It can be an incredibly frustrating to start a career in international affairs; the domain is oversaturated with candidates and the job market is not in a great place, despite the world entering an era with increased demands for diplomacy, international cooperation and global development.
For many this means long periods of job-hunting after graduation, often without ever hearing any feedback on the many applications that seemingly disappear in the recruitment void. While I wish this wasn’t the case, it is sadly the general experience, and while it is an incredibly tough reality to face, I do believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, if you are able to bridge the long and arduous journey there.
The unfortunate reality is that not everyone will reach their goals of a career in IR, but those who remain committed will, so seeking out guidance, inspiration and mentoring are all great steps in the right direction.
Beyond the newsletter and articles, here ares a few other areas of additional support that I can (or cannot) provide:
Jobs
In addition to the newsletter, I do post regularly on LinkedIn, so if you are interested, feel free to follow me there to get that little bit of extra.
The newsletter does not cover positions with the large International Organisations but I do post the upper-tier intakes on my feed; my posting schedule it Tuesday and Thursday but only if I have relevant contributions; dont worry, there is very little spam beyond my professional endeavours.
Content
I am very happy to take suggestions for content, guides and omitted organisations, please just drop me a message on LinkedIn or comment on any of my posts!
Lectures
I am quite happy to do online and in-person guest lectures for your university, association, conference, institution, you name it.
For non-profits and no-fee events, I generally need to have my costs covered but I do not charge anything to come and talk about careerbuilding or my areas of expertise. I have visited quite a few universities and conferences to talk shop in the past, but naturally, I cannot justify going out of pocket on airfare and hotels for these things.
In the case of for-profit, exclusive members events etc, I am generally less inclined to come talk, and if I do, I often expect compensation and cost-covering. I am a strong believer in having accessible events, and I do not enjoy seeing my pro-bono work being used for financial gain.
I have been considering doing my own events, but so far, I have not gauged a particular interest in this, and since there some logistical requirements to this, I have so far held off on this.
Everything is on a case-by-case basis, so reach out on LinkedIn if you are interested in this.
Sparring/Mentoring
While I have done a significant amount of both mentoring and sparring, I find it to be an increadibly time consuming process. In December 2024 I had 43 requests alone, and in my experience a session lasts 45-60 minutes, which is quite simply time that I do not have.
Rejecting people is not fun, I do all of this to help people, and being unable to help those in need is quite rough, but again, I have my work, hobbies and a private life that I have to balance.
For the last few months, i have been post-poning all sparring sessions, due to deadlines and Christmas, and given the growing interest, I am now looking at my options.
I try to respond to ad hoc requests if it fits my schedule, but as it is looking now, there is no way that I can satisfy the needs.
If you do need individual help, please make sure that you have read all my guide articles first, they answer 90% of the common questions and challenges that I encounter; for special cases, by all means, I will try my best to help out (just write me on LinkedIn).