Resume Guide - Wilson College: Fill & Download for Free

[EDIT #2: Feb 1, 2016]: If you'd prefer to read this post in web format, you can do so here: The Perfect $3000/Month Business For University StudentsThis was posted a few years ago, so you should be in university/college by now I presume. If so, have you thought about placemat advertising?Probably not, but it's a totally viable business.For example, there's Glenn Buchan who created a placemat advertising business called Adspad while he was in his first year of uni! He was able to do this despite having:No existing connectionsNo coding/programming skillsNo previous entrepreneurial experienceWhat was Glenn’s super simple business?Glenn made it easy for local businesses to advertise to university students. To do this, he supplied environmentally friendly paper placemats for food trays in the university cafeterias, and would sell the advertising space on the placemats.The university would allow him to do this because in return, they would get free space to communicate to their students.Glenn’s story is a perfect example of what a first time entrepreneur should be doing. Instead of trying to create the next big mobile app or website, he went for a simpler and proven business.The best thing?The monetization strategy was straight-forward.Unlike many startups these days where you build a huge audience and THEN figure out how to make money, Glenn’s monetization strategy was much simpler.Glenn had a partnership with two universities.For each university, Glenn’s placemats would have a total of 10 advertising spaces which he would sell for $150 each. That’s total monthly revenues of $1500 per university.His total monthly costs were $600 per university in order to print and design the 10,000 A3 paper placemats.The result? Monthly profits of $1800/monthLet’s just forget about the financial rewards for a second. Personally, I think the transferable skills Glenn gained from this experience was more valuable than the money.Even if his business failed, the experience alone would have been worth it. Because of Adspad, he’s picked up skills like: negotiating, marketing, sales, and much more.You can’t learn these skills inside a classroom or at some regular part-time job……just imagine having this on your resume when you’re only 19 years old!So how can you do the same thing?As with every guide I share, I never want to give you just some fluff with no real-life examples. Instead, I’ll try to lay out a detailed action-plan that you can follow.Phase 1) Finding and Meeting the Decision Makers at the UniversityStep 1: Make a List of Potential Decision Makers via LinkedinMake a list of the departments that would be affected by the business. In this case, Adspad was providing free advertisements (marketing group) for the university through the cafeteria trays (contracts group).He would then use Advanced Search in LinkedIn to identify potential decision makers, and people directly reporting to the decision maker.For example…The main lead would be the “Head of Marketing”.Once you have their name, most universities will have a staff directory which you can use to get their contact information.Step 2: Confirm the Decision MakerFor confirmation, it’s highly effective and low risk to reach out to people you know who aren’t the decision makers. In this case, it would be the “Marketing Officers”, and the purpose would be to ask them who the decision makers are.For example, you can call them and say…“Hi X – My name is Wilson, I’m a student at Y University and I was hoping you might be able to help me out with a university project. I’m trying to connect with someone who is in charge with approving the university’s marketing efforts. Do you know who that person might be? [Respond to any of their questions…] Great, that’s all I needed. Thanks for your help.”Step 3: Get an Introduction with the Decision MakersOnce you know who to talk to, the goal is to get a meeting with the decision maker.Getting an introduction/referral increases your credibility and helps bridge that initial trust gap, plus, the decision maker will get back to you much quicker.To set up this introduction, who do you think would have the highest motivation to help out a random student? A professor.Just imagine you’re a business professor and you’re approached by a student with entrepreneurial ambitions. The student is fully prepared with pitch decks, proposal documents, and a clear path forward on what needs to be done. On top of that, the student knows exactly who they want to talk to, but needs you to introduce them.What would you do? You’d help the student out!To make it even easier… you should provide the professor with everything they need to send the introduction email:Brief information about you and your companyWhy meeting makes sense for both partiesOnce the intro is sent, follow up right away to thank the professor for the introduction (you should probably BCC him out of the email chain now too). You can then ask to set up a meeting with the decision maker at their convenience.NOTE 1: Most universities contract large corporations to operate the cafeterias (e.g. Sodexo). Based on Glenn’s experience, you want to deal with the University, and not these contract companies. Also, in Glenn’s experience, the decision makers will most likely be either the marketing or contracts group.NOTE 2: Glenn’s approach to getting an introduction from the student union/association would work too. However, I personally would prefer approaching a business professor purely for additional faculty networking, mentorship, and as a future reference for job applications.Phase 2) Communicating the Benefits to the UniversityWhen starting a new business with no reputation, all the credibility is on you, the founder.Glenn was just a random student with an idea to make money. So how did Glenn go from a regular 19 year old student to a trustworthy partner for an academic institution?Instead of relying on just a presentation and a pitch, he showed them. Let the prospect see what the general design of the placemats and advertising space will actually look like.Here’s how Glenn did it.He borrowed (stole) a cafeteria tray and created a mockup of the first placemat. In the meeting, these two items served as a visual aid, and allowed Glenn to present around the tray/placemat combo.Here’s the design