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While many students are eager to find an answer to the question "What can I do with a major in International Studies?", they are asking the wrong question! A major is an area of scholarship and a requirement for graduation. Liberal Arts majors, such as International Studies, are not designed to prepare you for any one particular career. To qualify for most entry-level positions, many employers only specify a college degree.

Your challenge as an International Studies major is to think specifically and creatively about your interests and abilities and how to work with them to achieve your goals. Rather than asking "What can I do with a major in IS," you should ask "Is IS a good major to help me get to where I want to go? Are the courses relevant to my intended field of work? Will I learn skills that I can translate into a work environment? Do I enjoy what I am studying?"

Certain traits and skills are valued by employers who work "internationally"--whether in government, business, non-profit or educational settings. These include:

• a conceptual grasp of history and contemporary events and the ability to relate specific cases to general patterns;
• familiarity with the issues and realities of doing business in the sector you wish to enter;
• basic skills in economic and political analysis, including both quantitative and qualitative approaches;
• knowledge of other cultures, languages, institutions--an ability to analyze across cultural or national lines;
• proficiency in speaking and writing, and the ability to organize your thoughts and logically present your ideas cogently and coherently; and
• problem-solving skills.

The IS major can help you develop these skills. But, your major is only part of the process in getting to your dream job and career.

The chart below is from a 2003 survey of our alumnae detailing the career areas that our graduates are working in.

Questions About Careers and Jobs You Must Answer Yourself:

Knowledge of international relations and knowing you want to work in an international field are only part of what it takes to define what type of career and/or job you are working toward. You must also develop a sense of what type of position, lifestyle, etc., you want. To do so, you can begin by answering questions like the following:

1. What skills am I best at? What skills do I most enjoy using?
2. What kind of work atmosphere do I want? Do I want to be creative? Work within established parameters? Have a lot of contact with the public? A little?
3. How much free time do I like and what hours do I want to work?
4. Where do I want to live and how frequently do I want to travel? How will I fit family, if I want one, into this? Will my spouse have a career and will he/she be able to find work where I want to be? What about children? [While these questions may seem premature right now, these lifestyle issues will inevitably pop up. The more you think about them now, the better prepared you will be to deal with them.
5. What are my values and to what extent must my work reflect them?

The answers you find to these questions can provide a foundation for your search for the perfect career. It is never too early to start asking questions with an eye towards building a college experience around your answers. In that way, you can choose courses with an eye to both the academic and "real" worlds. For example, while computer training may not be a requirement for graduation for International Studies majors, in your dream job, employers may prefer to hire someone with at least minimal computer proficiency.

Further, consciously developing preliminary answers to these questions now (and your answers will change over time as your values and life do) will enable you to respond better to the "strengths and weaknesses" question that potential employers are bound to ask. You will be able to respond with confidence about what you can do for an employer, instead of merely listing what you have done in the past and what your major is/was.

There are international jobs in virtually all fields. Your task as a student is to research and to accumulate the skills needed to enter the field of your choice. However, your first job may still not be the job of your dreams. You must focus on what skills it will allow you to develop and how those skills will enhance your opportunities later on. Few, if any, enjoy a clear path to their goal. The challenge is to respond to the opportunities, making each job a step toward your goal.

Getting Experience As An Undergraduate:

You can get the experience you need to stand out after graduation. Below are just a few ideas:

• take positions of leadership in campus organizations
• volunteer time at community organizations or trade associations whose members have contacts in places where you would like to work
• study abroad or intern abroad
• participate in internship programs here in the U.S.
• conduct a research project on a topic relevant to a hoped for employer--interview the employer!
• learn a second (or third!) language