How to make money in international development

International development professionals work to reduce or eliminate poverty in developing countries. Practitioners in this vast field target issues ranging from global health ro emerging market investment opportunities, at scales ranging from village-based enterprises internationnal country-wide financial and government infrastructures. Because international development often means spending time in developing countries, you might just find yourself immersed in unfamiliar environments and cultures. If you’re not adaptable in these situations, this might not be the career for you. Resilience, dedication, and the ability to roll with the punches are essential to making a lasting impact. Because international development often requires immersion in other cultures, professionals need to be careful they don’t swoop in thinking they know all the answers.

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In this day of information overload, career advice is plentiful. Most universities have whole career centers devoted to the cause. And the same rules that apply in other fields may not apply in development. No matter what articles you read on the internet or what advice your career counselor gives, the one-page resume rule does not apply in international development. Is that a sigh of relief I hear? People often use the term CV for curriculum vitae interchangeably with resume because recruiters want to see details. Experience is your biggest currency in global development, and you often need more than one page to show it. You do not need to make your resume longer for the sake of doing so; a good target length is two to five pages depending on your experience. However, rather than focusing on page length, focus on taking the amount of space you need to succinctly convey your relevant experience in an easy-to-read format. While this may be true when playing the lottery, the odds in securing a job do not quite work this way. If you are focused on the quantity of your applications, it is highly likely you are forsaking the quality of them. Applying to a job without tailoring your CV and cover letter is probably one of the biggest career mistakes you can make. Recruiters can tell when you submit a generic cover letter, and it does little to impress them. You are also missing out on the opportunity to explain how you are the perfect fit for this job. Applying to jobs outside your area of expertise can also reflect poorly on your judgment. Recruiters may remember this when a job you are actually a fit for opens up or dismiss you as a serious candidate altogether. This sounds good in theory. Getting overseas experience in the field, particularly when you are young and more flexible, seems like a good entry-point in development. However, most global development professionals actually get their start in their home country, working from a headquarters environment. READ: How to get that first aid job in the field. Sending employees to the field is expensive. You are often paid an international salary, typically with benefits like housing, travel or living stipends. In order to justify the costs, you need to bring real value and expertise with you that cannot be found in-country. If you are just starting out, chances are a project can find someone with your level of experience locally. Most international positions in development are reserved for senior levels of expertise that are hard to find in-country. First jobs usually entail paying your dues doing desk work from a headquarters office before going out to the field. But the industry is becoming more specialized, resulting in a higher demand for technical degrees.

The lowdown

International development advisors play an important role in the field of global development, which addresses sustainable, broad-based economic development and poverty reduction. International development advisors, through international consulting agencies, advise and support any number of organizations, including government agencies, nonprofits, and private corporations by providing them with the practical tools needed to achieve goals and measure results. International development advisors seek to find solutions to global problems. Their work includes addressing social and economic development problems caused by ineffective governance, instability, and inefficient markets. They supply new ideas to international organizations using a deep base of knowledge, as well as research and business analysis designed to help their clients focus their missions, grow their donor bases, and implement lasting results that benefit the populations they serve. International development advisors address any number of issues related to education, health, food security, economic development, and conflict mitigation.

The Goals of International Development Specialists

There are clearly many benefits to studying the subject, but depending on the career you are seeking it is not the only, or even the best, pathway. Do your research: My first top tip would be to research the sector well and understand its current priorities and requirements. From there, be clear about the skills you have to offer and where these might fit. You should then find out about the variety of roles in international development and focus on which area most suits you. Using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with relevant organisations can also be useful. The Careers Group London for example have a good Facebook page. Build your practical experience: Generally speaking, recruiters in the sector will be more interested in the practical experience you have gained after your degree, as opposed to the finer detail of what you studied. Be realistic: We see successful candidates as the ones who take a realistic stock of how to get into the sector. For example, a general administration job in marketing may not be the same as working in programmes, but it will allow you to be in the organisation to hear about roles, develop relationships and be building relevant experience for your CV. Relevant specialist skills such as fundraising, marketing, communications and digital are also useful to get experience in. Other weapons in your arsenal may be volunteering experience or internships, as well as the best CV possible. Network: People who work in the sector are generally only too pleased to be invited to share their thoughts and experience with those wanting to follow in their footsteps, so make use of that opportunity. Get your hands on these books and steal with glee any tips and advice that they contain.

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Show less Ask a Question Related Articles References. The ultimate goal of any business is to make moneybut it can’t be done overnight. Creating or running a successful business takes creativity, planning, and above all, hard work. You’ll have to start with a good idea and then run your business better than your competitors. Along the way, you’ll need to overcome obstacles and make the right connections to allow your business to grow. With a bit of luck and a lot of determination, you can soon be on your way to success.

Chris McTigrit has held jobs in business, accounting and manufacturing since Categories: Running a Business Business Finances. Log in Facebook Loading Google Loading Civic Loading No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. By using our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Article Edit. Learn why people trust wikiHow. There are 20 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

Get the right attitude. Business is a game of carefully calculated risk-taking. If you can’t handle the pressure of making crucial decisions that could potentially sink your business on a daily basis, you’re not ready for the business world. Approach each decision by assessing what the worst-case outcome of that decision would be. In other words, what’s the worst that could happen? Use that knowledge to make decisions by weighing risk and potential reward. Keep in mind that you can learn from your mistakes and use what you learn from them to succeed later on.

