One question I get asked very often by readers of this blog is how I got funding for my first overseas internship. It was an unpaid position with a multilateral organization in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and it pretty much launched my global health career. It led to the job that led to my next job and so on and so forth until here I am now with enough experience that I believe myself capable of blogging about it.
My answer generally depresses people: I didn’t get funding. I estimated how much it would cost me every month to live in Tashkent. I figured out how long I wanted to stay – six months. Then I got a job, saved up my money, deferred my student loans, and got on the plane to Tashkent.
There is funding for overseas internships, but most of it seems to be for graduate students. I actually ended staying at my internship for a full year, funding the extra six months with a US government fellowship that no longer seems to exist.
But I got to Tashkent on my own, and I don’t think I could have gotten that fellowship if I wasn’t already there.
I was lucky, I know. I had student loans that could be deferred, and I was able to find work that let me save money. But I don’t have a trust fund and my parents haven’t helped me financially since I was 18. (Yes, Mom, I know you would have. But it didn’t feel right.) (What, no one else’s mom reads their blog?)
I can happily recommend the place I worked to earn the money to go to Tashkent. I was a faculty member at NYLF, the national youth leadership forum. They teach specialized week-long programs to high school students on topics like medicine and international affairs. I had a ball teaching high school kids, and learned a surprising amount from the site visits. Plus, you stay in the program hotel with the kids so I had no living expenses to contend with. NYLF is pretty much always hiring faculty instructors, since that much time with teenagers will burn you out fast.
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Always nice to hear that unpaid work pays off. Finishing a fellowship now and finally on to a first paid job — on a Northern Ugandan local salary! I suppose as the job market gets tougher, myself and other under-25ers can expect more free work (unless you get that lucky break).
I got my first overseas deployment the old school way – Peace Corps. I recommend it highly, but only if you pick a new country. Where PC is realitively new so you can transition to a Iocal job. And not be afriad to leave the Peace Coros if that job comes through.
Alanna –
Thanks for writing this. My experience was very similar to yours (more years ago than I want to count 🙂 and I suspect it is a common pathway. Through a series of ‘information interviews’ I found an unpaid internship that did subsidize my travel overseas and a percentage of daily minimum expenses, but with my making up the rest through savings. The org got more than they could possibly have paid me for, and I got more from mentoring and the experience than I would have gotten on salary. And as you described, one position led to the next. I would hope that instead of viewing this as ‘depressing’ those interested in getting into the field would view it as a challenge. A lot can be learned along the way that will be very valuable later on.
Quite. Personally I came late enough to the game that I’ve not had to voly. But it hasn’t changed and I watch no end of interns and post-interns work unpaid for 6-12 months for that first job-to-get-a-job. sometimes at 1stW rents and costs too. Some say it sorts the wheat from the chaff but alas sometimes it just sorts the mummy-monied from the serious grinders.
C – I agree with you. It’s a bad system that privileges the already privileged. We are losing out on thousands of people who’d be great candidates but cannot financially work for free.
Alanna– I’d also say that for the somewhat religiously inclined, mission service/volunteer programs are a great option, including for those who can’t afford to work for free. One of those programs was one of the first two things I did to launch my career in development (and no, it wasn’t completely cynical or pragmatic on my part–I believed in the service/program that I was doing, too.)
Programs like the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Presbyterian Church (USA) Young Adult Volunteer Program, and ELCA Young Adults in Global Mission and other programs of their ilk are worth a look–links at the bottom of the post. (Note that many of these programs will accept people who are not members of their denomination–but I’d suggest that if you are even partially opposed to the given church/denomination/organization’s mission or methods, you shouldn’t do it.)
Many have placements in the developing world, including a lot of options at the community level. They usually pay a very small stipend and provide a “real job” or substantive internship–so they’re essentially income neutral for a year or two. I would suggest that this is a great way to gain substantive experience, live in the developing world, and of course get a lot of networking done in-country. You could certainly land a follow-on job (or have great fodder and experience for grad school applications). I know that religious organizations can be scary to some development types, but I think most people would be pleasantly surprised at their general approaches and the work that’s done.
– http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/
– http://www.pcusa.org/yav/
– http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expressions/Churchwide-Organization/Global-Mission/Engage-in-Global-Mission/Global-Service/Basics-of-Global-Service/Young-Adults.aspx
Alanna,
I always love reading your job posts and this one was great as well. Thanks for the insight. Does anyone know if there are other successful methods to get intl work besides, volunteering into a job or peacecorps into a job?
Thanks for the insights! I’m going to be graduating soon and I just can’t afford to work for free. I’ve gotten great job offers in the private sector, and am even considering taking it up to save money so that I can jump into the non-profit/development sector later on. I’m actually going to write a post soon detailing all the possible fellowships and opportunities for recent graduates interested in development and public service work! I’ve found a lot through my research and I do think there are good options out there other than paying your own way or joining the peace corps. I.e. Princeton in Africa/Asia/Latin America Programs, Clinton AIF Service Corps, and as someone else noted there are many faith-based ones as well. There are options, but people just don’t know how to find them.
Canada has a great programme to help you launch a career in international development. My current job working in the International Labour Organization was thanks to this programme: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/internships