isma93
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Posts posted by isma93
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Hi everyone! I am 25 years old, I already hold a BA in communication from an italian uni, and a MSc in political sciences from the London School of Economics (LSE). I am currently working in international organizations such as the UN - it's now been almost 2 years. I would like to study again, most likely next year or in 2020, and I always wanted to go to a top tier US university - Harvard being the top choice. The fact is, my family cannot afford to pay me a Master at Harvard uni at the Kennedy School of Government or the GSAS, and as an international student I would never receive financial aid to totally cover the expenses of one of their Master programs. That being said, I still want to go to Harvard, and experience studying in a US university. So I casually found out about Harvard Extension School: a part of Harvard university, that offers special Master degrees (Master of Liberal Arts, AML) in a variety of disciplines, with the possibility to follow partly online an partly on campus, the possibility to take a maximum of 5 years to complete the program, and obviously reduced tuition fees. A Master at GSAS would cost me around 160.000 USD for two years, while a Master of Liberal Arts at Harvard Extension School would cost me a mere 55.000 USD. But admissions to the Harvard Extension School are way easier: you only have to pass a general reading and comprehension test, and then not let your GPA sink below 3.0 to complete the program. You spend half of the program on campus, you also have a final thesis to prepare, and graduate from Harvard during the May commencement ceremony. I am interested in the AML in International Relations (https://www.extension.harvard.edu/academics/graduate-degrees/international-relations-degree), and I already emailed Harvard Extension School for more information, but one thing that is not completely clear to me is: how valuable is such kind of degree for employers? I know many students blatantly lie and pretend they earned a Master of Arts from Harvard instead of a Master of Liberal Arts from Harvard Extension School, and employers, especially in the USA, are annoyed by this kind of behaviour. Let me be clear: I am not doing the program to mislead people into believing I earned a Master of Arts from Harvard Kennedy School of Government or the GSAS. I would just like to experience Harvard and a top US university, pursuing a degree which is more affordable for me and my family, can be completed while working, and that can give me some new skills and knowledge (being a political science graduate, I never took courses in human rights law, public policy law, international development, which I would find in this AML program, really giving some meaningful contirbution to my professional growth). Has any of you ever pursued a Master of Liberal Arts at the Harvard Extension School? Or is there any of you that could provide more information and more advice on the topic? Thank you!
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On 8/28/2018 at 4:06 PM, Bodhicaryavatara said:
Are the UN internships paid?
Nope, no salary and no reimbursement for expenses :/ They now started paying some interns at UNICEF in NYC, but only like 20 poistions a year maximum (rest is still unpiad), plus they receive 1500 dollars which is ridiculous, you cannot survive more than 2 weeks with that amount of money in Manhattan ahaha
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Just got rejected for the internship at the Counter-Terrorism Division! It seems at least odd to me, after I interned at the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre in NYC and currently dealing with the matter in Kosovo
First and last time I apply to NATO internships ahaha!! Really cannot make sense of their selection process! All the bets to the rest of the candidates
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20 hours ago, paulojrv said:
I've received some rejections too. But I'm still waiting for the Counter Terrorism Section, which updated the date to 12th July, and the Withdraw option is still available. I may have passed the first screening, and now I'm waiting for more info...
I still am still waiting for a response from:
NATO Office of Resource - Capability Implementation Branch (last update: 6 August)
Emerging Security Challenges Division - Counter Terrorism Section (last update: 12 July)
Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - NATO & Multilateral Affairs Section (last update: 25 June)
Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - Middle East & North Africa Section (last update: 10 June)
Political Affairs & Security Policy Division - Arms Control & Disarmament Section (last update: 10 June)
Operations Division - Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (last update: 7 June)
Joint Intelligence & Security Division - Policy Oversight Branch (last update: 31 May)
Defence Investment Division - Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance, Land & Maritime Section (last update: 15 May)
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22 hours ago, paulojrv said:
I've received some rejections too. But I'm still waiting for the Counter Terrorism Section, which updated the date to 12th July, and the Withdraw option is still available. I may have passed the first screening, and now I'm waiting for more info...
I see my application to NATO Office of Resource - Capability Implementation Branch has been last updated 6 August 2018, they're still shortlisting for a lot of positions, they're super late this year!!
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20 hours ago, paulojrv said:
I've received some rejections too. But I'm still waiting for the Counter Terrorism Section, which updated the date to 12th July, and the Withdraw option is still available. I may have passed the first screening, and now I'm waiting for more info...