You should always be open to learning new ideas and incorporating them into your business practices. Stay focused and keep spending under control. Your business won’t make any money if you’re constantly taking out your earnings and spending. Actually, your business may not make any money at all for a considerable period of time.

That is why you have to stay focused and keep working to implement your business plan. Keep on making and achieving those short term goals until it clicks and your momentum drives your business to success. Any money that you can reinvest into the business will only help it to grow and increase your potential future income streams.

Stay updated with your industry. Read magazine and newspaper articles that relate to your business interests or business. Follow famous leaders or innovators related to your industry on social media and stay up to date on their thoughts and actions.

Attend seminars, join trade associations, and subscribe to publications. Read every relevant book that you can. Only by learning and staying up to date can you learn where the market is going next and how to innovate past it.

Develop a habit of writing your goals down as a list and making daily actions to achieve. Divide your list into short term and long term goals. The short term goals should be a path to achieving the long term goals. For example, for the long term goal of the starting the business you write down short term goals like gain financing and write a business plan. You could then break these short term goals down even further into actionable steps.

Writing down goals and actions to complete will also help you keep your business organized later on. You don’t want to forget some crucial action that must be taken simply because you weren’t organized enough to remember it. Brainstorm business ideas. The idea for a business can come from a variety of sources. Perhaps you’ve noticed a problem in your life or the life of someone close to you that lacks a solution.

Or maybe the industry that you’ve worked in for years is in need of a shakeup. Alternately, maybe you’re just looking for a business idea that you can sell to customers and make profitable.

Brainstorm ideas for days or weeks and come up with a list of reasonable ideas. When you have a list, consider, for each business idea: Who are your potential customers? How would you set up the business model?

Do you know enough about this industry to make it work? Pick a niche market and conquer it. No business, especially a small one, can appeal to all customers. In fact, a business is usually defined by the customers or markets they choose not to serve. To become successful, you’ll have to identify the niche in the market where your audience is. Start by thinking of what type of customers you want to serve. Are they individuals or businesses?

Then, look at the problem your business is solving from their perspective. What type of solutions do they want and how should it be done? Then, you can work within this niche to sell to your customers. Just make sure that your niche is substantial enough to sustain your growth.

Write a business plan. The first step to actually starting a business is to write a business plan for it. This will give you a basic structure that you can use to plan your goals and decisions. Keep in mind that this plan can be edited over time as you learn new strategies and adapt to your market.

At minimum, a business plan should include a summary of the plan, a business description, market strategies, an analysis of competition, a growth plan, operation and management plans, and how financing will be acquired. Do a break-even analysis. A break-even analysis tells you, quite simply, how long your business will have to be running to turn a profit.

This is a helpful tool for understanding how much money you will need to invest before the business even has potential to see a return. This can help you plan for financing and create a timeline for repaying any debt that you may take on when starting the business. Alternately, you can increase your product’s price.

Keep good company. Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with other successful people. They tend to feed off of their associates’ energy and success to enhance their. Make everyone you spend time with other successful, positive people. Make sure to avoid negative people or those who are chronically unsuccessful.

Attend conventions or industry meet ups. Be on the lookout for industry events in your area or major ones that you can plan to travel to. This may include annual conventions or meet ups organized on social media. By attending these events, you will be able to increase awareness of your business, make new connections, initiate new deals, meet potential new hires, and learn about current events in your field.

Send business to new connections. Constantly explain your business to people you meet and ask them about theirs. Then, ask them how you can send customers over to their business. This creates a more powerful connection with the other business owner that you can hopefully one day convert into additional growth for your own business.

That said, you should not expect anything in return from these people. Maintain existing relationships. Some of your connections may not immediately, or ever, turn into business expansion opportunities. However, it is important to maintain all relationships. Opportunities can come from unexpected places, so you need to be ready when they. Keep in touch will all contacts on a regular basis, either through emails, phone calls, or social media. Even if a connection doesn’t seem valuable now, who knows where they’ll be in a couple of years.

Create an online presence for your business. You have to have an online presence to succeed in today’s market. Having a website is the most important thing to do .

20 Ways to Make Money Online

Working in the international development field is the best of many worlds. You have the opportunity to do good and well in life; travel around the world, live on stipends, get tuition reimbursement and student loan forgiveness. If you are a freshman or sophomore in college, fine maybe. You are only two years removed from high school and may not have a skillset to take to an employer. Butinterning for free well hoq your 20s is absolutely unnecessary. By the time you graduate you have a skillset and should be able to express that in a convincing manner. Your language skills, your research abilities, your study abroad stint are all assets worth something! If you think its okay to work for free just for the experience, you are beginning your career backwards. When you end up applying for a job and you need to tell them how much you were last paid, the fact that you worked for free at the UN will overshadow any work that you did. It xevelopment your contribution to the organization you worked for, if you made a big enough impact they would have found a way to pay you. Just say no. French is a vital tool that will propel your resume to the top how to make money in international development the pile even if you may not have that year professional experience. Entering a language institute may even be more valuable than graduate school.