One of the primary questions and concerns we receive from students is, "What career path can I pursue with a background in IPE?" We attempt to guide students through this challenging decision by offering as many resources as possible, including our IPE@WU Careers series, where we interview people with exciting jobs in the field of IPE.

One of our first interviewees was Ms. Laura Leyser, the managing director of Doctors Without Borders Austria. Laura took the time to answer numerous anonymized questions from our students. Laura offered great advice, such as trying different careers out through internships, ensuring that your organization's goals align with your values, and choosing a career that you enjoy.

Perhaps more importantly than her tangible advice, Laura also spoke to many of IPE students' concerns. For example, many roles in the development field can be stressful and emotionally challenging as there is so much suffering, crises, and conflict worldwide. Laura has much experience in this area and even gives an example of living in Nepal and seeing the damage first-hand when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit. Her advice for this problem is to focus on the positive change you can effect at a very small level. Another concern IPE students have is knowing how the intangible, generalist knowledge and skills they develop can translate into actually getting a job. Laura explains that understanding the different societal actors (their incentives, the winners and losers of policies) with an analytical mindset and communicating these insights is an incredibly useful skill set for all kinds of jobs.

It is inspiring to hear from Laura, who validates students' feelings of being overwhelmed and uncertain about their career path and gives concrete advice about moving forward. We are grateful to Laura for taking the time to share her wisdom and experiences with us.

Watch the whole video interview on our website or on our YouTube channel.

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(Report by Ashley B. Simpson, MSc, Teaching and Research Associate)