Same here! Even though the interview went well, they didn't choose me in the end for PASP.
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On 8/2/2018 at 10:44 AM, Saraieta2 said:
Hi guys
i have just phoned the internship office and they’ve told me they are late and will hope to let us know by end of September.
Wow cool that you called them! I already had the impression they're very late this year ahah
Thank you!
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9 hours ago, arrow1 said:
Today is the last day of July and haven't got a update in a while. I guess we get some update in early August.
Still haven't head anything after my interview, and it's been 2 weeks. They're slooooowwwww
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2 hours ago, Dukemm said:
wow! can anyone share what's a typical day like working for NATO?
I asked to the people who interviewed me, and they told me working environment and daily life are similar to an international organization like the UN
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1 hour ago, arrow1 said:
I hope we all will know whether or not we are shortlisted/made final selection. It seem they are a bit slow/behind in selection.
I think by the end of July (next week) we should know for all positions. At least I hope so! It's taking too long. I expect to hear from PASP by the end of this week, though it may take longer than that. For instance, for my last place here at OSCE it took 2 weeks for them to decide after the interviews
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On 7/21/2018 at 5:10 AM, arrow1 said:
did they tell you when you will expect whether you been selected for the internship?
They didn’t tell me and I forgot to ask?? how stupid ahaha but this week I think I’ll know, they’re pretty late with the selection process so I think they’ll move quickly now!
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3 hours ago, mil25 said:
Hi everyone - I got an internship at the international military staff back in September. I'm supposed to start in 1 month, buy I still haven't gotten my clearance (!) - Has anyone ever had a delay in their clearance and know what we can do? I'm basically harassing the french delegation every other week since I need to validate my internship through my university...
The clearance is fundamental, I don’t think you can start the internship at NATO without it
Many people told me they went crazy to get it in time. I’m also worried about the same thing, in case I get the internship, also because I live abroad now and I’d have to harass embassies and so on I guess!
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12 hours ago, arrow1 said:
Was this a phone or Skype interview? I could see these question be standard for all positions
It was through Skype, and lasted around 30 mins
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On 7/16/2018 at 12:02 PM, VTheo said:
@isma93 Same here, ESCD/CT jumped to the top, dated 12 July. It probably means we escaped elimination for that round.
Could you tell us a bit about your interview, what kind of questions they asked etc?
Hello @VTheo! The interview went pretty well I guess, there was just one guy interviewing me and he was very chill and fun. He had a set of 10 questions for me:
1) Introduce yourself and your academic and professional background
2) Why did you apply to NATO and why are you the best candidate for this internship?
3) Are you a team player? Give me a practical example
4) Do you prefer to plan your work or work under pressure? Give me examples
5) What is one of your biggest achievements during your studies or your professional career?
6) Tell me about one problem you had during studies or work, and how you solved it
7) Have you ever worked in, or on, Post-Soviet countries?
8) Do you have any experience in project management and monitoring and evaluation?
9) Which skills do you birng to NATO and which skills do you want to learn from this internship?
10) What do you know in general about NATO and about our division?
As I said, nothing too technical or too scary. The guy was fun and the athmosphere relaxed. I hope I'll get it, but even in case I won't, I'll remember it as a positive interview experience.
Cheers,
Isma
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4 hours ago, VTheo said:
@isma93 Same here, ESCD/CT jumped to the top, dated 12 July. It probably means we escaped elimination for that round.
Could you tell us a bit about your interview, what kind of questions they asked etc?
I still don't know, interview will be on Wednesday. I'm reading a lot about NATO in general, plus the PASP division who shortlisted me deals with programs for the education of military personnel, and I do a similar thing here with OSCE, I work on educational programs for law enforcement officials. So I will try to draw some connections between the two jobs during the interview I guess. I'm excited about PASP but my number one choice was ESCD/CT, so I hope I will be shortlisted for that one as well!
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Also, anyone got their applications updated in the last few days? My application to the emerging security challenges division - counter terrorism section now jumped to the top and shows 12 july as last update! Have no idea what that means
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On 7/13/2018 at 11:23 PM, arrow1 said:
I not even sure if I could get in to any NATO internship. It seem they require French and English instead of just knowing one. I can't really speak write or even have a conversation in French. .
I'm not very advanced in French either. I have a B1 level I guess, so I can have a conversation, write short texts, but not properly work in French. Did you ever study it?
