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WORKING IN GLOBAL HEALTH

Duke Global Health Institute | Updated: February 13, 2013

Working in global health is hard

• US govt global health funding plateauing

• Emergence of undergraduate degrees

• 270 university global health programs

• Over 70 offer degrees, tracks, or concentrations

• Unique hiring methods and schedules

Careers in global health

• Health care provision

• Program management and technical advising

• Research and policy

• Program development

HEALTH CARE PROVISION

FIELD Community Health, Clinical Care, Disaster

Relief and Humanitarian Aid

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT & TECHNICAL ADVISING

FIELD Monitoring & Evaluation, Training, and

Development Consulting, such as Health, Agriculture, Business, etc

RESEARCH & POLICY

FIELD Academic and Industry Research,

Environmental-Health-Public Policy, Think Tanks

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

FIELD

Communications, Grants & Contracts, Development (Fundraising), Business

Management, Technology and Education, Knowledge Management

Education & Experience

Bachelor BA, BS

Degree

Research/Program/Communications Assistant, Event Planner, Fellow/Intern

Masters MA, MBA, MDP, MPA, MPA-ID, MPH,

MPP, MSc-GH

Doctoral MD, PhD, DrPH

Research Associate, Program Manager, Grant Writer, Project

Coordinator, Analyst

Associate, Epidemiologist, Executive Director, President, Professor

Position Exp

0-3

3-5

10+

years

What are the !rst steps?

• Self re"ection

• Building your toolkit

• Resumes and cover letters

• Finding the GH jobs

• Outreach and networking

Self inquiry

• How do you see yourself working?

• Where do you see yourself working?

• What skills have you already acquired?

• What is best for you now?

Foundation of a strong resume

1.  Focus and structure

2.  Competencies and quali#cations

3.  Telling your story

4.  Formatting and presentation

Common questions:

• How long should your resume be?

• Should you include high school?

• Should you include GPA?

• Should you include an objective?

• Should you include references?

• How should you save your resume?

What about the cover letter?

• Should accompany all formal applications

• Not a narrative of your resume

• Show that you know their values & needs

• Be positive and enthusiastic

• Why do you want to work for us?

Finding open GH positions?

• Online job postings

•  Job boards, university HR websites, GH organization

websites

• What are you trying to #nd?

• What is the harsh reality?

• 80% of jobs are #lled informally

Steps to !nd the hidden jobs

• Build your network

LinkedIn

• A professional version of Facebook!

• A tool for learning about organizations and

making new connections

• A method of creating a professional online

presence

Twitter

• Micro-blogging on a small scale

• An easy way to receive information from GH

organizations and individuals

• An easy way to communicate with GH

organizations and individuals

• Follow: @DukeGHI_Career

Who Tweets?

• Every global health organization

• Global health professionals

• @drgarybennett – Professor, Duke University

• @pgaye – CEO & President, IntraHealth

International

• @richardhorton1 – Editor, The Lancet

Steps to !nd the hidden jobs

• Build your network

• Fine-tune your outreach

Mechanics of the email outreach

• Be professional and use your brand •  Be polite (“Dear…”) and use your Duke email address

• Be clear, concise and well-researched •  To the point with clear requests not found via a Google search

• Be gracious •  Everybody’s busy, be respectful of time and energy

• No mistakes •  Proofread – forwards and backwards

Example email from Idealist.org: Hello. I’m Edgar Hernandez. Kathy Liu suggested I get in touch with you to request an informational interview. I’ve majored in #nance at SUNY Binghamton, where I served as president of the campus accounting club and helped a local charity improve their book-keeping practices. I’ve been considering a career in nonpro#t #nance. Kathy said that you have 15 years of experience in fundraising and development and that you are highly respected among your peers. I am sure you are busy, but I was wondering if you would have time for a short conversation over coffee, or at your office; my schedule is "exible. I’d love to ask you some questions about how you got started and the trajectory of your career so far.

Idealist Guide to Nonpro!t Careers for First-time Job Seekers: http://www.idealist.org/info/Careers/Guides/FirstTime

Informational interviews

• Do your research on the org and industry

• Come with a focus, but be "exible

• Aim for brevity, less than ~30 minutes

• Don’t forget to follow up and thank

Learn more:

• Duke Global Health Alumni on LinkedIn

• Global Health Career Digest

• DGHI faculty, staff and students