of the mockup he used for the meeting…See how simple the mockup is?It might not be visually appealing, but that doesn’t matter. The purpose of the mockup is for the decision maker to visualize the general concept/design of the business.Glenn understood the importance of a Minimum Viable Product. He did the entire design himself on photoshop, and created “fake” ads to act as placeholders before he even secured any customers.And it worked.Anyone with photoshop can figure out how to create a mockup just like the one Glenn made.Tip: If you can’t get your hands on photoshop, check out Canva. Or you can pay someone for cheap to do it for you on Fiverr (warning: you’ll get what you pay for).Once Glenn was able to SHOW them his vision and the general concept of the business, that’s when he followed it up with the benefits.For example, here’s the framework of the pitch Glenn used…“The XYZ University has fantastic catering facilities and we are delighted to have seen it improve so much over the time we have studied at XYZ.One of the main things that we still think could be improved is the way the University communicates its catering developments and improvement to students. Adspad has many advantages and we feel that we can offer a lot to XYZ.These include:- Fantastic way of communicating new canteen initiatives to students and staff- Adspad is completely free for the university and costs are covered by our advertising- University saves printing costs by cutting down on posters and leaflets- Improvement of hygiene for staff and students with clean paper- Good way of increasing feedback through promotion of the ‘text service’- Updated monthly so staff and students are always up to date- Included Sudoku gives students and staff entertainment when eating- Keep customers coming back with high brand image on placemats and good student offers-Eye catching design to improve image of canteens”The result? He received permission and the support from the university after just one meeting.Phase 3) Finding Clients to Pay for the AdvertisementsNow your job is to get your first paying customers. Getting the first clients is always the hardest because no one wants to be the first customer.But once you do get the early adopters on board, it gets much easier because you’ll have both recurring customers, and testimonials/social proof to rely on.To get his first clients, Glenn initially had a success rate of 1 in 50 (FIFTY!!!). To get these first clients, Glenn had to go door-to-door, cold call, and send cold emails.Once Glenn had a track record and a portfolio of previous placemat designs, he created a flyer which he would distribute to potential clients. Using this flyer, his success rate improved to 1 in 10 businesses.In addition, once Glenn obtained his first 10 customers, he had a monthly retention rate of 60%. In other words, he would only need to get four new customers per month.To get these first customers, Glenn’s used a shot-gun sales method by approaching as many businesses as he could, and it worked for him.However, just to give you another perspective, here’s another possible approach.Step 1: Identify the Early AdoptersWhen you have no experience or past clients, you want to customize your sales pitch.This is a time consuming process which is why you need to prioritize the businesses that have the highest likelihood of being your early adopters. You want to create a list of potential early adopters by looking at the businesses that already advertise with your competitors.Who are your competitors? The university newspapers, student magazines, and campus ad boards. These are the businesses that are already paying to advertise to students.Once you have the list ready, follow the same steps previously mentioned in Phase 1 to find out who the decision makers are. Use twitter, facebook, or their website too.Tip: Based on Glenn’s experience, businesses such as restaurants, nightclubs, and bars are not ideal clients. They tend to be unreliable and don’t pay on time or at all. The best clients to work with were local charities, national health services, and public organizations because these are the people with larger marketing budgets. That being said, that was just based on Glenn’s experience and could have been unique to just his circumstances.Step 2: Create a Customized Sales PitchYou need to stand out from all the other sales pitches small businesses are usually bombarded with.To do this, make sure you highlight the end results for the prospect if they were to become your customer, for example:# of students who eat in the cafeteria daily (reach)How often an individual student will eat in the cafeteria (frequency/retargeting)Average time a student takes to eat their meal (exposure time)Ads are placed along the border/edge of the placemats so it’s not covered by the foodYou’ve secured a partnership with the university and already have their support/approvalAre you starting to see the unique benefits your placemats have over traditional ads in a newspaper or magazine?For example… a magazine reader will be exposed to an ad for a few seconds while flipping the pages. Whereas on a placemat, they’re going to be eating and have nothing better to do but to read the placemats.Now the next step is to customize your sales pitch to each individual prospect.For example, check out this video sales pitch.Now… that video sales pitch is for an online business, however, the same can be applied for local businesses. You could quickly go over their existing ads on newspaper/magazines and highlight how your placemats would be more effective based on the points mentioned previously.Just by doing this you’ve already differentiated yourself from most of the other “consultants” and “salespersons” by customizing your pitch.Now I know this is A LOT of work just to get the initial set of customers. As Paul Graham says, you want to“Do Things That Don’t Scale” when you’re first starting out. Once you have your initial set of customers, it will get much easier.Step 3: 100% Money Back Satisfaction GuaranteeGenerally, you should stay away from providing discounts because when you’re starting out, you want to validate if customers will actually pay you at your desired price point.Instead, provide early adopters with a 100% money back satisfaction guarantee. Since you’ll most likely be receiving payments at