Career Opportunities

The Jackson School's Director of Career Services assists students with career planning and disseminates a wide range of job and internship opportunities. Students may also benefit from the substantial resources of the UW's Career Center and, if they are in a concurrent degree program, the career office of their professional school.
 

• Careers
  While JSIS graduate programs do not offer preparation for specific careers, they provide an excellent general background that can be applied to a wide variety of fields, depending on personal interests and experience. Students who attain a clear professional focus, through either prior work experience or enrollment in a concurrent-degree program, can present to employers an especially attractive combination of professional and international expertise. Recent JSIS graduates have taken positions in:
   
  Education-teaching in community colleges and elementary and secondary schools; working with educational exchange and cross-cultural communications programs
   

  Business and Trade-working in sales, marketing, banking, shipping/transportation, investment and travel

  Government-at the federal level in the U.S. Foreign Service or other State Department positions, Department of Commerce, CIA, USAID, and at the state/local level in agencies involved in areas such as international trade, exchange, and protocol
   
  Non-profit Organizations-in such areas as foreign policy, international development, micro-enterprise, the environment, peace and security, human rights, and refugee issues 
  
  Journalism-working for both international and national media organizations
   
  For a sample of specific organizations that have employed our graduates, please visit http://jsis.washington.edu/advise/alumniemploymentprofile.html.
   
• Internships
  Information about internships is available through the school's Career Services Office. Internships are not required for any JSIS graduate program, but students are strongly encouraged to undertake them. In recent years students have held internships with local non-profit organizations and government agencies such as the World Affairs Council, the National Bureau of Asian Research, and the Washington State Department of Trade and Economic Development; with U.S. government agencies, including the Departments of State and Commerce; and with businesses such as Microsoft, Starbucks, and Wells Fargo Bank.

  Local internships often can be completed while enrolled. Internships outside the area or overseas are usually undertaken over the summer or while students are on leave. Because many internships are unpaid, the Jackson School has established three endowments to help support students whose internships relate to international affairs:
   

  Leslianne Shedd Fund: for students who serve as interns with the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, or other international governmental or non-governmental organizations, especially those focused on the international public health field.
  
  Dorothy Fosdick Fund: for students who serve as interns at an organizations involved in some aspect of international policy or affairs, either in the U.S. or overseas. 
  
  George Taylor Fund: for students who serve as interns at local organizations involved in some aspect of international affairs, or international business and trade.

  Diane Fathi-DiLuck Endowment Fund: for students serving as unpaid interns with organizations in the greater Seattle area.
   

• Further Education
  Many of our students use their studies here as a stepping stone to further education in PhD programs such as History, Political Science, Geography, Anthropology, Economics, advanced Religious Studies and Sociology. Others continue in a professional program such as Business or Law at the UW or other institutions.