The past month or so, mainly June, was exceptionally difficult for me.
Since graduating law school, I've had a few younger people ask me about my experiences through law school, because they too want to work for the UN. I've always been a very idealistic person, and I thought that you should pursue your dreams. Maybe it's growing up in America, or maybe it's just who I am. I didn't quite believe in back up plans--I just dedicated myself towards my goal, believing that I would get there. As my law school classmates were one by one getting offers from corporate law firms however, I found myself feeling anxious, slowly becoming the only one who might be unemployed. I hadn't thought it would be so hard to find a job "saving the world." I already was willing to accept a large pay cut to do something that I loved and believed in. I was okay with making less money, but I wasn't okay with being unemployed.
Columbia Law was pretty much a water slide into the corporate legal field--the firms would come to our campus to wine and dine and recruit us. I rarely went to those firm events, and didn't even take the opportunity for on campus interviews seriously because I had been so confident that I wouldn't be going that route. There have been several times in the past few years in which honestly, I regretted my idealism. I figured I should have just been practical and gone corporate. Then I wouldn't have had to worry so much--I'd have a steady job with a great salary, living in New York City. New York really has become a city for the affluent. The living expenses are outrageous, and they are only increasing. When I talked to students, I would say that I would recommend just going the normal route and getting a job at a firm, and then trying to break into the public interest realm. It was safer, far less stressful.
Over the last year, I had an amazing opportunity at the United Nations, which I am really grateful for. That contract ended in June because there was no longer funding to keep me. During that period, I pretty much faced the possibility of unemployment every three months or so, and usually they were able to extend it. This time however, I was fairly certain they wouldn't be able to, and knew that it would be ending; I had been applying left and right. Many times, I would make it to interviews, and sometimes go far, only to get rejected. Most of June, I really started to feel like I really messed up. I wasted so much money on law school, and now I would be unemployed, and who knows when I would be able to find a job. I fought so hard to make it to the UN, and I was afraid that this was the end, and I would never be able to get back. The job market for idealistic jobs is not very good. There is little turnover, and few opportunities to begin with.
The main ways to get into the United Nations, unless you are someone who has had extensive work experience, is through the Young Professional Program. Each year, about 30,000 to 40,000 people apply to this process. The United Nations then chooses the top 40 applicants from each country; not every country is on the list every year though. Luckily for me, the United States is on every year. The top 40 applicants from the various countries then take an exam. About 200 people pass the exam, and go onto oral interviews. After that point, about 100 are placed on a roster, and matched with entry level jobs with the organization. It's not really a method to rely on though, since the passage rate is less than 1%.
2014 was my fourth year applying. In 2011 and 2012, I didn't even get selected as the top 40 for the US. In 2013, I got selected to seat the exam under the Legal Affairs category. I didn't pass the exam. That year, they took 12 people for the roster under Legal Affairs. In 2014, I applied under Human Rights. I had been so upset last year when I didn't pass, that I dedicated myself entirely to this exam. I pretty much lived, breathed, and ate human rights law. No going out, no dinners with friends, pretty much from the time I left work, I went home and focused on committing history and treaties to memory.
The results were supposed to come out in April, but they had come late. I had assumed that I didn't make it again, and I was saddened, but ready to try again, a fifth time. In June however, I got the e-mail saying that I was convoked to the oral exam. I was thrilled. My office mates, friends and my family were so supportive of me, and I felt like I had a lot of people trying to push me forward. People helped me with mock interviews, but I was still so nervous. I was afraid that I had come so far, and that I wouldn't make it past the last step.
My interview was done over Skype. As it turned out, 35 of us had been convoked to the oral exam, and they would select 22. To be honest, I hadn't been confident about my interview, and almost cried when it was over. I thought I did poorly. My office neighbor assured me that she thought I did very well, but I was still uncertain.
The remainder of June was spent dreading my impending unemployment, and falling into despair as I got rejection email after rejection email for positions, some that I didn't even really want and would have been a step down from what I was currently doing. I ended up getting very physically ill as well, from a stomach infection that was misdiagnosed and ended up dragging on much longer than it should have. I think June of this year probably was one of the most exhausting times in my life. Throughout all of the difficulties, I've always been an optimistic and hopeful person. For some reason, I had lost a lot of that and felt like my career, and life, were headed for a nose dive. I felt like I had failed myself and those who had invested in me.
I had already submitted my application for YPP 2015, under Legal Affairs, in the anticipation that things would not work out.
In July however, I got amazing news. When I got the email, at first I had thought it was a rejection because it was short, only saying that my results were attached. When I scrolled down however, I saw the welcome package, and my heart lifted. I had passed the oral exam! And now I am on the roster under the Human Rights job family, awaiting placement as an Associate Human Rights Officer. Possible locations include New York, Geneva (the main headquarters of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), Vienna, Santiago, Bangkok, Beirut, Addis Ababa, or Nairobi.
Making it to the roster really renewed my faith in my decisions, and my confidence in myself to be able to pursue my goals. Of course, I am still awaiting placement, and placement is not guaranteed for anyone, though they do try to place everyone. But making it onto the roster itself is a big step for me, and made it so that all of the work--the hell of law school, scraping by on fellowships, worrying constantly about the end of my contract--worth it. I guess people say that it is always darkest before the dawn, and I really felt that applied in this case.
I had booked a month long trip to Asia before I got the results, feeling like I just needed to escape. Now it can be a celebratory vacation. I leave for Beijing on Sunday, and plan to travel to South Korea and Singapore. The exact dates of that are yet to be determined.
