Welcome to the Government, Think Tanks, Policy & Law Community!
Students who pursue a career in public service are interested in a career that prioritizes the needs and well-being of the community. Opportunities include many diverse local, national, or global career paths where one might find work with the government, a government-contracted organization, or a non-profit organization to benefit the public, focusing on supporting communities, serving others, and protecting public interests. The range of careers in public service includes the arts, public health, the environment, education, the economy, policies and so much more.
- Government and Legislative
- Intelligence
- Public Policy, Political Affairs and Think Tanks
- Law
- Create a list of 10-20 organizations to follow (think tanks, agencies, associations, etc.)
- Schedule an appointment with a Career Advisor to craft your next steps (Pre-appointment Preparation Tool)
- Handshake
- Pro Tip: Set your Career Interests in your profile in Handshake to match your interests to make the algorithm work best for you
- Policy and Other Opportunities on the Hill
- Traverse Jobs – Capitol Hill (U.S. Senate & U.S. House of Representatives), Government Affairs, Communications/PR/Social & Digital Media/Journalism, Campaign/PAC, Executive Management, Legal, Administrative, Internships
- Daybook: https://www.daybook.com/ – government, lobbying, campaigns
- House of Representatives Employment – (internships usually close in April)
- U.S. Senate Employment – (Internships usually close in March) – https://employment.senate.gov/student-opportunities/
- Architect of the Capitol – internships related to preserving & maintaining historic buildings
- Consulting and Think Tanks
- American Association of Political Consultants Job Board – political consulting
- Think tanks – job board
- State Opportunities
- Virginia General Assembly Program through UR
- Virginia Governor’s Fellows Program
- Virginia Management Fellows (VMF) Program
- State legislatures – look for the employment page in your home state
- Local Government
- Explore local government opportunities with the Center for Civic Engagement
- Federal Opportunities
- Future Leaders Program: UR Career Services partners with the Partnership for Public Service to match our students with internships in the Federal and State government.
- Public Services Internship Finder – find nearly 1,000 federal opportunities with filters such as career field and degree level to narrow down the most relevant internships, fellowships and entry-level jobs
- USAJOBS Federal Internships Portal – a one-stop shop for prospective interns to apply for internships in the Federal government
- Cybercops: Scholarship for Services (SFS) – designed to recruit and train the next generation of information technology professionals, industrial control system security professionals, and security managers to meet the needs of the cybersecurity mission for Federal, State, local, and tribal governments. This program provides scholarships for up to 3 years of support for cybersecurity undergraduate and graduate (MS or PhD) education.
- Office of Personnel Management
- Non-profits, Advocacy, and Public Service
- Search by issue area (housing, educations, immigration, voting rights, criminal justice, public health, environment)
- www.idealist.org/ – non-profit and NGO positions
- AmeriCorps
- Search by issue area (housing, educations, immigration, voting rights, criminal justice, public health, environment)
- Global Opportunities
- https://globaljobs.org/ – job board for global positions
- International Justice Mission – deadlines for summer internships open in Oct; full-time fellowships open 12 months in advance
- https://www.partners.net/ – international development
- Hit the Iron Bell – guide for humanitarian and international programs including internships, fellowships, young professional programs
- Pre-Law
- Hire Law – helps University of Richmond pre-law students explore legal career paths and identify avenues to gain hands-on experience. To set up your free account, create a “Job Seeker Account” using your UR email address
Federal resumes can be two pages (as opposed to the traditional one page resume)
- Learn about Federal Resumes
- Explore GoGovernment Resource for Federal Resumes
- Watch two page Federal Resume video
- Create your Federal Resume in USAJobs.gov
- Understand that some applications ask you to fill out the answers to these four essay questions. Advice for how to answer them can be found here.