the end of the month, if your prospect isn’t happy, you don’t have to worry about any of the logistics of giving them the money back. Just make sure you find out why they weren’t satisfied with your service.Step 4: Be PersistentThis sounds cheesy but I’m serious. Do not be discouraged when you get rejected because you’re going to be turned down so many times. It’s to be expected.Remember at the beginning of this guide, when I mentioned Glenn’s experience far outweighs the financial rewards?This is the type of experience aspiring entrepreneurs should actively seek out. Always think of the long term benefits, getting rejected this often is great experience and it’ll improve your communication/sales skills. Plus, you’ll now have experience on how to methodically implement a sales cycle.Phase 4) Logistics of the Placemats (placing/printing)I won’t go into too much detail here because this section is pretty straightforward.The main thing to note here is that part of the agreement with the university was that the canteen staff would manually put the placemats on top of the trays everyday.However, Glenn would often go to check on the trays and would notice that sometimes the placemats weren’t being put on the trays. It took Glenn a lot of face time and visits to the canteen management before the placemats were put on trays properly and consistently. Glenn made sure he was super friendly, and would provide treats every time he visits the staff (e.g. chocolate during easter eggs).Also, when you’re shopping around for printing suppliers, just remember that you have buyers power. There are so many printing stores that you can shop around and negotiate lower printing costs once you know your monthly volume.ConclusionThat’s it!That’s how Glenn went from being a normal 19 year old student to a successful entrepreneur.His business wasn’t the next big mobile app or website. Instead, it was a simpler business with a proven revenue model. From there, it took lots of hard work, a solid execution strategy, and persistence.That's the end of the post, if you don't want to read my self-promotion, stop right here!Otherwise, if you want to read what I just wrote, it's on my blog, The Perfect $3000/Month Business For University Students

I trace my international career back to a 6th grade book report that I did on the depletion of the Amazon rainforest. It made me aware of environmental issues, which led me to international relations and, more specifically, international development. I realized that people wouldn’t and couldn’t protect the environment if they couldn’t provide food and security for their families. I got a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a focus in Humanitarian Development. I started my career working for NGOs and now, for the past 13 years, have been a diplomat first with the State Department and later with the United States Agency for International Development. I love my international career and encourage others to pursue one — one of the reasons why I wrote Global: An Extraordinary Guide for Ordinary Heroes.Want an international career but don’t know where to start? Well, you’re in luck – because there are many different and varied ways to start down that path. The key is to just do it (thanks Nike!). Seriously, nothing is stopping you, but yourself. There’s a time to start responding to that little voice telling you to become an ordinary hero and that time is NOW. Where you start will depend on where you are in your career, your family and financial obligations, and other individual factors. Below are some suggestions that, no matter where you are in life, you should be able to pursue at least one of them. The key is to put yourself out there, keep on trying, and to be patient. Every opportunity builds upon itself and will one day result in you having a job that you find fulfilling and that lets you advance important social justice issues.1. Intern or volunteerIt’s never too early (or too late) to start volunteering or interning (providing your time for free to a cause or organization you care about). Internships are explicitly designed to give you hands-on professional experience, whereas people volunteer for all sorts of reasons (including meeting new people, or just doing something useful for the community on weekends). On the other hand, volunteering is a great way of demonstrating your civic engagement and strength of character, which any prospective employer would be glad to know about.So who should you intern for? Ideally, you would volunteer or intern at an international relations institution that you would like to work for one day. But any volunteering activity (especially when you’re less experienced) is a great résumé-builder. And you don’t necessarily have to ‘work’ with a specific organization in a defined internal role. You can support organizations that you want to be involved with by creating your own opportunities (even if that organization is located far away from where you live). For example, you can devise fundraising activities on behalf of an organization, such as holding a bake sale, a used book sale, or getting a part-time job and donating a portion of your income every week.If you do happen to live near an organization working in international relations that you would like to work with, call them to ask about volunteer and internship opportunities. Worried that your utter lack of experience will make them hang up the phone on you? Call anyway. The worst that they can say is ‘no’. If there are no international relations institutions near you, but you really want to get experience with an international organization, you could volunteer in another country during your vacation time off from school.Volunteering or interning with a domestically-focused organization is also helpful for getting experience and building your résumé. You’ll learn how to operate in a professional environment and help people at the same time. Better still, these sorts of opportunities are plentiful, and include homeless shelters, boys/girls clubs, elderly care facilities, food banks, or a domestic violence shelter. Don’t be afraid to ask for an internship at an organization you admire. If that is not an option, volunteer doing the type of work you want to do. Even if it is not internationally-focused, you can bolster your skills and learn new