Specific Job Options

Federal Government

The Federal Government is one of the largest employers in the country, hiring people for several thousand civilian positions each month, in a wide variety of fields and in numerous locations. The legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government use different hiring procedures.

Executive Branch

If you have visited the web sites for the various executive offices of the federal government as suggested above (www.whitehouse.gov), you know that from the Agriculture Department to Veteran's Affairs, from the Agency for International Development to the Voice of America, a very large number of executive agencies hire persons into a very wide range of positions. These jobs carry salaries competitive with the private section and bring good benefits and good opportunity for advancement. After you have made yourself aware of the structure of the executive and of the range of job options available, you are ready to seek particular job openings. Each agency does its own hiring, but all executive branch positions covered by civil service are listed at www.usa.jobs.opm.gov. Your search should start here, and at the web sites of the specific agencies. There is also a Federal Jobs Service Center at 1001 Executive Center Drive, in Orlando. If you identify interesting possibilities, read Bruce Maxwell, Insider's Guide to Finding a Job in Washington (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2000) and/or Federal Jobs Digest, Working For your Uncle, 1998 (available at www.jobsfed.com) for help in deciphering job descriptions and in preparing your application materials. Other web sites which will lead you to federal jobs are www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/employ.htm and www.jobsfed.com. Be very wary of advertisements that offer information about federal jobs but which charge a fee for the information; these are often a scam. There is no reason to pay for information which is available without charge at various web sites.

Be aware that a number of federal executive agencies are "excepted" from the civil service and have their own hiring and pay systems. This includes the FBI, the CIA, the Foreign Service and the National Security Agency. You should note that an organization like the CIA hires persons for clandestine work but also hires persons for analytical work-positions like foreign area specialist and open sources analyst as well as the more ordinary positions of auditor and administrative assistant. Even the National Security Administration hire "intelligence analysts" for whom a highly technical background is not essential. If you are seriously interested in one of these agencies, you will need to work with the details of its application process, which you will find at the relevant web site. Also consult closely with the Political Science faculty if you wish to pursue such options as the Foreign Service Examination.

Congress

The United States Congress and its support agencies employ about 10,000 people in staff positions, which are not civil service positions. Congressional offices hire legislative assistants, case workers and communications managers along with clerical personnel. Hiring for personal and committee staff positions is generally done through the offices of individual members of Congress; the best place to start a capitol hill job search is at the office of the Senators and Representative who represent you in Congress. It is nearly essential to be in Washington to obtain one of these positions, which is one reason why an internship can be very valuable for finding this kind of job. There are two Congressional employment processing centers. For the House of Representatives it is the House Resume Referral Service, Room 263, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515-6610. You can mail or FAX (202-228-5627) a resume and cover letter to the House Referral Service, which will keep your materials for 3 months. For the Senate it is the Senate Placement Office, Room SH-142, Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, 20510. You must deliver a resume to the Senate Placement Office in person, and while there you can have an informational interview with a counselor. For more information, call 202-224-9167.

In addition to personal and committee staffs, the committees of the political parties in congress (House and Senate Republican and Democratic Policy Committees, for example) also hire staff. To identify specific openings on the hill, refer to two publications: Roll Call (www.rollcall.com) and The Hill (www.hillnews.com). Both list job openings for lobby groups, the private sector and non-profit organizations as well as for positions on Congressional staffs.

This is definitely an area in which you are expected to "pay your dues", so people often take a very routine entry position just to support themselves in Washington while searching for a better position (and even then, entry level Congressional staff salaries may not support the cost of living in Washington). Political philosophy, partisan identification and political activity are definitely taken into account for most Hill positions.

Finally, Congressional support agencies hire staff. These include the Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov) the General Accounting Office (www.gao.gov), and Congressional Research Service (202-2707-4315 for the job line). While these organizations generally hire persons with advanced degrees, since these offices engage in very interesting and important work you might nonetheless want to check them out for job possibilities.