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43 minutes ago, arrow1 said:
I only applied to Policy and Programmes team and arm control due to the rest requiring a master degree which I don't have.
I imagine when you don’t hold a Master yet it can be more difficult.
I could apply to many positions because I already hold a Master degree and I’m pursuing a second one, so I have the basic requirements for all the positions. I didn’t apply to all of them of course, because many have special requirements I don’t meet (expertise in a specific region, advanced Sharepoint abilities, advanced French language). Best of luck for the arms control one! The recruiting process is still very much in progress, I hope you’ll hear from them soon
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27 minutes ago, Polo07 said:
@VTheo I had applied to the policy programme position as well haha.
Congrats @isma93 for getting an interview with them. I hope you get it!
From what I have heard its a 10 minute phone interview. I found a lot of info material about "Building Integrity" and "DEEP" through google searches ( a few pdfs popped up). From what I remember, Iraq is now in the center and they are launching a few intiatives. I think they had a Summit about one of the two programs in Bagdad in May/June. But again, I am not too sure about all of this, it has been a while.
I hope you get it Isma!
Thank you so much! I worked on MENA when I was at the UN, but more on North Africa and Jordan. Now I’m on the field in Kosovo. Never really worked on Iraq specifically, but I hope they’ll still like me!! Fingers crossed?
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Just now, Caro92 said:
Hey! so I had an interview last week for the internship program and they started with general questions about why I applied to the internship, what my past experience is, examples of when I overcame a difficult situation in a previous job etc. Then they asked specific questions about the division I was interviewing for - so make sure you do some research and know about the division and their main goals and objectives. And then we finished with some super general questions about NATO! it was pretty straight forward so don't stress too much
Thank you so much!! I prefer interviews over written tests because I have a very open personality and I talk a lot, but also I'm putting a lot of effort into this NATO thing and I want to be well prepared to make them a good impression
I already know pretty much what the division does, but I have time before the interview to search for even more information. Thanks a lot again!
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Hi everyone! Just got an interview with the Political Affairs Division - Policy and Programmes Team! It's my first interview with NATO and I really have no idea what they could ask! Anyone out there on the same boat??? Thank you!!
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1 hour ago, Polo07 said:
Just got my rejection. all the best to you guys - I sincerely hope that you make the cut!
Sorry to hear that
One of my applications to PAD jumped to the top 10 minutes ago, with update status 9 July 2018 and label "on hold". And now I just got the email asking for interview! Super nervous, scheduling my interview now!! I have no idea what they'll ask, it's my first time with NATO
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1 hour ago, paulojrv said:
Just received the second rejection e-mail from Policy & Capabilities Division.
Yeah me too, but it wasn't even my favorite division. It was stuck with update date May, so I think I wasn't ever even considered for that one. Still waiitng for the other ones, I see some of my applications to PAD show 1 July and 25-26 June as last update. Stressful. Did you do any other applications besides the ones you were already rejected for?
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5 hours ago, arrow1 said:
I only have a BA in Political Science. Did you graduate this year? I won't be able to apply since they would want someone who graduate recently or one year later only.
I hold a BA in communications and foreign languages (2012-2015), a master of science in political science (2015-2016), and I am now enrolled in a second master of arts in IR (2017-2019) that I’m following while working. So I could be able to apply for the next 1 - 2 years as well. But I’m not sure if I will, as I already have over 1 year professional experience and I’ll most likely want a real job next year. After the job I have now will be over, I’ll have 1.5 years experience including 6 months on the field in a post-conflict country. Hopefully this will qualify me for a real job position?
Concerning PAD, my studies in political science are quite general as well, don’t worry about it. I applied to the two divisions I feel most qualified for because of my previous job experience:
- Policy and Programmes section (I have work experience inside the department of political affairs at the United Nations in New York, where I worked in project management)
- NATO and Multilateral Affairs section (So far, I worked for the United Nations, the European Union, and I’m now at OSCE. They’re all organizations with whom NATO interacts in this section).
Which sections did you apply to in PAD?
Isma
Oxford University 2018 Entry MPP Applicants
in Waiting it Out
Posted
Hello everyone! I'm thinking of applying to the MPP next year or the following year. I'm 25, already hold a MSc in political science from LSE, and I have1.5 years of internships in the UN and EU, intitutions including in a post-conflict development. I would like to ask what is the broad profile of applicants to the MPP? I see many of them have substantial work experience. Could I have a chance to get in?