Creating an international development event February 21, 2011
Posted by jefffromclapham in international development.trackback
I was at an event last weekend and one of the participants stood up and said his job involved getting well paid for doing something that made violence fun – and he hated it. It made me realise what a privilege it is creating the ‘Getting into International Development’ event which is happening on March 10th (details at www.careers.lon.ac.uk/dev). Putting together organisations that are making a clear difference where the pain is greatest with people who are prepared to do what it takes to join them is a great game to play. So for the last few weeks my colleagues and I in The Careers Group, University of London have been planning the day and enrolling NGOs, development professionals and others from the sector. Our intention is provide information, inspiration, practical advice and tangible opportunities.
Professor Richard Sanders from the University of Northampton phoned me today and said he had found some funding which they are going to use to bring down a coach load of their students to the event – maybe other students will get inspired and persuade their colleges to do the same? This is exactly what Naomi Alesworth, a current King’s student, did when she was on the development degree at Northampton a couple of years ago. I contacted Naomi today and I was delighted when she said she was going to join one of our panels of speakers. Naomi is going to be talking about her experiences of interning with the UNDP and how she lined up her job for when she completes her Masters. I spent another part of the day talking to the World Development Movement (WDM) about the campaigning and advocacy workshop they will be running for us. The workshops are designed to give participants a tangible flavour of what it’s like to work in different parts of the sector. WDM are experts in campaigning – recent successes include the creation of a green investment bank, the shelving of a new coal power station and continuing successes against water privatisation in Africa. Join us on the day for these and many other events.
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Hi Jeff. This sounds like a very interesting seminar and I would love it if I were able to attend.
I am a Foreign Service Officer with a Masters in International Commerce and Policy. I will also be getting a certificate in Project Management soon.
I want to transition into international development and am wondering if I will need further studies, for eg a masters in development studies, in order to do this. Particularly, I am interested to learn of how valuable a PHd is in this field.
Many thanks for your reply.
Hi Tanya, more important than further studies is developing country experience. You may need further qualifications but you won’t be able to know which ones until you have a clear idea of what role you may want to take up. The event will be a great place to help you answer all of these questions.