Foreign Affairs Entry Level Jobs

Foreign affairs jobs are a great way to start your career in international affairs. With a foreign affairs entry level job, you can gain valuable experience working with the government and its foreign policy goals. You’ll also learn how to work well with others, as well as how to manage projects and meet deadlines.

A foreign affairs entry level job is not just for those who want to work in the Foreign Service. In fact, many people start their careers in this field as support staff for high-level diplomats and officials. There are many different types of foreign affairs jobs available for those who have graduated from high school or college; however, some of the most common are described below:

Foreign Service Officer (FSO) – An FSO helps formulate U.S. policy on issues such as trade agreements, environmental issues and human rights abuses by other countries’ governments against their own citizens. They may also be responsible for monitoring elections held in other countries or helping with disaster relief efforts following earthquakes or other natural disasters that occur abroad. The FSO must be willing to travel extensively throughout the world during their career; therefore it is important that they

Foreign Affairs Entry Level Jobs

1. Diplomat – Maintaining good relations between countries

As a diplomat, you will 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. 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

Check out a selection of international Master’s degrees in Diplomacy.

2. Intelligence Specialist – Gathering state-critical information

As an intelligence specialist, you can work in the military, the navy, national security departments, or almost any state department of one of the national government agencies. Your main duties will include:

• Collect and analyse operational intelligence data
• Create mission reports, using data, maps and charts
• Evaluate results and prepare reports, statistics and graphics
• Maintain intelligence databases, libraries, and files

Check out a selection of international Master’s degrees in Intelligence.

3. Political Analyst – Explaining the political climate

Generally, you’ll be employed by the government, but you can also find work opportunities within media companies or research institutes. Your tasks will be to:

• Inform about and interpret various political developments
• Analyse 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

4. Lobbyist – Promoting ideas to those who can make them a reality

Lobbyists are usually hired by an association, corporation, or non-profit organisation to convince government members to make a decision that would benefit the organisation or company they are representing.

As a lobbyist you will perform tasks like:

• Monitor, research and analyse legislation
• Attend congressional hearings
• Reach out to government policymakers
• Use communication tools to promote ideas to the public

5. Communication Specialist in a non-profit

A degree in International Relations can land you a job in a non-profit organisation that operates at an international level. As a Communications Specialist, you’ll have the chance to develop your career in a local office that has a global reach.

Non-profit agencies like World Vision and Red Cross provide such global service, but there are many other options, too. Your main duties will be: 

• Creating effective communication strategies
• Handling internal communications
• Writing content for media and social networks

Graduates of International Relations degrees can pursue even more careers in the field. Discover them for yourself by diving into the wide range of Masters all over the world connected to this popular subject.

Average International Relations jobs salaries

Being passionate about your job and doing something that’s meaningful to you and beneficial to the society is great. Still, at the end of the month, you’ll have to pay bills, buy food, and spoil yourself a bit. For this, you’ll need money. Let’s look at the average salaries in the US for popular International Relations career paths.

• Diplomat – 87,000 USD/year
• Intelligence Specialist – 75,500 USD/year
• Political Analyst – 94,000 USD/year
• Lobbyist – 87,500 USD/year
• Communication Specialist – 55,000 USD/year

Find Masters in International Relations

To have a successful career in one of these fields, make sure that during your studies you develop the right skills, such as learning at least two foreign languages, level-up your communication skills, persuasion and negotiation abilities, creativity, and problem-solving skills.

Don’t know where to start? Here are a few universities we recommend for International Relations studies:

• Northeastern University, the US
• Queen Mary University of London, the UK
• Radboud University, the Netherlands
• University of Pavia, Italy
• Masaryk University, the Czech Republic

have excellent organizational skills as well as a strong background in international relations studies such as political science or