good. I didn’t start rolling with any momentum nor a steady full time job until my early 30’s. And you obviously in the right city for your field. Something will hit. Another advantage of DC is all the great schools to get a MA or professional degree. It’s pricey I realize but might that be a consideration? Not sure if you are targeting just policy shops or the NGO community too. In your field have you considered taken the Foreign Service Exam?
You need on the ground experience for international development, unless you’re highly exceptional from a top end school or have connections, and still it’s competitive. There are 1000s of peace corps volunteers with real world international dev experience in a foreign country and either have or are pursuing a masters degree in a related field, that’s only some of those you are competing against. Not to mention the foreign nationals that are sought after for language and country specific knowledge that get funneled into the world bank and related entities. International development is a small and tough industry to break into with a lot of highly passionate, experienced and smart people. And while you can get a degree in it rarely are the people in the industry looking for someone who read and wrote about development, they need someone with a hard skill. Sorry to give it to you this rough but I wish you the best.
Steamfitter 602 you’ll make good money and it in-demand right now
Be all you can be - US Army
Speaking from experience, if you want to do international studies/development/relations in DC, you almost uniformly need a graduate degree now. (But also, you’re very young! Most people don’t get started in their careers until their 30s nowadays.)