The Courts

Individuals interested in entering the federal judiciary in an administrative capacity have several routes to follow, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Some come to the field through law school but a law degree is not mandatory for employment since practical experience can substitute when it is combined with a specialized education. Master's degrees in judicial administration are now offered in a number of institutions; this can prove a very useful alternative for those who are interested in the courts but not in the practice of law, or for those who began as prelaw students but who changed their mind about attending law school. The oldest and best known is the Institute for Court Management of the National Center for State Courts (www.ncsconline.org) which was founded at the behest of former Chief Justice Warren Burger as part of his crusade to improve the state of judicial administration at all levels. The flagship program of the Institute is the Court Executive Development Program, but the Institute offers many other educational programs. George Mason University offers a both a Certificate and a Master's in Administration of Justice (www.gmu.edu/departments/pia/adj/graduate/). Florida State University offers a Master's program which combines criminology and public administration (http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/grad/masters.htm). At other institutions you may find court administration programs as an area of specialization within master's programs in criminal justice or public administration.

Participation in a judicial administration program opens opportunities both at the state and local level and at the federal level. Federal judicial administrative openings are listed at www.uscourts.gov, the web site of the federal judiciary. Be aware that not all positions are listed under the employment opportunities section of this web site; many are listed only by the specific court which has the opening. You can access these by using the "links" section of the uscourts.gov home page, which will guide you to the different regions of the country. Positions are also advertised in The Third Branch, which is published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Office of Public Affairs, One Columbus Circle, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20544.

To find out about administrative positions in Florida's courts, you can check the Court's website at www.flcourts.org, but you should also contact the local judicial administrator regarding possible openings within the court. In Florida, the County Clerk dominates the recruitment process so one should begin by contacting their personnel office (for Orange County, www.orangeclerk.onetgov.net, for Seminole County, www.seminoleclerk.org, and so on; you can find the web address for all of the County Clerks offices in Florida at http://www.flclerks.com/weblinks.htm).

City, County and State Governemnt

With the devolution of programs to city and state levels, the numbers of government and government-related jobs at these levels are likely to grow over the short term. To make yourself familiar with the governmental structures of the state of Florida (and thus of potential job options), go to the Florida governmental information locator at www.dlis.dos.state.fl.us/fgils/ or read Robert Huckshorn, Editor, Government and Politics in Florida. You can find specific job openings at http://www.myflorida.com/myflorida/employment/index.html (or call 904/487-1745); but do not assume that all available positions are listed here. Some state agencies (including the universities) have separate listings; you can reach these through the "Other Job Search Links" section of this site.

State legislators hire staff, and the increased turnover in membership growing from term limits will mean increased turnover in legislative staff positions. Follow the state legislative elections (perhaps by an internship or through volunteer participation); most legislators tend to hire staff from among those they already know. The state legislature's Human Resources office is at 111 W. Madison Street, Room 701, Claude Pepper Building, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1400. If you are planning a trip to Tallahassee, stop by this office and ask for an information interview. You can find legislative staff job openings listed at "Quick Links" on the legislature's home page www.leg.state.fl.us. The Florida legislature operates an Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, with positions which require policy analysis skills. You can find the job listings for this agency at www.oppaga.state.fl.us/employ/employ.html; the office also has summer internship positions. A job with a non-permanent commission, committee or similar organization might be a relatively-easy-to-obtain first job in Tallahassee.

Florida's city and county governments have web pages which include job listings and, usually, the opportunity to apply for positions on-line. You can connect to Florida's cities through the "My Florida" web site directory www.myflorida.com/myflorida/cities.html. The comparable site for Florida's counties is www.myflorida.com/myflorida/counties.html. Other states have comparable web directories. If you have decided to target jobs with a city or county, you should contact the personnel office and ask for an information interview about possible future jobs, the skills needed, promotion opportunities, and so on. An internship can be very useful in learning how to find jobs with local governments. Do not overlook small towns in your job search. While they hire only a few employees, they do hire people. What you have to do is identify the vacancies by an attentive search and seek an interview.