approaches. Even if it doesn’t seem to be related to what you want to do, when a chance comes along, take it. You never know where the road may lead!Bottom line - interning or volunteering are good for your resume as you’re embarking on your career in international relations. Also, it helps you figure out what you like working on. Are you passionate about diplomacy or human rights or climate change? Do you like doing research or managing projects or human resources? You can answer these questions by actually trying out different paths through internships. You also get connected with colleagues – these are excellent resources. They can serve as references on job applications in the future and can clue you in to job opportunities. So make sure to stay in touch with your colleagues even after your internship ends.Look at my list of websites below under #5 for internship/volunteer opportunities or, if you’re in school, contact your career center for suggestions. Already have a job or don’t live near an enticing opportunity? Volunteer virtually! Thanks to the fact that we’re living in the 21st century, nothing has to stop you from pursuing your passion for helping to make the world a better place.Here are a few virtual volunteer sites to check out:https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/enhttps://createthegood.org/articles/virtualvolunteeringhttps://www.internships.com/virtualhttps://virtualinternships.com/2. Go to CollegeDepending on where you are in life, one great way to embark on a career in international relations is to get a relevant degree. If you’re still just starting out, consider going to college for a degree relevant to international relations.College is a great time to lay a solid foundation for your future career, and you’ve got plenty of options in terms of where to go and what to study. You might opt for a general foundation, such as international relations or political science, and then pursue a graduate degree in a more specialized technical subject.On the other hand, if you want to specialize early, there’s nothing stopping you. Somewhere, there’s a program that fits your passions—whether this is in public health, education, gender studies or engineering. Or, you might choose a degree program that will equip you with the practical skills you’ll need to work abroad and manage complex programs—here I’m talking about language and business or management studies. One of my grad school friends even majored in religion in college, which just goes to show that all skills sets are welcome in the fight for global social justice.College will also serve up plenty of invaluable opportunities outside of the classroom. For example, you could volunteer as a research assistant for one of your professors, which will both expose you to new ideas and hone your research and writing skills. You might even get named as a co-author on a publication! Also make sure to sign up for your college study-abroad program. My study-abroad program in Japan was the first time I’d lived overseas, and the experience taught me a lot about myself and about how to navigate a foreign culture. Cultural sensitivity is a crucial skill to develop, and it’s not one you can learn from a book.The State Department’s US Study Abroad Office (USA StudyAbroad) offers resources to help you find the right exchange program—which is especially important if your college doesn’t offer one. The office has information about international exchanges, including ones that are funded by the State Department—such as the Fulbright Program, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program and the Critical Language Scholarship Program. The office also has information on exchanges, scholarships, internships, teaching and research opportunities for high school students, undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, teachers and institutions. Check it out!3. Join the Peace CorpsPeace Corps is a US government agency that provides service opportunities “for motivated change-makers to immerse themselves in a community abroad, working side by side with local leaders to tackle the most pressing challenges of our generation.” For many people with careers in international relations, doing Peace Corps is the first time they gain fieldwork experience, and it is the stepping-stone for many people into international development.There is no upper age limit to being a Peace Corps volunteer, but you do have to be at least 18 years old to join Peace Corps and have a bachelor’s degree. Here’s a link to frequently asked questions: https://www.peacecorps.gov/faqs/applying.During its pre-service training, Peace Corps provides language, cross-cultural and technical training—and introduces development theories and concepts. I would suggest doing Peace Corps between college and graduate school (as most do), because having a bit of real-world exposure will help you decide which technical area you might want to specialize in. Of course, you can do Peace Corps at any point, but by the time you’re done with grad school, you might not be satisfied with the Peace Corps stipend compared to a paying job.That said, unlike most ‘job’ jobs in international affairs, the Peace Corps gives you the opportunity to live in remote rural areas, and often with a family. USAID, the State Department, the UN and most international NGOs have their offices in the capital city of a foreign country—or at least in a major city. Peace Corps, on the other hand, gives you the chance to integrate into a community, and get out of the capital city (although some volunteers get placed in the capital or bigger cities). It’s also a good opportunity to get experience managing projects, hone your language skills and develop your cultural sensitivity.Having international experience is also a bonus for grad school and job applications. Peace Corps is a great way in—and you could end up working for the US Government afterwards. Upon completion of service, you get ‘Non-Competitive Eligibility’ status for 12 months, which means you can be hired by the Executive Branch without going through the normal competitive hiring process. What’s more, your Peace Corps time can be added to your ‘time in service,’ which basically means you can retire two years earlier! While Peace Corps is a valuable professional experience, for many it is much more