For now, I am really grateful, and once again optimistic about what is to come.
Since graduating law school, I've had a few younger people ask me about my experiences through law school, because they too want to work for the UN. I've always been a very idealistic person, and I thought that you should pursue your dreams. Maybe it's growing up in America, or maybe it's just who I am. I didn't quite believe in back up plans--I just dedicated myself towards my goal, believing that I would get there. As my law school classmates were one by one getting offers from corporate law firms however, I found myself feeling anxious, slowly becoming the only one who might be unemployed. I hadn't thought it would be so hard to find a job "saving the world." I already was willing to accept a large pay cut to do something that I loved and believed in. I was okay with making less money, but I wasn't okay with being unemployed.
Columbia Law was pretty much a water slide into the corporate legal field--the firms would come to our campus to wine and dine and recruit us. I rarely went to those firm events, and didn't even take the opportunity for on campus interviews seriously because I had been so confident that I wouldn't be going that route. There have been several times in the past few years in which honestly, I regretted my idealism. I figured I should have just been practical and gone corporate. Then I wouldn't have had to worry so much--I'd have a steady job with a great salary, living in New York City. New York really has become a city for the affluent. The living expenses are outrageous, and they are only increasing. When I talked to students, I would say that I would recommend just going the normal route and getting a job at a firm, and then trying to break into the public interest realm. It was safer, far less stressful.
Over the last year, I had an amazing opportunity at the United Nations, which I am really grateful for. That contract ended in June because there was no longer funding to keep me. During that period, I pretty much faced the possibility of unemployment every three months or so, and usually they were able to extend it. This time however, I was fairly certain they wouldn't be able to, and knew that it would be ending; I had been applying left and right. Many times, I would make it to interviews, and sometimes go far, only to get rejected. Most of June, I really started to feel like I really messed up. I wasted so much money on law school, and now I would be unemployed, and who knows when I would be able to find a job. I fought so hard to make it to the UN, and I was afraid that this was the end, and I would never be able to get back. The job market for idealistic jobs is not very good. There is little turnover, and few opportunities to begin with.
The main ways to get into the United Nations, unless you are someone who has had extensive work experience, is through the Young Professional Program. Each year, about 30,000 to 40,000 people apply to this process. The United Nations then chooses the top 40 applicants from each country; not every country is on the list every year though. Luckily for me, the United States is on every year. The top 40 applicants from the various countries then take an exam. About 200 people pass the exam, and go onto oral interviews. After that point, about 100 are placed on a roster, and matched with entry level jobs with the organization. It's not really a method to rely on though, since the passage rate is less than 1%.
2014 was my fourth year applying. In 2011 and 2012, I didn't even get selected as the top 40 for the US. In 2013, I got selected to seat the exam under the Legal Affairs category. I didn't pass the exam. That year, they took 12 people for the roster under Legal Affairs. In 2014, I applied under Human Rights. I had been so upset last year when I didn't pass, that I dedicated myself entirely to this exam. I pretty much lived, breathed, and ate human rights law. No going out, no dinners with friends, pretty much from the time I left work, I went home and focused on committing history and treaties to memory.
The results were supposed to come out in April, but they had come late. I had assumed that I didn't make it again, and I was saddened, but ready to try again, a fifth time. In June however, I got the e-mail saying that I was convoked to the oral exam. I was thrilled. My office mates, friends and my family were so supportive of me, and I felt like I had a lot of people trying to push me forward. People helped me with mock interviews, but I was still so nervous. I was afraid that I had come so far, and that I wouldn't make it past the last step.
My interview was done over Skype. As it turned out, 35 of us had been convoked to the oral exam, and they would select 22. To be honest, I hadn't been confident about my interview, and almost cried when it was over. I thought I did poorly. My office neighbor assured me that she thought I did very well, but I was still uncertain.
The remainder of June was spent dreading my impending unemployment, and falling into despair as I got rejection email after rejection email for positions, some that I didn't even really want and would have been a step down from what I was currently doing. I ended up getting very physically ill as well, from a stomach infection that was misdiagnosed and ended up dragging on much longer than it should have. I think June of this year probably was one of the most exhausting times in my life. Throughout all of the difficulties, I've always been an optimistic and hopeful person. For some reason, I had lost a lot of that and felt like my career, and life, were headed for a nose dive. I felt like I had failed myself and those who had invested in me.
I had already submitted my application for YPP 2015, under Legal Affairs, in the anticipation that things would not work out.
In July however, I got amazing news. When I got the email, at first I had thought it was a rejection because it was short, only saying that my results were attached. When I scrolled down however, I saw the welcome package, and my heart lifted. I had passed the oral exam! And now I am on the roster under the Human Rights job family, awaiting placement as an Associate Human Rights Officer. Possible locations include New York, Geneva (the main headquarters of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), Vienna, Santiago, Bangkok, Beirut, Addis Ababa, or Nairobi.
Making it to the roster really renewed my faith in my decisions, and my confidence in myself to be able to pursue my goals. Of course, I am still awaiting placement, and placement is not guaranteed for anyone, though they do try to place everyone. But making it onto the roster itself is a big step for me, and made it so that all of the work--the hell of law school, scraping by on fellowships, worrying constantly about the end of my contract--worth it. I guess people say that it is always darkest before the dawn, and I really felt that applied in this case.
I had booked a month long trip to Asia before I got the results, feeling like I just needed to escape. Now it can be a celebratory vacation. I leave for Beijing on Sunday, and plan to travel to South Korea and Singapore. The exact dates of that are yet to be determined.
For now, I am really grateful, and once again optimistic about what is to come.
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