The International Arena

Seeking a career in the global "new world order" is an exciting adventure, as the international job market has expanded, diversified, and privatized. Although the federal government remains a major employer of those with international training, state and local governments are growing markets for such talents (Florida, for example, has a tourism agency--Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development--which promotes the state in many regions of the world, particularly western Europe), and there are growing international career opportunities in the private sector, particularly for those whose training includes international economics, computer and statistical skills, international banking and finance, international business, and/or international marketing.

Preparation for international careers includes cross-cultural awareness, political and economic knowledge, and practical experience. The first two can be obtained through travel and a liberal arts education which will help provide the requisite skills deemed as the ideal combination by a leading career guide in the field:

• "Knowledge of history and an awareness of patterns in international relations grasp of what determines foreign policy priorities and realities grounding in economics and an understanding of international business familiarity with basic business and accounting skills well-developed computer skills and a high comfort level with technology understanding of policy development and implementation clarity and accuracy in speaking and writing self-awareness: comprehension of leadership and teamwork skills awareness of and commitment to ethical standards and personal values logic and objectivity in thinking ability to project possible future consequences of present decisions talent for time management poise, humor, imagination, compassion, and intellectual curiosity, judgment, openness to new ideas." (Carland and Trucano, Careers in International Affairs: 4)

Job opportunities for those with international affairs backgrounds exist in the U.S. federal government and, increasingly, with state and local government; international organizations; think tanks; professional associations and societies; the business, banking, and communications sectors; volunteer, nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and educational institutions.

Federal Government

Agency for International Development: www.usaid.gov. Interested in those with backgrounds and training in public policy analysis, economics, health studies, development theory, resource allocation policy, and demographics. While some of their staff is drawn from the career Foreign Service of the Department of State, about half of the positions are filled from the civil service.

Central Intelligence Agency: www.cia.gov. While one may think first of clandestine responsibilities, the CIA also hires people for analytical and professional work not unlike that undertaken at other government agencies with an international focus. While the CIA looks primarily for those with advanced degrees (particularly Ph.D.'s) in area studies, foreign languages, economics, mathematics and statistics, and computer science, the Agency does list some entry-level positions for those with a Bachelor's degree. Defense Intelligence Agency: www.dia.mil. Less well known to the public than the CIA but seeks those with similar skills as its civilian sister agency. Does hire civilian employees, occasionally has entry-level positions. Has an internship program.

Department of Agriculture: www.usda.gov You might not think of Agriculture as a source of career opportunity for those with international training, but the department is concerned with generating foreign markets for American agricultural products and with trade and economic issues.

Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration: www.home.doc.gov/International_Trade. Charged with fostering a favorable position for the U.S. in the international market place. Career opportunities exist in its Office of International Economic Policy, Office of Trade Development, Office of Trade Administration, and Foreign Commercial Service. There is also the Travel Service, which is responsible for attracting foreign tourism to the U.S.

Department of Defense, International Security Affairs Division: www.defenselink.mil/policy/isa. Hires people with training in foreign and defense policy and in economics as well as area studies. Has paid and unpaid intern positions.

Department of State: www.state.gov. Has positions both in the career Foreign Service (political officers, economic and commercial officers, administration officers, and consular officers www.state.gov/www/careers/rfscontents.html) and non-FSO positions (technical specialists, such as lawyers, media specialists, interpreters, clerical and secretarial staff, communications and security specialists, general services and office management personnel). The State Department's internship program includes opportunities to work in embassies abroad: www.state.gov/www/careers/rstudprogindex.html

National Security Agency: www.nsa.gov. In addition to those with computer, technological, and mathematical skills, needs persons with extensive area studies and language training (particularly in unusual languages) and hires "intelligence analysts" for whom a highly technical background is not essential.

