IDF military service as work experience

[Pt.r]

Hey everyone,

 

I’m an Israeli citizen currently considering applying to some top MPP / MIR programs in the US. During my undergraduate studies, I worked about a year and a half in Israeli government, in part time student positions. However, It seems to me as if most top schools require some more relevant work experience than that.

And this is where my military service enters the picture. I served for about 3.5 years in the IDF. I have definitely gained valuable experience in security affairs. But I am still concerned that my military service won’t do. First, it might count as experience in “security”, but I’m much more interested in economic policy (and that’s consistent with my government experience + BA degree, all relating to economics). Secondly, military service in Israel is obligatory (a minimum of 3 years for men). Any Israeli citizen could basically say he has 3 years of relevant work experience, and I’m concerned about schools filtering this kind of obligatory military service out of the equation.

 

So, what do you say? Do you think I have enough relevant work experience to be a competitive applicant? Will they count my military service as relevant work experience?

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

Sure. I don't see why not..especially having three years worth of it. Military experience can boost your application whether you did it for work experience intentions or not. If you look at the Gradcafe results page (http://thegradcafe.com/survey/index.php), you will see some people who were accepted into SAIS, SFS, Columbia, etc without revevant work experience. But you will have slightly more of a leverage with military experience compared to having nothing at all.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Guest

[chocolatecheesecake]

I don't think you should worry about them automatically filtering out this sort of military experience. What matter is that you did do it for 3.5 years whether it was obligatory or not. You should definitely show through your statement of purpose that you got something really valuable out of it - have stories to tell about what you learned and how that influenced your path toward what you want to do. Having relevant work experience for graduate school doesn't mean you need to already have done policy work. And it's fine that you want to go to grad school to do something different than what you've been doing for work; that's what grad school is for!

[leon32]

I had Korean friends use their national service as work experience and it was a plus to their application. It is especially a plus if you had a specialized form of service (i.e. my Korean friend was in a program for English speakers that work with the U.S. military that is competitive to get into). What's important is how you can show what was unique about your experience, different for your personally than everyone else doing the same required thing, I think.

[KenBesonders]

I find it to be very good work experience for security affairs. Government, writing and policy analyst jobs are few in numbers and often require a lot of experience. Not many applicants will have such experience.

That being said, I do not think there is a set job grad schools really look for. The key thing is showing the skills you gained and how it relates to your field. From what I have heard from admissions people is that service jobs, such as military or humanitarian work, not only count as work experience but also give you an extra boost if you gain international or language experience out of it.

[Pt.r]

Thank you all!

I am pleased to read your answers and I hope that schools to which I intend to apply will see things like you do. If someone has a different opinion I’ll be happy to hear it as well.

Thanks again