<p>I'm new to CC, but I know all sorts of questions may be answered here. I'm not sure if this is the correct subforum, please let me know if it isn't.</p>
<p>D is a people-person and word-person, as described by her counselors. Not that she's not good at numbers, it just isn't her thing. She loves languages and wants to work (not as her 9-5 job, but as an "on the side" thing) as a translator, in fact she does it already. D wanted to join the armed forces, but will not be able to due to some medical issues (not serious, but prohibited by the military).. so she intends to find her way into the government (I don't know where specifically, so I'll just say it in the general sense).</p>
<p>I've encouraged her to pursuit a major such as psychology, human resources or even teaching (she also tutors HS children). But she likes anthropology, sociology, international affairs and the like. I've read a couple threads of students asking about the above, and how marketable they are. </p>
<p>I'd love if you could enlighten me if for the career path she wants to seek these would be well looked upon and easily "fixed" to be more marketable (through certificate programs, or the like). </p>
<p>D's father worked in the goverment as an engineer, but that is what he studied, so I'm a little uncertain about these.. specially in the fed gov which is an entirely different world.</p>
<p>Education doesn’t count for much in the federal government. As long as you meet the minimum requirements fo the position (Usually just a BA/BA) you are eligible to apply.</p>
<p>Experience is what is more important, as well as how you interview. </p>
<p>When your daughter fills out a federal government application she will have to answer work related questions, and KSA (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities) and display how they relate to the job she is applying for.</p>
<p>Education is really just a check mark, “Do you possess a Bachelors degree? Check, Yes.”</p>
<p>It really depends on what she wants to do. Being a translator will probably require a clearance, and the military is the best breeding grounds for good translators…plus they get veterans preference and have the exact work experience they seek out.</p>
<p>The majors you listed as her choices don’t really give her any advantage when applying. </p>
<p>She needs to figure out what she wants to do, then figure out what major best fits her.</p>
<p>I’ve interviewed with several different agencies and my education never even comes up.</p>
<p>Great news coming from someone on the inside! </p>
<p>Well, we were counting on her joining the military at some point. D even exchanged mails with recruiters and was sent the forms. Unfortunately, she has a physical condition that wouldn’t allow her to join -it’s nothing serious in day to day life-, but they have pages and pages filled with conditions that they forbid. For this reason, we never sent in the forms. </p>
<p>Could the KSA that you mean be developed? Which could we work on, to make her more marketable?</p>
<p>KSA’s are just that, Knowledge, SKills and Abilities…</p>
<p>They are different for each job. A KSA for a law enforcement position will ask about law enforcement related things, (Do you currently carry a firearm on the job, have you ever attended a law enforcement academy, ect.). A KSA ofr a clerical position will ask about office administration type functions. This is also when you get to explain any specialized training, education or certifications you have.</p>
<p>They aren’t all the same, it depends on the job you apply for…either you have them or you don’t. </p>
<p>Also, marketable for what? She doesn’t know what she wants to do. </p>
<p>Government jobs are broad. She could be a secretary, scientist, program manager, HR, federal agent, astronaut, ect.</p>
<p>The government doesn’t really higher alot of translators. Most work in intelligence, and most of them are hired from the military.</p>
<p>Concerning working as a translator, all I really know is that applicants must pass fluency exams to be eligible, then they pick their candidates.</p>
<p>The best candidates aren’t just fluent, but have experience working as a translator, often in military environments or some fulltime capacity in a country were the language is spoken.</p>
<p>Sorry about the military, people don’t know how many things can eliminate a candidate. I needed waivers, and so did alot of people I know.</p>
<p>There are lots of good fed programs for people 18-24 working for the NPS, BLM, with third party agencies placing them. Many are environmental/biological in nature but are great for young people who want to build KSA’s and become cadets of some sort. It’s like boot camp lite but great for leadership training and working with others with a good foot into other fed jobs that arise. There are a few programs, Americorps being one of them. There are candidates that work in inner cities with children, at the school, or outside educating young people about the environment, and conducting clean up etc. The others go live up in the mountains or at national parks and have their basic needs taken care of i.e. food and housing. At the end of a year of service the government will grant the team members thousands towards education tuition or repayment. They will also come out with practical skills and certificates like CPR and rescue.</p>
<p>Not all fed jobs require a Bachelors degree, especially for young people starting out. It’s all about what GS level they enter in at and where the ceiling is. Many young people don’t take advantage of these programs until its too late because no one ever told them.</p>
<p>The government doesn’t hire Anthropologists and Sociologist like they use to. They are in many ways rather dead fields to enter unless have a multiple masters to find work or a PhD to do research or land a job as a professor, and the competition is fierce! Anthropology is great for people who want to work in museums but requires special training in Museology or Conservation for the art side or biology for specimens or GIS or know all you can to be competitive! If she is interested in Linguistics then she would go the Ethno directions studying language origins and differences.</p>
<p>I will look into the possible waivers, I don’t consider her condition to stop her from doing anything at all. It’s related to her spine, but D is in perfect shape. I really hope we can work that out. She has a broad range of interests, so hopefully she’ll have the “KSA” needed to whatever jobs she actually wants. </p>
<p>Also, D has been looking into different programs for students, certainly something to look carefully at. She is too bubbly to work at a museums… I will let her know this as well, I don’t consider conservation of anything being close to her likes (although you never now, kids change their mind quite often). </p>
<p>To say government is so broad, so many agencies and so on. But I will look into the waivers for the military, as this was always her first plan. And will note that translating and languages is something to build on the side (as a plus or so), and encourage her to get a job with possibly more vacancies. </p>
<p>By the way, I was going to ask anyone who might know about this, specially those commenting on this thread: does it matter where you go to school? And by this I mean universities abroad. Of course internationals don’t work with the government, but will the country in which your studies are conducted affect you in way? Ex. South America, Europe, Asia, etc?</p>
<p>OP, you mentioned that your daughter loves languages and that she already does translation on the side. What language does she translate and what languages has she studied and to what level of proficiency? What languages is she interested in learning?</p>
<p>Yes, she does work doing this to earn money on the side. I might add she is also a tutor. Well, we’re living abroad currently and her native languages are English and Spanish (spoken at home). Right now, we’re living in a Spanish speaking country, so she translates back and forth. She is intermediate (middle level??) in French. </p>
<p>She wants to get certified in French, probably in the upcoming year or so. And she has told me several times she wants another (such as portuguese or german). I encourage her to difficult languages, but she says she’d rather play it safe with languages she can achieve high proficiency (and sound better with the accents). </p>
<p>I asked the above question not only for “study abroad” programs, but perhaps to gain her degree. European universities have really good programs, and the prices seem to be less extravagant as some of the average universities in the US. But as she wants a job in the government, she doesn’t want to spoil her chances if this is frowned upon.</p>
<p>I of course have no idea, so I come here to ask the experts! Please let me know.</p>