Peace Corps: www.peacecorps.gov. Interested in those with liberal arts backgrounds and specialized training in various fields, but the competition is very keen, with some 12,000 applications each year for a tenth of that number of positions. There is a Peace Corps recruiter at the University of Florida who can be contacted at 351.392.6783 or at peacecorps@ufic.ufl.edu. You can read interviews with UF students who have been in the Peace Corps at www.ufic.ufl.edu.

State Department International Information Programs: www.usinfo.state.gov. Interested not only in those with journalism backgrounds but also those schooled in cultural and area studies, languages, and foreign/international affairs.

These are only the most obvious places employing those with international training and backgrounds; since most domestic policies have international components, it is possible to find a sub-unit in most executive agencies with an international focus. Others to investigate include the International Development Cooperation Agency, the Export-Import Bank, the Defense Security Assistance Agency, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Inter-American Foundation, the Office of Management and Budget (which has both national security and international affairs units), and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The legislative branch also has units with strong international focus, notably the House and Senate Committees on International Relations and on Armed Services, and their Select Committees on Intelligence. Also consider the Appropriations and Budget committees, along with the personal staffs of elected members (all can be found at www.senate.gov and www.house.gov) Additional job possibility in the legislative branch might be found at the Congressional Budget Office (www.cbo.gov) and the General Accounting Office (www.gao.gov). Both of these congressional support agencies hire analysts in the areas of national security and international affairs. These positions are almost never entry level, however, so please refer to the section on congressional staff positions, above.

International Organizations

Career opportunities with international organizations are somewhat limited, often governed by national quotas (less than ten percent of those employed by the United Nations in its various bureaucracies are American nationals) and usually requiring specialized training, but the effort put forth in preparing and searching for such jobs can be rewarding. Each agency does its own hiring, so you must be prepared to contact every agency in which you have an interest. One shortcut, however, is the U.S. Department of State's Office of U.N. Employment Information and Assistance in its Bureau of International Organization Affairs, which links qualified applicants with United Nations agencies (www.state.gov/p/io/empl).

One obvious place to begin a job search for those seeking to use their international training is the United Nations Secretariat, with its needs in the areas of communications, translators and interpreters, international economics, area studies, and international and security policy. The United Nation's main web page is www.un.org/english, but remember that the UN is a very large and complex organization and so is its web site. The main administrative staff in New York is the Secretariat, which employees about 8,500 persons, but the UN also has significant administrative presence in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi. Further, you should check out the constituent agencies of the UN, including such agencies as the Food and Agricultural Organization (http://www.fao.org), UNICEF (www.unicef.org), Conference on Trade and Development (www.unctad.org) the United National Development Fund for Women (www.undp.org/unifem), the UN Fund for Population Activities (www.unfpa.org), and the UN Industrial Development Organization (www.unido.org). Other international agencies to consider include the International Fund for Agricultural Development (www.ifad.org), the World Bank (www.worldbank.org), the International Monetary Fund (www.imf.org), International Labor Organization (www.ilo.org). There are others; use a search engine.

Don't limit your sights to global organizations and activities, as regional organizations are also a job source for those with international backgrounds. See, for example: Asian Development Bank: www.adb.org/; Inter-American Development Bank: www.iadb.org/; Organization of American States: www.oas.org/; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: www.oecd.org/.