than that. It is about service and building friendships across countries.That said, if flying off to rural Benin isn’t how you want to spend the next two years, don’t fret: a career in international relations is still a good fit and within reach. This career path can take many forms, which means that you can find the one that matches your interests and abilities. The point about Peace Corps, interning, fellowships or volunteering is just to get experience. Experience to build your résumé, make connections and figure out what you do (and do not) like working on.Think Peace Corps is a good fit for you? Go ahead and check it out: https://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/is-peace-corps-right-for-me. It never hurts to plant several seeds and see what blooms. You can always turn down an opportunity, but you can never take an opportunity if you haven’t tried in the first place.4. Get a Master’s DegreeIf you’ve already started on a career in a different field, or even if you’ve started working in a job in international relations, getting a master’s degree in an area that you find interesting is an important part of becoming a global hero. If you’re fresh out of college, go for it too – if you know what you want to study, there’s nothing stopping you. Though it does seem like a lot of graduate schools in international relations prefer a student body that is a bit older. Students with a few years of real-life work experience under their belt bring a different depth to the classroom discussion and allow them to interpret what they’re studying based on firsthand experience. I had interned during college, but only had one year of real-life work experience before applying to graduate school. Luckily, one still accepted me – thanks School of International Service at American University!!!Graduate school allows you to take a deep dive into the issues you’re passionate about, and develop your technical skills. So it’s a time to figure out what you want to specialize in, right? Perhaps. Again, you don’t have to have the right major in grad school in order to have a career in international relations. I knew that I wanted to work on conflict issues and development, and that’s why I got my Master’s in International Peace and Conflict Resolution with a focus in International Development. I joined the Foreign Service as a Crisis, Stabilization and Governance Officer and I work for USAID, so in some ways what I studied in grad school did directly align with my career. But every career takes twists and turns. Today, I’m managing cross-sector teams on issues outside of my technical expertise. You’re never going to stop learning; you’re never going to stop growing; and you don’t need to know everything on the first day of your new job.Throughout my career, I’ve had the pleasure to work with many amazing people, many of whom turned to international relations late in life. I met people whose previous careers were a singer, an accountant, a lawyer, a doctor, even a beer-brewing monk! That’s why I say that you’re never too young (or too old) to pursue your passion of global social justice.As I mentioned, I did my grad work at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. Other good international relations grad schools in DC are the School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins) and the grad programs at George Washington University, Georgetown and George Mason. In Boston, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is excellent and, in New York City, the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University is great. Over 80 percent of students at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs receive full scholarships, which means that even a prestigious school can be financially within reach.The options don’t end there, and each school has its own strengths, so do your homework in terms of which is the best fit for your interests. For example, some universities are great in public health, others in public affairs. How should you sift through all the options? If you’re still in college, ask your career counselor or a respected professor to help you identify which graduate program is best for you. Or maybe someone you’ve met through your volunteering or interning might have advice. If you can’t get advice from a real live person, then you should do an internet research to find the right program.5. Learn from othersI’m here to tell you that you’re not alone. We’ve all been where you might be at today. At the start of our global careers, we were anxious and eager to contribute and have our skills and abilities utilized and recognized. I guarantee you – no global hero started right off the bat with an amazing job. We all built it slowly and steadily and we all took our own paths. That’s the cool thing about the career of an ordinary hero – there’s no straight line. So build on what you’ve already accomplished and learn from others. You don’t have to go down this path in isolation and I strongly encourage you not to. Most people I know in international relations are more than happy to share their advice and connections to help others move into this career field. Not only is it good karma, but it helps us bring in more folks into the fold to work on #teamjustice. Social justice issues require our best and brightest, so of course, we’d be willing to help you get into this field!Network – relationships are important and will help you along your way. Also you can learn from other’s experience. Reach out to people you know in international relations and pick their brains – these are called informational interviews. When I first started in my career, I cringed at the idea of doing informational interviews. I didn’t want people to think that I was using them to get a job or anything like that. But, now being on the other side of it, I understand that, if done with genuine interest in learning, it really doesn’t feel like being used. In fact, I regularly talk, email, and meet with individuals interested in joining a career in international relations. Honestly, it was part of my motivation for writing my book, Global: An Extraordinary Guide for Ordinary Heroes. I so often advise people interested in a career in international relations, I wanted to consolidate and expand my best career advice and my colleague’s best career