After the Fulbright (ETA): questions from a current grantee

[MDC]

Hi Everyone,

I'm currently a Fulbright ETA and I'm begining to think about next steps. I would love to hear what others have done or are thinking about doing after the grant period. Specifically:

1) For current grantees: What are your plans after the grant?

For past grantees: What did you actually do after the grant?

2) How did include the Fulbright program in your Resume/CV?

Thanks,

Michael

[MDC]

No current/past Fulbright ETAs stalking these forums, huh? Bummer.

[Imhotep]

After my grant I got a job with an educational non-profit in the developing world. The Fulbright ETA doesn't provide you with much in the way of marketable skills unless you are planning to go into education -- which is not my long-term goal -- but it did provide me with a nice credential to enable me to spend another productive year abroad.

[OregonGal]

ETA= English as a Foreign Language teacher, correct? I can't speak to the Fulbright experience (I'd imagine that's a nice line on a resume) but I can speak to teaching English overseas and how to market those skills. I spent a year teaching English in Korea through their public school program, immediately after finishing college, and when I came home my intention was to get a job in the international non-profit sector. While I was able to translate the time overseas into valuable time proving I have intercultural communication skills and adaptability/flexibility, the lack of "hard" skills was a barrier for me--I ended up taking an unpaid internship to get that US-based office experience and my tipping factor for my supervisor was that I geeked out over international policy as much as he did. Don't get me wrong, international experience is essential in this sector and can be the value-added that gets you a position, but it's not going to be one of your primary qualifications.

[MDC]

Thanks Klaatu and OregonGal. I'm interested in education as a component of international development. I'll be applying to International Education programs and one or two International Relations programs, but I also want to have a back-up plan in case I don't get accepted.

Unfortunately, most of the organizations I've come across require their interns to be in a MA program already.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

MDC

[ca88]

Hi MDC! I came across this forum and wanted to see what you ended up doing for graduate school. I've been accepted for a Fulbright ETA for 2015-2016, and am thinking about graduate school after the fellowship. My interests are similar to yours - international ed within an international development framework - and have looked at Masters in Ed and Masters in IR. Would love to hear from you! Thanks.

[Crafter]

I got my MS in microbiology with a Fulbright-LASPAU scholarship. I usually include it in my CV in the "awards" section.