Think Tanks

Think tanks are another source of career opportunities, but the positions are not plentiful and most require advanced degrees - many the Ph.D. Examples include the American Enterprise Institute (www.aei.org/) the Arms Control Association (www.armscontrol.org/home.htm), the Aspen Institute (www.aspeninst.org/), the Atlantic Council of the United States (www.acus.org/), the Brookings Institution (www.brook.edu/), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (www.cciip.org/), the CATO Institute (www.cato.org/), the Center for Defense Information (www.cdi.org/), the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (www.ccfr.org/), the Council on Foreign Relations (www.cfr.org/p/), the East-West Center (www.ewc.hawaii.edu/), the Foreign Policy Association (www.fpa.org/), the Foreign Policy Research Institute (www.fpri.org/), the Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org/), the Hoover Institution (www.hoover.org/), the Hudson Institute (www.hudson.org/), the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies (www.idds.org/), the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips~dc.org/), the United States Institute of Peace (www.usip.org/) the Institute of War and Peace Studies (www.columbia.edu/cu/iwps/), the International Institute for Environment and Development (www.iied.org/), the International Republican Institute (www.iri.org/), the Middle East Institute (www.mideasti.org/), the National Democratic Institute (www.ndi.org/), the Center for Law and Social Policy (www.clasp.org.), the Trilateral Commission (www.trilateral.org/), the Overseas Development Council (www.odc.org/), the RAND Corporation (www.rand.org/), the Population Council (www.popcouncil.org/), the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute (www.gettysburg.edu/homepage/EWAI/index.html), and the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org/), (Many of these centers and institutes have internship opportunities, which are an excellent means of getting a foot in the door to a potential permanent position).

International Nonprofit Organizations

Career opportunities exist with a variety of nonprofit organizations in which one could utilize area studies training, language skills, policy and research skills, and economics, international or comparative training. Examples include:

Western Hemisphere (You can link to many of these, and other possible jobs, at www.joblatino.com/inter.htm/): Accion International (www.accion.org/main.asp), Amigos de las Americas (www.amigoslink.org/); The Pan American Society (www.panamreicansociety.org/), The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (www.coha.org/);The North American Congress on Latin America (www.nacla.org/).

Africa: The African-American Institute (www.dac.neu.edu/jdobassi); Operation Crossroads Africa (www.igc.org/oca/); Technoserve (http://www.technoserve.org/); Africa News (http://allafrica.com/); The American Committee on Africa (www.acas.prairienet.org/acoa.html); The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (www.gcci.org/afew/afew.html).

The Middle East: The Foundation for Middle East Peace (www.fmep.org/); Amideast (www.amideast.org/)

Europe: The German Marshall Fund of the United States (www.gmfus.org/); The Atlantic Council (www.acus.org); The American Council on Germany (www.acgusa.org/); The American-Scandinavian Foundation (www.amascan.org/)

Asia: The Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org/); The Asian Cultural Council (www.asianculturalcouncil.org/);The Asia Foundation ((www.asiafoundation.org/); The China Institute in America (www.chinainstitute.org/).

Again, many of these organizations have small numbers of internships (mostly unpaid) which provide opportunities for a lateral move to a permanent position, since these positions are limited and having an inside track is a definite advantage.

Teaching Abroad

Teaching outside the United States is an often-overlooked job possibility. The Department of Defense runs a school system for its overseas bases (www.odedodea.edu/) around the world and part of the traditional high school curriculum includes social studies (you will need at least one course each in American history, world history, and geography, to complement your Political Science major). Students who did not major in Education must have gone through the University of Central Florida's College of Education's alternate certification program, hold a valid Florida teaching certificate, and have at least one year of full-time teaching experience. For information, write to Office of Overseas Dependents Schools, Department of Defense, 2461 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA 22331.

The Department of State also runs its own schools for dependents of its embassy personnel, with similar requirements as those for teaching in the Defense Department school system (www.state.gov/www/about_state/schools). Write to: Office of Overseas Schools, Room 245. SA-29, Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-2902, 703-875-7800). Other teaching opportunities, albeit on a much more limited scale, are with large multinational corporations with extensive overseas operations (such as oil companies and mining companies) that operate their own schools.

