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My general advice would be to network on LinkedIn. Setup coffee chats with people in roles you want. Ease into asking for a referral.
Hi there, I worked at the World Bank and many of my friends work for USAID, United Nations, and the State Department — I went to American University in DC.
French is a critical language in the UN and its sister organizations, so you can leverage your En/Fr skills and be a more competitive candidate, especially if you apply for roles in French-speaking countries, or roles where natively there's a shortage of French speakers.
I'd recommend starting on the public side so you learn how the private side works (so you don't end up well-paid but screwing over people in poverty — known as "economic hitmen"), and then deciding where in the industry to work. Not all private stuff is bad (and not all of the public stuff is good), but with experience you can learn these nuances and build a meaningful career. If you're interested in public work, here are my suggestions:
Two very basic suggestions:
i) If you want to enter as an experienced specialist: Given your teaching background I'd suggest leveraging your experience with a large international organization focused on education (UNESCO, UNGEI, World Bank, Peace Corps), and then lateraling to a non-education opportunity within that large organization, or exiting with your experience in hand to do whatever you want in the industry.
ii) If you want a fresh beginning because you're ready to focus on International Development issues apart from education: I'd recommend the World Bank's young professional associates program — which you could think of as their MBB generalist associate-level rotational program, which maxes out ~28 years old. Many UN organizations have similar programs, and WBG has a few different programs like this with different max ages, so use this link as a leap pad.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/careers/programs-and-internships/Junior-Professional-Associates
If you're older than the age limit, then I'd suggest becoming a foreign service officer at US St. Dept, or searching for opportunities on unjobs.org, or trying https://80000hours.org/job-board/ as a leaping-off point for roles in high impact organizations, including development and international organizations. https://www.givedirectly.org/ is my favorite private international development org — feel free to check them out.
Networking into the United Nations and World Bank is similar to one of the normal consulting firms above — if you're in DC or another city with big international organizations, go to a bar just after closing time for happy hour and make friends with industry people, and if you're not, then meet people over LinkedIn or fishbowl, build relationships and then get referred.
Lastly, for all the Big4s and MBBs above, if you work for an international organization then you work tax-free. And that's pretty much all I need to say about that.
This is good advice. Thank you so much!
Just move to France. If you speak French and native English, the European job Market values diversity of experiences more than the US does.
Thank you :)
Where are you located? We’re hiring!
I am in Maryland
One note: Think about your endgame if you're interested in opportunities where you travel abroad. If you're interested in eventually working for State Dept., USAID, (or Intelligence) on a clearance, then doing 14 months as a pencil pusher at an organization in an authoritarian country will make things complicated. You don't have to know what you'll be doing in two decades, but just something to keep in mind.
Happy to refer you to Deloitte, DM me
I work in T and O at Accenture and we recruit lots of ex teachers to help deliver learning/upskilling work. It’s definitely a good route in. DM me if you want more info
You don’t think learning, development, upskilling, or adoption strategies are part of consulting ? Lol.
Easiest way is to go back to school. Most consulting firms will hire you in at entry level given you have no prior industry or consulting experience. If you get an MBA, you can come in at post MBA level (200k+ TC, 220-230 for MBB)
Thank you for the advice! I am currently working on MBA.
Look up some relevant certifications, analyse the skills you can transition, develop a strong network and consider having you resume edited by a professional. www.prsnbranding.com does a great job with resumes.