| SIS Career Week helps students plan for future BY SALLY ACHARYA Perhaps the title of one of the workshops sums it up best: “I Want to Do Something International.” At some point, many AU students have surely had that thought cross their minds, in all its combinations of determination and vagueness. Perhaps there are indeed freshmen who enter the School of International Service (SIS) with a fully formed plan to become, say, a public diplomacy officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, and a thorough knowledge of all that’s entailed to meet that goal. But for many students, the notion of a career in “international service” is initially a lot hazier. The annual SIS Career Week is designed to help students as they clarify what they’d like to do with their degree, and how they need to go about making their plans a reality. While the panels, workshops, site visits, and networking receptions are aimed specifically at SIS students, this is, after all, AU—which means that a fair share of students in other schools and colleges also lean toward an international career, and also take advantage of the week’s offerings. “The purpose is basically to have this consolidated experience for SIS students and anyone interested in careers in the international field,” said the Career Center’s Olya Vinnik, career advisor for SIS graduate and undergraduate students. There were events last week for students at all levels, from freshmen still investigating their options to graduate students ready to send out their résumés. There was, for instance, the Wednesday workshop “I Want to Do Something International,” designed for undergraduates who don’t yet have a specific direction in their studies. The popular workshop is run three to four times a year. There were also informational sessions for students a bit further along in the planning stage, such as “How to Apply to the Federal Government” and a session called “The Face of America: Careers in Foreign Policy,” in which AU alumni and employers discussed what steps to take to land a job in the U.S. Foreign Service, and what it takes to have a successful career. Hundreds of students typically take advantage of the events, with workshops on such popular topics as building a portfolio attracting as many as 50 or more students, and some panels drawing around 80. There was also a networking reception with SIS alumni. 
Photo by Jeff Watts
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