Finally, English is the language of choice throughout much of the developed and developing world and teaching English (English as a second language, ESL) is an excellent short-term job opportunity with exciting international travel options (for example, now that the United States has normalized relations with Vietnam, everyone wants to speak English and entrepreneurs are opening storefront English training institutes all over the country. Japan remains a major employer of ESL teachers, many of whom are young college graduates seeking travel abroad for several years before settling down to a more permanent job). UCF offers training in teaching English as a second language (www.cas.ucf.edu/forlang/languages/tesol). A useful source for such opportunities is Susan Griffith's Teaching English Abroad.

Non Governmental Organizations and Lobbyists

This is a job source often overlooked but which in fact hires thousands and thousands of people. There are dozens of such organizations in Orlando, hundreds in Tallahassee, and thousands in Washington. One directory, Who's Who in Washington NonProfit Groups (Congressional Quarterly Press) lists more than 2,000 groups which hire professional staff, including groups with interests in economics, business, education, arts, media, employment, labor, energy, consumer affairs, minority affairs, health, housing, veterans concerns, foreign policy, immigration, national security, agriculture, environment, space and transportation. Or, if you look at the list of registered lobbyists in the state of Florida you will find hundreds and hundreds of people and organizations listed (www.leg.state.fl.us/Lobbyist).

Two things tend to distinguish this sector of employment. First, it is an area in which credentialing is not well-established. There is no lock-step path to gaining a job here; credentials can be quite varied for the beginner. Second, this is an area in which you can gain knowledge, experience and contacts fast. Third, on the downside, these jobs tend to pay less than those with government or corporations. Fourth, this an arena which tends to attract those who want their jobs to "make a difference". If you fall into this category, you'll want to read Devon Smith, editor, Great Careers: The Fourth of July Guide to Careers, Internships and Volunteer Opportunities in the NonProfit Sector and Bruce Maxwell, Finding a Job in Washington. There are many relevant web sites: www.communityjob.org, www.feminist.org, www.heritage.otg/jobs (a site for positions with conservative organizations), www.idealist.org/career, www.opportunitnocs.org, and/or www.nonprofitcareer.com. Positions in these categories tend to be listed in the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) and in Roll Call (www.rollcall.com.

If you are interested in a position with an association on its lobbying ("governmental affairs") staff locally or at the state level, you'll very likely need to begin with an internship or a volunteer position. In Orlando, look under "Associations" in the yellow pages. Here you'll find the Chambers of Commerce, the Realtors, the Hotel-Motel Association, the Home Builders and several other organizations which hire staff for their state and local associations. Write them a letter of inquiry, or begin with an internship. If you are considering going to Washington, these are the positions you are most likely to be able to obtain as a newcomer; you can "get your foot in the door" by this route if you can spend some weeks in Washington searching for these jobs.

The Private Sector

Many large corporations have governmental affairs divisions or offices; smaller companies often rely on their professional associations for the kinds of work that a governmental affairs division performs in a larger corporation. (Thus these professional associations are worth your consideration as a possible source of employment.) Many firms hire persons from liberal arts backgrounds for management, sales, or other entry-level positions, often with in-house training programs as the first order of business. It is true that when corporate personnel officers talk about what they look for in new employees, they often say that they are looking for persons with broad training in the liberal arts. However, it is also true that when interviewers from private companies come onto campus they often specify that they will interview only accountants, or only computer engineers, or other specific, often applied or technical majors. Nonetheless, the University of Central Florida Career Resources Center lists several dozen corporations which have interviewed on campus with students from "all majors" in recent years, so private sector employment is possible with an undergraduate political science degree. In fact, with globalization of the economy, students with international and comparative expertise (especially if they combine their Political Science with some courses in economics, or in business, and/or have foreign language capacity) may have a growing advantage in finding employment in the private sector.

If this is the arena in which you seek employment, you can use all of the tactics and approaches suggested above (using the Web, telling everyone you know that you are ready for your first professional job, considering an internship, and so on), but you will also find that University of Central Florida's Career Resource Center perhaps has more specific help to offer you. The Center sponsors job fairs; you should certainly attend these. You should use the Center's resume referral service, and work to schedule interviews through the Center.