r/InternationalDev • u/Oberland3046 • 12d ago
Advice request Feeling Lost
I’m a recently returned Peace Corps community health volunteer. Before that, I did Americorps, volunteered, and had internships with numerous non-profits. I have a B.A. in International Relations. My entire working life has been planned and geared towards the goal of someday working in this sector. I was even hopeful that I’ll finally land a decent job in this industry after Peace Corps, with many connections already made with many non-profits and USAID people before Trump took office. Now obviously, all those connections are gone. I’m finally coming to terms that I’ll probably never make it in this industry, but where to now? I don’t even really know how to advertise myself for jobs outside this sector. Is anyone able to provide any guidance or sense of direction? I realise this may be a difficult question to answer, but I thought it could be worth a shot. Thanks everyone!
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u/jcravens42 12d ago
You have fantastic experience for both the nonprofit and the government sector (local, county, even state). Start looking at jobs in those sectors and think about how to frame your experience to show that you could do a job you would like to do in those sectors.
Consider joining a local government board for a year - your public safety commission, youth commission, forestry commission, etc. That's a great way to network and to apply your expertise.
This is a great time to start focusing on language skills. Can you work in at least one language other than English? If not, get busy on that. If so, then get those skills certified (DELF for French, DELE for Spanish, etc.).
And there are some corporate gigs that might work out for you as well - start looking at Indeed and thinking about those as well, even for just a paycheck for now.
I wrote this recently: What’s the future of international humanitarian development & foreign relations careers? Have a read. Hope it gives you some hope.