SPP Alumni Offer
Career Advice to Students
During a School of Public Alumni career panel on
April 11, SPP graduates from International Commerce
and Policy (ICP), Organizational Learning (PSOL),
Public Policy (MPP), and Transportation Policy Operations
and Logistics (TPOL) discussed how their degrees
helped them land jobs and spoke with current students
about how to enhance career success.
The panelists delivered some
welcome news. They admitted that they couldn’t
have found interviews without their advanced degrees.
In fact, panelist
Jennifer Turner, a 2002 MPP graduate who now works
as an education policy research analyst for Education
Research Services, credited her SPP degree with helping
her to earn two promotions.
Alumni panelists
shed light on finding work in the public policy
field. |
However,
the panelists also agreed that a graduate degree
alone isn’t enough to get a job in this
competitive market. Denise Lee, a 2000 PSOL graduate
who works as a knowledge management consultant for
Edutech Ltd, said, “Develop a new network of
people because the old network may not work for you.” She
also told students to do volunteer work and to take
on additional projects, especially those that “nobody
else wants to do.”
While the panelists encouraged
students to acquire as much experience as possible
during graduate school,
they also told them to keep an open mind once they
begin their career search. David Cordell, a 1997
ICP alum who is a trade analyst for the Department
of Commerce, prepared students to work in unfamiliar
territory once they enter the marketplace. He suggested
that they consider jobs that don’t match their
skills perfectly because “you can learn.”
The panelists told students that
they may not necessarily find the perfect job,
but they could find one that
satisfied and challenged them. They also discouraged
them from settling for an unfulfilling career. Dean
Fezza, a 2002 TPOL graduate who works as a consultant
at Booze Allen Hamilton, told students that the most
important career advice she ever received was: “Do
your best at whatever you do.” Turner added, “Love
what you do and when you stop learning, start looking.”
|
