Working and class schedules

[hedong123]

Hello everyone,

 

I applied to Georgetown SFS and SAIS and am very hopeful that I get accepted to at least one of these programs.  Currently I work about 45 minutes away from downtown DC.  My job is not related to international affairs and I'm anxious to move on (I just took it to save some money while I wait to get into grad school).

 

My boss approached me recently and offered to let me work 1-3 days per week while I attend grad school.  The terms would be very flexible but I would just have to be available from 9-5 on days that I agree to work.  It pays very well.

 

Because the money would really come in handy, I'd like to work about two days a week.  My concern is that the job isn't related to my ultimate career goals.  Would this affect my options when I graduate?  I have about five years experience living, teaching and studying abroad.  So I already have plenty of international experience.

 

Also, Is it generally possible to schedule all of my classes on two or three days of the week, leaving the other couple of days open for a part-time job? 

 

Thanks!

[chocolatecheesecake]

Let's preface this reply with something about counting your chickens before they hatch. Hopefully you'll get into Georgetown or JHU and then you won't have to worry.

 

I'm most interested in knowing what you are going to be focusing on for your degree, and if you have direct experience in that. Your experience working and living abroad is certainly helpful in a lot of situations, but it's probably not a substitute for direct job experience in foreign policy and international affairs. Keeping your current job may not hurt your prospects, but I think it can hardly help if it's not going to grow your network in your future career or give you relevant experience (to an IR job).

 

Ideally, I would want part-time work in my field of interest which directly relates to what I hope to do after graduation, and is also going to pay decently. It may be hard to find, but it seems early to close the door on finding something that is a better fit for you *and* can pay the bills. Hopefully you'll get a while after you hear back from both schools to do some research on what's out there for a graduate student in that degree.

 

Finally, about the scheduling part, I'd take a good look at the online curriculum and do some research to see what/when the classes are. Some degree start out with a very rigid sequence, and you're practically locked into taking introduction to statistics and macroeconomics at these times, at least in the first year. A look into the current timeschedules or class schedules for this semester can tell you what days or times of day they are likely to be. I think it's unlikely that you'd get more than one day without any classes, but you may get lucky!

[bfoo]

For what it's worth, a couple of my classmates in MSFS were able to hold onto part time jobs while doing a full course load last semester. It's not normally advised, and will definitely hurt, but depending on how well you manage your time, it's certainly doable.

 

 

Hello everyone,

 

I applied to Georgetown SFS and SAIS and am very hopeful that I get accepted to at least one of these programs.  Currently I work about 45 minutes away from downtown DC.  My job is not related to international affairs and I'm anxious to move on (I just took it to save some money while I wait to get into grad school).

 

My boss approached me recently and offered to let me work 1-3 days per week while I attend grad school.  The terms would be very flexible but I would just have to be available from 9-5 on days that I agree to work.  It pays very well.

 

Because the money would really come in handy, I'd like to work about two days a week.  My concern is that the job isn't related to my ultimate career goals.  Would this affect my options when I graduate?  I have about five years experience living, teaching and studying abroad.  So I already have plenty of international experience.

 

Also, Is it generally possible to schedule all of my classes on two or three days of the week, leaving the other couple of days open for a part-time job? 

 

Thanks!

[hedong123]

Let's preface this reply with something about counting your chickens before they hatch. Hopefully you'll get into Georgetown or JHU and then you won't have to worry.

 

I'm most interested in knowing what you are going to be focusing on for your degree, and if you have direct experience in that. Your experience working and living abroad is certainly helpful in a lot of situations, but it's probably not a substitute for direct job experience in foreign policy and international affairs. Keeping your current job may not hurt your prospects, but I think it can hardly help if it's not going to grow your network in your future career or give you relevant experience (to an IR job).

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond.  You're right about counting the chickens.  It might take a small miracle for me to get accepted to either of the programs that I mentioned, but I'm trying to figure out a game plan should it happen.

 

My goal is to get a job with either The World Bank, GAO or USAID.  My undergrad major was finance and I worked in that field for about three years before deciding to pull a 360 and teach English in China.  I taught for about three years and as my language skills developed I decided to take a break from teaching and study the language full-time at a university in Beijing.   I recently passed an advanced level of a well-known proficiency exam.

 

Given my financial background/international experience I feel I'd be a good fit for the agencies that I mentioned.  I certainly have weaknesses in my application package but I have a solid quant background.  As in every math/economic course that I took in undergrad, 161Q on the GRE, and my corporate quant-related work experience/internship.

 

It's unlikely that I'll receive significant funding so this part-time offer would minimize the amount of debt that I would incur.  I'll certainly take your advice into consideration.  I'd hate to graduate from one of these programs and still be stuck at my current job.

[Gov2School]

In my previous job we frequently had interns from MSFS who would intern during term time, and they would either not work every day or come in late/leave early on the days when they had class, so it sees like it is doable to have a full courseload around a job. But the difference is that their internship, while it didn't pay, was giving them something valuable in terms of resume building and networking.  It doesn't sound like this other job would be the same.  On the other hand, most people can't afford to leave good money on the table. So you'll have to judge for yourself what you'd be giving up in order to work.

 

It's not just classes that you might have otherwise taken, but internship opportunities and even extracurricular activities that would let you bond with your classmates who one day (hopefully) will be your professional peers. Especially if you want to work in a large international organization, building a professional network while you're still in school will be really important to your future career.  But it's also one of those things that you have to judge for yourself, as everyone is different.  You may find that you can balance the demands, or your boss may find he doesn't like having a teleworker as much as he thinks.  If he's really accommodating and flexible, it may be worth it, and you may not really know until you try it.