Archive for employment

Tips for making the most out of your internship search

Applying for internships can be daunting. Here are a few tips to make it more manageable:

  1. Look through the OCS Internship Report Database on SIPAlink

In order to fulfill the internship credit, all students need to complete a comprehensive questionnaire about their internship experience. I found the OCS Internship Report Database on SIPAlink a great resource to get a better idea of what other students have done. (SIPA’s Office of Career Services, or OCS, is dedicated just to SIPA students.) Before I started applying for internships, I filtered through the different career fields and looked at what organizations or companies students interned at. If you see an internship that you’re extremely interested in, you can reach out to the student or even maybe the supervisor.

  1. Attend OCS’s concentration/specialization career panels and info sessions

Every week or so OCS sends out an email with all the career panels and info sessions they planned. Make sure to look out for the email and register for as many of the events as you can. It’s a great way to learn more about the field, talk to alumni, and make connections. I recently went to a resume workshop that an alumni led. He went through our resumes one by one and provided great advice.

  1. Reach out to Alumni on the Linkedin page

We have a “SIPA Alumni and Student Network” group on LinkedIn that, as of today, has over 8,000 members. I recommend reaching out to alumni to set up an informational interview. Alumni generally are very responsive and willing to help our their fellow Seeple. Please note that incoming students will be approved as group members beginning the week of orientation.

  1. Make a list of interesting places

We often have guest speakers in our classes who are doing amazing work around the world. I started making a list of organizations and companies I found interesting. When I was looking for internships, I started with that list.

Best of luck with your internship search!

Watch: The 43rd Annual SIPA D.C. Career Conference

Ana Guerrero MIA ’19 gave a micro view of the SIPA D.C. Career Conference; check out the video below for a macro view. More than 220 SIPA students took part this year, joined by over 200 SIPA alumni throughout the Conference’s panels, site visits, and networking events from January 16-18, 2019.

Read the full recap here.

A recap of the 2019 SIPA D.C. Career Conference

SIPA’s 43rd Annual D.C. Career Conference & Alumni/Student Networking Reception was held on January 16 – 18, 2019.

My name is Ana Guerrero, and I am a second-year MIA student, concentrating in International Security Policy and specializing in International Conflict Resolution. I am originally from the Dominican Republic but I grew up in Brooklyn. I had a myriad of jobs before SIPA, and I am hoping to use my degree to pivot into the Security sector.

For that reason, I was really looking forward to the 43rd annual SIPA D.C. Career Conference, so much so that I successfully applied to be the panel coordinator for the Security & Political Risk session. (I couldn’t attend last year because a group of classmates and I organized a relief trip to Puerto Rico to help clean up after Hurricane Maria.) Needless to say, for someone who doesn’t have direct work experience in the field, I felt that I couldn’t miss the D.C. Career Conference *Don Corleone voice* on this the year of my graduation.

I am very glad I made the most of my time at the conference. I had two coffee chats with SIPA alumnae in D.C., and I managed to make a connection with each of my panelists. My favorite panel – aside from my own – was the Foreign and Civil Service session, where we heard from people from the State Department, the FBI, and a former CIA employee. Their insights into government work and the fellowships to apply for were invaluable.

Panels aside, the site visits are another excellent resource because I got to see the workplace and talk to people I otherwise would not have met if I just attended the conference day’s events. I went to the National Counterterrorism Center, Elizabeth Warren’s Senate office, Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG), and led the site visit and panel of State Department employees. At the ASG session, a human resources representative talked about internship and employment opportunities to look out for in the coming months. Additionally, the networking reception on the last night allowed me to follow up on connections I had made throughout the week. THIS is why you attend a conference like this!

My one piece of advice to prospective students is to absolutely attend the SIPA D.C. Career Conference if they are open to working in Washington D.C. And if you want to work in D.C. and can attend both years as a SIPA student, do it!

How to find an internship (or job) like a Seeple

Internships are an integral part of the student experience at SIPA. They open exciting new doors for our students and expose them to paths they may have never discovered if left to their own devices. While the incoming class doesn’t have to worry about finding an internship (or even a job) right now, it never hurts to learn the tricks to finding your ideal one. And SIPA offers several resources to make the job hunt easier. So one of our program assistants, Tinsley Corbett, MPA ’15, decided to share her job-hunting strategy with all of you. Thus, making it her farewell post on the SIPA Admissions Blog. (While Tinsley writes it from the vantage point of finding that post-graduation job, the tips are still applicable to new students looking for an internship upon enrolling at SIPA.)

Read More →

A SIPA degree leads to a promising future

It’s Graduation Week at Columbia University, and we couldn’t be more excited for SIPA’s Class of 2015! This Thursday, May 21, 2015, our students will graduate from SIPA and will become a part of our 20,000+ outstanding SIPA alumni. And I’m pleased to say that they’ll be in some pretty impressive company. Read More →

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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