Seeking Work Before Graduate School

[wolfie53]

So after a round of applying to graduate school, I am thinking about trying to enter into the workforce because of the complete lack of any financial aid I received. I also saw that other various users here might have gone the same track and I was wondering their experiences. Furthermore, anyone is welcome to offer insight about attaining work before graduate school.

 

Basically, my situation is that I have a lackluster GPA with average GRE scores. I already interned at the United Nations with a NGO which boosted my resume and got me into schools like Denver. I am thinking about trying to gain a position as a research assistant since I have already contributed to the publicized work of a few professors. I have also looked into serving in public service for my state (Wisconsin). My ideal situation is to work for 2 years than try to reapply to some schools I already did this year and might shoot for some higher ranking ones to see if my chances improve.

 

Thoughts? Supplemental advice?

Edited April 28, 2014 by wolfie53

[hj2012]

I think it's always a good idea to get professional experience before attending a professional program, for both financial and academic reasons. I applied to professional IR programs straight out of undergrad and got into a number of good places, but all without funding. Now I've been living abroad for a few years (which ironically geared me toward a humanities PhD, so I ultimately didn't reapply to IR) but among my network of friends who applied to IR schools, the ones who worked a bit before applying have all done much better than my friends who came straight out of undergrad.

 

Your current job options sound great, but I would also look into programs like Americorps or consider going abroad to teach English for a year, especially if you don't have any international experience yet. Also, consider using your time off to retake your GREs, as funding is often tied to things like GRE score or GPA.

 

Good luck!

[Kaneisha]

Hi Wolfie,

 

Often, it's less important where you worked and more important how you frame the work you did. On your CV, here are various ways to boost the "impressive" factor of your work experiences:

 

• Provide context for each organization that you worked for—even the big name places. Let the reader know what the organization does, whether it's nonprofit, for-profit, NGO, etc. Is the organization international? Were you at a regional office or at the headquarters?
• Use numbers to quantify your accomplishments. How many people were on your team? How much money did you manage as a part of the budget? Numbers, numbers, numbers. Bigger numbers aren't bigger than smaller numbers; using a number is better than using no number.
• Avoid industry jargon. If someone doesn't understand what you're talking about, there is no way for them to know whether what you did was important or not. Convert jargon into easily understandable terms.

Those are just a few tips for making sure that you make the most of your accomplishments in your CV/resume.

 

Best of luck!

 

in reply to:

 

So after a round of applying to graduate school, I am thinking about trying to enter into the workforce because of the complete lack of any financial aid I received. I also saw that other various users here might have gone the same track and I was wondering their experiences. Furthermore, anyone is welcome to offer insight about attaining work before graduate school.

 

Basically, my situation is that I have a lackluster GPA with average GRE scores. I already interned at the United Nations with a NGO which boosted my resume and got me into schools like Denver. I am thinking about trying to gain a position as a research assistant since I have already contributed to the publicized work of a few professors. I have also looked into serving in public service for my state (Wisconsin). My ideal situation is to work for 2 years than try to reapply to some schools I already did this year and might shoot for some higher ranking ones to see if my chances improve.

 

Thoughts? Supplemental advice?

[wolfie53]

Thanks kaneisha, I can assure you however that I use that current format for my CV/resumes as I have taken a class on it and I have undertaken various other work experiences as well.

To the poster below the OP. I had another research position in Germany but it was for a summer and wasn't anything substantive other than that. I often focused on my position at the UN since I had access to the complex and followed 1st committee. At any rate, it's good to hear from your experience that people who enter the workforce first have better chances of doing well in graduate school. Though I have taken the GRE two times, and wod dread taking it a third, I might give it another go if it potentially means a better shot at funding.

[wolfie53]

I apologize for the double post. I'd figure it would be better than starting a new thread for a new question.

 

Based on anyone's experience what do you all think would be more beneficial for "professional work" to have on a resume for graduate school. As I stated before, my two leading options right now are research with a professor on international policy or working directly in public policy at the state level. While the research aspect would look good academically, I would figure some schools focusing on professional degrees in International Affairs might also look favorably on actually being in the public policy process.

 

Would anyone have a take or perspective regarding this?

 

I just ask because the area where there might be a potential lead for research work is very expensive. (California) While public work can be done in my state capital (Madison) at half the cost for living expenses.

[chocolatecheesecake]

@wolfie53, I hope both prospects are in the area that you're interested in working on. If not, choose the one that's more related to why you're interested in public policy and graduate school. Personally, if all other things were equal, I'd jump at the chance to work in actual policy on the state level. You'll never learn more than when you're actually doing the work, and it'll be great for future work prospects, whether or not you have a degree. Just think about it -- as a boss, would you rather hire someone who's actually spent two years doing the work? Or do you want to hire someone who's spent two years researching it? Both will give you a lot of insight, but I'd go for the actual experience. 

[hj2012]

I, too, would favor the public policy experience, especially if you're looking at undergrad debt or the prospect of incurring more debt in the upcoming years.

Re: GRE scores, it depends on how low they were. Was your combined score higher than 310? If so, you're probably hitting above the median of accepted students at your target schools. Generally, a higher GRE score can compensate somewhat for a lower GPA, so that's something else to keep in mind.