Jobs and Internships

Opportunities and Ideas for International Studies Students

This page is meant to help you start looking for a job or internship.  The beginning of the job search is often the most overwhelming part, so here you will find ideas on where to start.  Occasionally, there will also be announcements about calls for applications that we receive in the department.

Most government agencies have internship programs, and are also a good place to look for employment after graduating.  Keep in mind that you have to plan far in advance to apply to most government internship programs.  For example, at the State Department, deadlines tend to be November 1 for summer internships, July 1 for the fall and March 1 for the spring.  Below, you’ll find some ideas for agencies you can apply to, but remember that there’s a lot more out there. 

A central website for all U.S. government jobs:  

     http://www.thejobpage.gov
     
    
The State Department

     Internships
     
     Opportunities for students 
     
     Careers                                
    

The Central Intelligence Agency

     Opportunities for students 
     
     Careers
    

The U.S. Congress

The House website has an employment section (seehttp://www.house.gov/cao-hr/).  You can also check the websites of specific senators and representatives- they sometimes advertise openings for interns and legislative assistants.   Another good way to search for job opportunities on Capitol Hill is combing through the classified sections of Roll Call and The Hill (the online versions of these newspapers have employment advertisements).  Finally, you should call the offices of your senators and representatives to ask if they are aware of any specific internship opportunities.

Research Organizations and Think Tanks

A good place to start looking for an internship or employment in a think tank is the National Institute for Research Advancement’s (NIRA) World Directory of Think Tanks (http://www.nira.go.jp/ice/nwdtt/2005/index.html).  The directory will give you descriptions of research organizations around the world, as well links to their websites.  For most of the think tanks—especially the ones in the United States and Canada-- you can go to the website and find the employment or career opportunities section.  Often, this is listed under the “About Us” link. 

Additionally, here are a few well-respected, major research organizations that have regular internship programs: 

     The Brookings Institution 
     
     The Council on Foreign Relations 
     
     The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
    
     The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars 
     

Non Profits and NGO’s

Idealist.org (http://www.idealist.org/if/as/Find?sid ) is a great website that lists thousands of job opportunities with non profit organizations and NGOs.  It is a pretty large database, and at the very least, it will help you get some ideas about particular kinds of organizations you may be interested in working with.


Human Rights Organizations

A job board for human rights maintained by Human Rights Internet 
see http://www.hri.ca/jobboard/  and http://www.hri.ca/jobboard/joblinks.shtml

     Amnesty International 

     Human Rights First 

     Human Rights Watch

Embassies

You might also try looking for opportunities in the embassies of foreign countries in Washington D.C.  There is no central place (that I know of) that lists such opportunities, but if you have a country in mind, try visiting the website of its mission in the United States.  Alternately, through the State Department, you can also look into internships at U.S. embassies in other countries.

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