Are international relations/global studies majors really as useless as everyone says they are? I wanted to double major with one major being IRG, but is it worth it?
It’s only useless if you’re not proficient in at least one world language and your school doesn’t have any ties anywhere (such as UN, DC think tanks, international firms…) nor any good study abroad programs. So, learn a language thoroughly, study abroad, look for internships, and you’re good to go. Take the easy way out (avoiding any class that ‘sounds hard’ or ‘boring’) and you’re in trouble.
Basically, this isn’t a vocational major, so your finding a job is related to your ability to leverage skills and competencies into internships which lead to jobs.
What school are you attending? Are you a rising freshman?
Old thread, but I’d like to chime in for you or anybody who sees this:
When applying to International Affairs related jobs, having an IR degree alone won’t impress anybody. That’s what everybody has who is applying for these highly competitive positions. However, there are 5 things that can make you stand out as an applicant with an IR major
- a second major
- practical language skills (proven by a proficiency test)
- abroad experience
- A noteworthy GPA