Prospective students often ask what sort of careers are open to people who study international relations – well, there is no one career track for students who study international affairs. Students of the program at NYU are taught critical thinking, writing, and subject matter knowledge that make them relevant to a wide array of career tracks in the public sector. NYU graduates have gone on to be diplomats, intelligence analysts, journalists, communication experts, investment bankers and military attachés to name but a few. Below are a few of the principal career tracks for students completing an MA in International Relations.
Career Options for MAIR Graduates
Maintaining Good Relations Between Countries
Diplomats represent and protect a nation's interests abroad in terms of politics, trade and consular services. You’ll spend usually around three years in a foreign country with a rotation in your home capital before being sent again overseas. Some of your responsibilities will be:
Act as a link between the country you represent and the country where you are stationed;
Collect and report on all the information that would affect your nation’s interests;
Discuss, negotiate and mediate with the local government issues about peace and war, trade, commerce, economics, as well as social and cultural aspects.
Gathering State-Critical Information
As an intelligence specialist, you can work in the military, the navy, security departments, or almost any state department of one of the national government agencies. There are also many private sector intelligence firms that do such work. Often times people start in the public sector and migrate to private practice later in their career. Your main duties as an intelligence analyst include:
Collect and analyze operational intelligence data;
Conduct mission reports, using data, maps and charts;
Evaluate results and prepare reports, statistics and graphics;
Maintain intelligence databases, libraries, and files.
Explaining the Political Climate
Political Analysts can work in both the public and private sector. In the public sector, for example, you might become Political Affairs Officer in a part of the government that studies and manages the relationship between your state and another state. This is often called a ‘desk officer’ in the United States. As you grow in your career you’ll move from focusing on one state, to a group of states, to perhaps an entire region. In the private sector political analysis often focus on risk and advise banks and companies on the dangers to their investments and help the companies make informed decisions in a global economy. You can also find work opportunities within media companies or research institutes. Your tasks will be to:
Inform about and interpret various political developments;
Analyze laws, public policies, and government decisions;
Advise government officials, political parties, or the media;
Forecast political trends and election results;
Put events into historical context.
Promoting Ideas to Those Who Can Make Them a Reality
Lobbyists are usually hired by an association, corporation, or non-profit organization to convince government members to make a decision that would benefit the organization or company they are representing. Lobbyists are found in all countries but in the US they are concentrated in Washington DC, in Europe, the center of European policy-making, Brussels, is a major hub for lobbyists seeking to influence the rules affecting the 500 million citizens of the EU.
As a lobbyist you will perform tasks like:
Monitor, research and analyze legislation;
Attend legislative hearings;
Reach out to government policymakers;
Use communication tools to promote ideas to the public and policy-makers.
Explaining the Big Picture
A degree in International Relations, and in particular IR with Journalism, is a background that can be utilized to help both public and private sector firms communicate at the international level. As a Communications Specialist/Spokesperson you’ll help organizations that work across countries communicate their policies and achieve their goals. The main duties of people working in this area include:
Creating effective communication strategies;
Handling internal communications;
Writing content for media and social networks;
Preparing speeches for senior leadership of the organization.
The MA in International Relations provides a strong understanding of international affairs as well as critical and analytical schools that many students find merges well with future legal studies. Several NYU IR graduates have gone on to study at law schools around the country including NYU LAW, Columbia, and Fordham to name a few. Many of these students focus on international law, international arbitrage or international corporate litigation.
The MA in International Relations is designed as a terminal MA degree – this means that upon completing the program most of our students go right into work and developing their professional careers. However, some students choose to continue their studies going on to pursue doctoral studies. Choosing to do a PhD is a serious commitment and students should very much consider before starting the MA if the program is best placed for their future ambitions. Students enrolled in the MA Program should meet with their academic advisors to make sure that they enroll in the courses at NYU to help facilitate entry into a doctoral program. For those committed to continuing on to PhD, the GSAS Pathways to the PhD Program is designed to provide support to GSAS Master’s students who are both interested in doctoral study and from groups currently underrepresented in their fields.