advice. So if you want more than this answer offers, check out section three and annex 1 of the book: http://bit.ly/Globalthebook.Informational interviews are a great way to understand the path that other people took to where they are today and it helps to demystify that path. Also, people you have informational interviews with could give you great suggestions on how to pursue your interest in a career in international relations and they will most likely know of resources and options that can help you. In addition, informational interviews help to build your network. You never know who might actually have a job that you’re a good fit for. In your informational interview, ask for other professionals that the interviewee can put you in touch with – you never know where it might lead. And, of course, remember that once you’re more established in your global career, please be willing to pay it forward by giving informational interviews to people who reach out to you!Still can’t get onboard with informational interviews or don’t know where to start? You’re in luck! Again, technology is your best friend. Head on over to LinkedIn to reverse engineer the problem: find people with the jobs you want in ten years’ time and then see how they got there! What and where did they study? What jobs did they have? How long were they in each job? Do a little research on other’s experience and help it build your roadmap to your career as a global hero. And, if you’re feeling bold, reach out to some of these people and request a phone informational interview. The worse you will get is a “no”.6. Apply for JobsNow this might seem obvious or you might think I’m crazy for even suggesting it. Even if you don’t have a degree in international relations or previous work experience, you should still give it a try! Jobs come in every shape and size imaginable—my advice to the job-seeker is this: throw your net wide. You might have a ‘dream job’ in mind, but every job can be an important stepping stone, if you use it as a place to learn, grow your skills and network like a pro. And who knows? Your idea of what your ‘dream job’ actually is might just evolve once you get hands-on experience in the workplace.Don’t ever be discouraged that you’re not ‘qualified’ enough to apply for a job. I once heard some great advice from a woman who was a recruiter at an NGO. Her insight was this: job position announcements describe the ideal candidate, but no recruiter actually expects to find someone that ticks all the boxes. Really, they’re just looking for someone who ticks as many boxes as possible—and if someone does come along who fits the bill perfectly, great!Keep that insight in mind when you start applying for international jobs. It’s okay to fall short on having all the required qualifications. Who knows? You might have more of the required qualifications than anyone else applying, or there might be something else about your unique experience that is really relevant. So apply for the jobs you really want, not just the jobs you think you can get. Within reason of course! Don’t apply for a job that requires 20 years of senior management experience if you have zero management experience! But do put yourself out there and aim high.I’m especially talking to women here: research shows that women are much more cautious than men when they apply for jobs. In fact, women typically only apply for jobs they feel 100 percent qualified for, whereas men apply for jobs they feel only 60 percent qualified for. Think of it this way: when you’re young, jobs are supposed to be learning opportunities, and a chance for professional growth. If you’re 100 percent qualified for a job, how much can you really expect to learn on the job? So don’t ever be tempted to sell yourself short in the job application process. If you’re missing an essential requirement, then use your cover letter to talk about how a different skill you have might be as equally valuable to the position, or how you’re certain you can learn that particular skill on the job (and back up your point by talking about a time when you had to learn on your feet, and did so with aplomb).So, go ahead and do it! What do you have to lose? As I mentioned, planting the seeds are what counts – if you get it and it’s not the right fit, you can always not take it. Send out 20 resumes, send out 200! The more jobs you apply for, the greater your chance of getting one.As I’ve already mentioned, a long and helpful list of global job sites is in Annex 1 of my book, Global, and below are a few suggestions. Or find a specific organization that you want to work for and use LinkedIn again to set up job alerts for these organizations.https://www.devex.com/jobshttps://ngojobboard.org/https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/foreign-affairs-jobshttps://www.globaljobs.org/https://www.humentum.org/job-board/allhttps://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/careers/foreign-servicehttps://careers.state.gov/work/foreign-service/officer/https://www.humanrightscareers.com/https://www.idealist.orghttps://unjobs.orghttps://www.daybook.com/

There have been 16 presidents that served one term, some were voted out, some chose not to run. My list does not include Vice Presidents who’s President died and they finished out his term then got elected for one term in their own right.1. John Adams, 1797–1801, 2nd PresidentElected after having spent two terms as George Washington’s vice president, his election to president should have been an easy matter, but he had made political enemies and only narrowing defeated his opponent Thomas Jefferson. Unpopular after some foreign policy decisions, four years later in an election that makes our current election look like a fire hall beauty contest Adams came in third and lost the presidency.2. John Quincy Adams, 1825–1829, 6th PresidentThe second one term president, Adams was the son of second president John Adams. He was the first president to lose the popular vote. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but lost in the electoral college. Unpopular after certain tariff decisions, he made more enemies by his comparative fairness to the Native American people. Jackson came back 4 years later to win the presidency.3. Martin Van Buren, 1837–1841, 8th PresidentAlthough many people eviscerate Andrew Jackson today, he was an immensely popular president. After the Democratic Party quite literally begged him to run a third term, Jackson pushed for his VP Van Buren. As Jackson’s handpicked successor, Van Buren won by a landslide. Unfortunately, he lost support for his failure to support a third war with Great Britain, declining to annex Texas, and there was a financial panic in 1837. Even Jackson turned against him. He lost his reelection bid to William Henry Harrison. A Democrat, Van Buren ran again in 1848 as third party candidate losing badly.4. John Tyler, 1841–1845, 10th PresidentTyler was vice president under William Henry Harrison who died one month after taking office. Tyler assumed the presidency upon his death much to the consternation of many people. There was no presidential succession act and the only guide the United States had was the Constitution which said that upon the death of a president the Vice President would assume the powers and duties of the presidency. Tyler interpreted that to mean that he was president. Most Washington insiders disagreed, they felt that a new election should be held, the Vice President would remain VP and consult with Congress, and many other suggestions. Still Tyler finished Harrison’s term. He was interested in a term of his own but was failed to obtain the nomination of the Democratic Party.5. James K. Polk 1845–1849, 11th PresidentPolk only intended to serve one term. He promised during his campaign that he would accomplish four goals. 1. Re-establish the Independent Treasury System. 2. Reduce tariffs. 3. Acquire some or all of the Oregon Territory. 4. Acquire California and its harbors from Mexico. Polk did all four of those things and left the presidency despite calls for him to run for reelection.6. Millard Fillmore, 1850–1853, 13th PresidentFillmore was the Vice President under Zachary Taylor who came to office in 1849. Taylor died 15 months later and Millard Fillmore became president. Unpopular in the north for his enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, Fillmore did consider running again, but withdrew during the nominating convention. At the time it was more common for candidates to be decided at a national convention by voting there instead of primaries.7. Franklin Pierce, 1853–1857 14th PresidentOur unluckiest president, as a child he fell from the wagon into a river when his father took the family to town in to vote. No one noticed. In the Civil War he was about to lead troops into battle, but his horse bucked, he landed on the pommel of his saddle. He landed on an awkward place and passed out from the pain. His aides thinking that the injury was undignified told the men that the General was sick. Since the men had just seen him they assumed Pierce had chickened out. He had a cowardice under fire reputation for the rest of the war. He lost two children, the second died in a train crash when the First Family was coming to Washington after the election. Pierce’s son was the only fatality. His wife developed severe depression and declined to participate in Washington society. Today we would understand the anguish of a mother who lost two children, but at the time she was considered a snob and Pierce was roundly criticized. Pierce had a reputation for being a drunkard, a terrible stigma. Actually he was an alcoholic, but in those days a man who drank was a weakling. Pierce did try to run for reelection but didn’t secure the his parties nomination.8. James Buchanan, 1857–1861, 15th PresidentBuchanan had a long history as a diplomat and politician. On paper he had the best resume of any candidate in presidential history. He had the good fortune of being abroad during most of the argument that the country was having over slavery. 1857 was a tough time, the slavery issue and more broadly states rights was tearing the country apart. The Whig Party had broken up over it. Many former Whigs banded together to form the Republican Party, but it was small and not able to handle a national election. Many other parties were in existence, but they too were small. As the only national political party the Democrats were in a great position-if and only if they could find somebody that the north and south could agree on. Buchanan seemed to be a godsend. He was from Pennsylvania, the south accepted this as long as he wasn’t from the hated New England, and the far north was just happy he wasn’t a southerner. Buchanan personally opposed slavery and had for years belonged to a group of wealthy people that purchased the freedom of slaves. But he also believed that the president must accept the dictates of the courts. Since the Supreme Court had ruled slaves were property Buchanan considered the matter closed. So the perfect compromise. Unfortunately Buchanan saw the president as an administrator, he declined to interfere in severe anti-immigrant violence in California and the Mormon/non-Mormon violence in Utah. And most famously he didn’t lift a finger to stop secession. He didn’t think it was his right. Unpopular on all sides Buchanan was happy to leave office and not run again. The Democrats never seriously considered him anyway.9. Andrew Johnson, 1865–1869, 17th PresidentJohnson was a southerner who stayed loyal to the federal government. This made him unpopular in both the north and the south. Abraham Lincoln however was unhappy with his first Vice President Hannibal Hamlin and replaced him with Johnson during his second term. Lincoln believed that Johnson’s stance in the Civil War would eventually be seen as a good example to the south, and he was impressed with Johnson’s leadership as Military Governor of Tennessee. He believed that Johnson had great abilities that the north would soon see. Unfortunately Lincoln died shortly after and the unpopular Johnson was president. Further, Johnson was not a Republican. Lincoln believed that appointing a non southern non Republican would increase southern goodwill. He did what he believed Lincoln would do, he used his pardon power to pardon thousands of Confederate combatants. Further Johnson fired several cabinet members who hated him and reported on him to Republican leaders. Knowing Johnson would try to fire them, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act requiring the president to obtain congressional approval to fire Cabinet members. Johnson fired them anyway and was impeached. His political career was in tatters even though he was acquitted. For the record, although he didn’t live to see it Johnson was vindicated when the Supreme Court overturned the Act. Johnson was popular in the south and did attempt to obtain the Democratic nomination in 1869. This was soundly defeated by northern Democrats.10. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877–1881, 19th PresidentThe Presidential election of 1876 was a disaster. It was the first year that most southerners could vote and the mostly Democratic South was looking forward to breaking Republican Power. Reconstruction was still in force at the time and soldiers protected former slaves as well as monitoring elections. It’s a complicated story, but the GOP worked to manipulate the electoral college after Hayes lost the popular vote to the Democratic candidate. The Democrats found out, but held a closed door meeting with the Republicans. The Democrats agreed to keep quiet, but the GOP had to agree to certain terms. The most significant was that the president would have to remove troops from the south and that Hayes would only serve one term. Hayes was rather happy to leave office but was heartbroken. He hadn’t taken part in the fraud and he knew that once the soldiers were gone the south would begin a reign of terror against people of color. He was right unfortunately.11. Chester Arthur, 1881–1885, 21st PresidentArthur was vice-president for 5 months under James Garfield when the president died. Arthur surprised a lot of people. At the time most civil service positions were appointments granted to people who contributed to campaigns or provided other services to elected officials. Arthur himself had himself had been Collector of the Port of New York, a very well paying position. Yet as president Arthur signed several laws reforming the Civil Service. An effective president the Republican party asked him to run again but he decided to return to his law practice.12. Benjamin Harrison, 1889–1893, 23rd PresidentThe grandson of President William Henry Harrison, he was an attorney and Civil War General. He defeated Grover Cleveland for the presidency in the Electoral College after losing the popular vote. During his four years he made some strides (by 19th century standards) for Civil Rights and the preservation of public lands. A recession in his last year of office made his reelection very difficult. He might have benefitted from active campaigning but his wife died just before the election. To give credit to Grover Cleveland who was running again, he defied the Democratic Party leaders and suspended his own campaigning out of respect.13. William Howard Taft, 1909–1913, 27th presidentServing as Vice President under Teddy Roosevelt, he was his president’s handpicked successor. Taft had several accomplishments notably in the battling of corporate trusts. He did dial back several programs to encourage black Americans to obtain federal office losing liberal support and he curtailed the Progressive agenda that Roosevelt had started. Roosevelt tried to claim the Republican Party nomination but the GOP was worried about how it would look if they dumped a standing president so after much debate Taft got the nomination. Roosevelt ran against Taft and Democrat Woodrow Wilson on a third party ticket. Taft was a distant third and the Republican vote was split badly effectively handing the presidency to Wilson.14. Gerald Ford, 1974–1977, 38th PresidentFord was the only president that was in no way elected to the office, not even as a Vice President. He spent most of his career as a Congressman, but when VP Spiro Agnew resigned Ford was appointed Vice President. When President Nixon resigned Ford got the job much to his shock. His most controversial act as president was to pardon Nixon before he could be tried. At the time it seemed a political payoff and it more than anything cost him reelection when he ran for president at the end of his term. In retrospect, with the Vietnam War, the Energy Crisis, Urban Violence, and of course Watergate the United States was nearing a national psychological breaking point. Ford probably did the right thing, although aging liberals will likely be foaming at the mouth at that statement.15. James (Jimmy) Carter, 1977–1981, 39th PresidentA wholesome Sunday school teacher and farmer, his political experience was limited having been governor of Georgia. Still he had an education from the Naval Academy and appeared to represent the non corrupt wholesome politician that the country craved desperately. Unfortunately, a severe recession hit the country during his term and Americans were taken hostage in Iran. Carter didn’t believe that a major response was needed and that negotiation was preferable. After being eviscerated by the media and becoming a laughing stock in the Middle East Carter approved a limited rescue. The rescue which involved flying helicopters in the dessert was a disaster. He was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan. In recent years Carter has claimed that his negotiations paid off as the hostages were released just prior to Reagan’s inauguration. However, you could also make the case that the fact that Reagan promised a sweeping military response against Iran finalized the captors’ decision.16. George H.W. Bush, 1989–1993, 41st PresidentLike others on this list Bush was the handpicked successor of an immensely popular president. Reagan supporters coasted him to a sweeping victory. Although he received much praise for his handling of the Gulf War (even his detractors felt he did a much better job in Iraq than his son) and his handling of removing Manuel Noriega, a recession hit during his term. In 1992, the Democrat Bill Clinton running against him hit him hard on the economy. Further Bush had broken a promise not to raise taxes, he really had no choice as Congress which wanted the additional funding held up needed funds until Bush agreed. Still the far right hated him for it and moderates felt that Clinton better understood the economy. But what sealed Bush’s fate was his old political enemy Ross Perot who ran on the Reform Party ticket. Perot one of history’s more successful third party candidates took 20% of the vote. Even Clinton campaign members admitted that Perot handed the election to Bill Clinton.