>> It is very hard work and everything's
hard work, but usually, you know,
that the tradeoff you think of [inaudible];
it's hard work, but it means something.
Right? And that's totally true
and every one at the stable,
probably believes very deeply
in the work that they do.
The reality that you need to know is that
every day, you're not going to be doing
that really tank-filling super emotional work.
The hard part of international
development is all the very mundane
but very important day-to-day tasks that
go in to making an organization run.
I'm speaking partially from experience
[inaudible] having started off in fundraising.
Fundraising is a skill that every
nonprofit organization needs
and that very people want to do.
If you can learn how to do fundraising
really well, you can have a career
in international development and
advocacy etcetera, etcetera,.
the same thing with accounting and budgeting.
I hear lots of people in the sector
say, "Oh, I'm not a numbers guy."
Well, we're an organization
just like any other organization
that needs the numbers guys
and girls to help us run.
And that's probably then one of the biggest
things that I've learned in the field --
for not very long and like
three or four years --
is that what really makes organizations
tick is a skilled hardnosed approach
to functional skills that are not all
that different from the same kinds
of things you're going to find in
other companies and other fields.
>> Try to learn second language and
master it because that's really going
to make you more competitive in the field,
especially if you want to work in, let's say,
Latin America, learn Spanish
or learn Portuguese.
Brazil is an up-and-coming country in the
Western Hemisphere, but definitely try
to learn and master a second language.
Secondly, some of the skills that you
should really look into acquiring,
like my colleague said fundraising
is [inaudible], so if you can intern
in a fundraising department or
program [inaudible] organization,
don't undervalue that opportunity because people
who can raise money are people
who stay employed.
[Inaudible].
And one other thing is that when
you set your expectations for career
in international development, a lot of people
want to travel and like my colleague said,
do a lot of passionate, emotionally
invested work.
When you first break into that field, you might
not -- you most likely won't be traveling a lot.
You'd most likely be in the office doing
a lot of day-to-day operational things,
so that's just part of the game,
so just have that, you know,
bent out of setting your mind that, you know,
right out of the gate you probably
won't be traveling much but [inaudible].
>> [Inaudible] also a client-based
[inaudible] client-based organization,
we do a lot of [inaudible].
And I think while we are, you know, my
office is U.S.-focused and, you know,
we're all about U.S. programs because
our clients are here permanently
in the United States,.
it's still is along the themes of development.
So I know a lot of people think, "I'm
getting into international development.
I need to work overseas.
I need to work abroad."
But also think of the populations
that are here in the U.S. that have --
that are coming from an international context
and I think refugee resettlement really embodies
that in that our clients are
coming to the U.S. with nothing.
And so, they really need the support and
the help to integrate into, you know,
the U.S. In addition, I think in the type
of work where you are doing direct service,
if you're interested in that kind of work and
in that type of, you know, development work,
think about the -- you know, it's not --
it's usually not a nine-to-five,
so flexibility and your timing.
Also, learning how to kind of create a boundary,
I think, an emotional boundary between you
and the people that you're serving can be
really difficult but also really important
when you're going to do direct service.
And I see our case workers deal with this a
lot and, you know, there can be high burnout
in a place where there is a lot of case
management because you're dealing with,
you know, difficult cases,
people with difficult stories.
But being able to really, you
know, work through that and keep
that professional boundary is going to really
help you if you're looking for a career
where you are going to be working one on one
with people on the ground either internationally
or domestically; because you're more helpful
to them if you can take care of yourself first
than if you, you know, are kind of an
emotional wreck or you have a bleeding heart.
And that's definitely something that has to be
learned and something that I think is important
when considering this type
of work and type of position.
>> I want to make two other quick points.
Again, on the skills, writing skills
are huge and the way you write
for the classroom is different than how you
would write in the professional atmosphere.
So, getting in an environment where you can
practice your professional writing skills is
going to be really, really important to you
because in that fast-paced type of environment,
you know, they want you to be concise;
they want you to be straight to the point;
and they want you to be, you know, well
versed in what you're talking about.
So, strong writing skills
are going to be a thing
that will really set you
apart against your peers.
One other skill is attention to
detail and this really starts
at the application process
for a lot of internships.
Some places have special forms that
you need to complete or, you know,
submit your CV or resume, something like that.
And if we notice mistakes in your resume, or if
we notice that you didn't follow the directions
to the tee, that is going to reflect back
on you and how we see you as a person
who can pay attention to detail
and follow directions to the tee.
So --
>> And, actually, if I can add a
couple notes, one other thing is
to follow the directions to a tee.
I can't tell you how many times we have in
our website very clearly sending a resume
and a cover letter to such and such an
address; and if someone doesn't send a resume
and a cover letter to such and such an address,
we have lots of applicants where we're more
than happy to have things like that
differentiate people from the pack,
because you know what a lot of the job
is, it's sending X, Y and Z to this person
in a way that that person needs it.
So, if you can't do that, then
you're already setting yourself
up for a -- [inaudible] a tougher eye.
And one other thing to add is there's
a word that's kind of a buzz word
in the field [inaudible] resiliency; and
we should talk about it with the people
who are working with [inaudible].
We want the youth we work with to be resilient,
want them to come back from hardships;
I think that that's actually a really important
skill or trait to have in the field as well
because as Gabrielle was saying,
sometimes you're not going to win.
Right? You're going to work with some really,
really hard kids in my world, or hard adults,
growing up at hard communities
with a lot sacked against them.
And sometimes, you're not going to win
that fight and that's got to be okay;
you've got to be able to say that I'm okay
with trying 10 times and succeeding five times,
and then I'll go out and I'll try
to succeed the sixth time again.
And every time you don't succeed, you've
got to be willing to just say, "Okay.
Let's think about how we can do it better
next time and increase our odds a little bit."
That is a lot of the job which is having
that constantly proactive mindset
and not getting discouraged.