We're almost two 🥳
Editor’s Note ✍️
The next time you read this newsletter, Public Policy India (PPI) will be two years old 🥳! We have a bunch of new and exciting things planned for all the people of our community who have stood by us and helped us grow over the last two years. We’re so thankful for your continued support and inputs that have helped us improve, innovate and bring you the best of resources from the world of policy, impact and development.
This week’s Ask PPI section is for all the people who’ve wondered about how to break into the policy space without niche policy degrees! If you know someone like that, do share this newsletter with them by clicking below 👇
With that, we bring you The Policy Post #93
Ask PPI 👌
This is a section dedicated to answering questions asked by members of our community on careers in policy and development, their challenges in this space, tips on how to make resumes for specific jobs, questions about industry trends - literally anything!
Galax_pol asks on Instagram: “Can you have a career in policy if you have a Bachelor’s degree in politics? As an undergraduate, what’s the scope of work?”
It’s safe to say that about a decade ago, the only people who were able to secure jobs in policy roles were maybe lawyers, or people with years and years of experience in corporate communications. Only a handful of degrees could lead you to policy jobs and even those vacancies demanded high experience. However, times have changed.
Today, we’re seeing a massive influx of people from varying disciplines and degrees not only entering the policy space, but also thriving in it with high paying jobs and a great growth trajectory. So, to answer your question Galax_pol, yes, you can have a career in policy if you’ve studied politics, in fact you’re probably better suited than others since you have a good idea of governance structures and society. However, expanding the scope of this question, even if you have a degree in say, history, journalism, sciences, engineering etc, there’s place for everyone in the public policy and development sector. Your educational background will certainly decide your entry point into public policy - for instance, if you have a communications/media degree, you’ve a good chance of getting hired as a Communications/Advocacy Associate. If you’re from a science/engineering background, you can work in data analytics, research or even impact consulting!
In addition to your educational background, you can exponentially expand the scope of policy jobs open to you by upskilling! Say you have a Bachelor’s in Political Science/History. It’s certain that you have a good understanding of policy and political theory. However, if you do a course on econometrics or research methodologies (qualitative and quantitative), you complement your education with specific hard skills which will make you eligible for a host of other jobs, say in this case, policy research! It’s all about making sure your profile is suited for as many jobs/roles as possible. Make a list of which roles interest you, what adjoining hard skills would you need to work in that role and get cracking on upskilling yourself!
Our upcoming episode of The Policy Panchayat (our podcast where we speak to industry experts on the principles of building a career in policy) will have lots of insights on the scope of work in Public Policy across job functions and areas you can fit in depending on which discipline you’re from and where you are in your career right now. Do hit the bell icon here 🔔 to make sure that you don’t miss it!
That’s it folks, hope this helps you out. Share it with people you know who have been wanting to work in the development sector, and public policy in general. If you have any other questions you’d like us to answer, please send them in here! If you want to have more conversations about this, all of us at PPI are happy to! You can email us here, or reach out to us individually on LinkedIn (find all our profiles here).
This Week’s Policy Focus 🔎
India Needs to Recognise its Domestic Workers
Ishita Bagchi writes: While the pandemic has proven the importance of domestic care and support, the status of domestic workers has not improved, according to a report published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). The Domestic Workers Convention (C189) by the ILO has only been approved by six of the 54 Commonwealth countries ten years after it was introduced to ensure acceptable working conditions for domestic workers. India isn’t one of them.
Policy Charcha 💬
The best Podcasts, Videos, Essays and Fellowships for this past week from the world of Policy and Governance!
🎥 Video: Egypt plans to green its desert
📝 Op-Ed: Regulating algorithm future of media
📚 Fellowship: Delhi Assembly Research Centre Fellowship Programme
📷 Simplifying Policy Issues: PolicyGram
Databases and Guides 📚
We live by a singular mantra - how do we help make your career journey a tad bit easier. A big part of that is bringing to you thoroughly researched databases of opportunities. Find hundreds of jobs, internships, scholarships, courses for Indian students, policy podcasts and websites, and guides that will help you sail through your journey of making a flourishing career in this space. We add new databases and guides every week - so please do spread the word if you find these to be helpful :)
Jobs Post 💼
A curated list of some of the best job and internship opportunities this week from the world of public policy, development sector, consulting and communications at large!
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