The first question I am usually asked when somebody learns about my career is “What would I need to do to get into that line of work?” So, what is it about this field that appeals to so many people?
The answer is that it can provide core conditions that are attractive to almost everyone:
There is a need for more gifted eyes, ears and hands to help address the world’s challenges. By studying the following concepts and working your way through this Program, you can learn from an expert at your own pace from anywhere. Teaching others about the work that I do, and love, whether they are just out of school or considering a second career, wanting to volunteer their time or build their income, has always been a great joy to me. Now I have the opportunity to do so virtually, making the fundamentals of what I have learned over the years available to anyone with online access.
Learn the nuts and bolts of becoming an asset in the international consulting world. Discovering what it is that you have to offer in this dynamic field and the best fit for you, e.g., clients, sectors, locations & types of contracts, getting organized, prep work, report writing, timelines and deadlines, project dynamics, multiple-agency environments, building a collaborative network, the basics of working with other cultures, finding opportunities and marketing yourself.
"Human societies are dysfunctional because we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and on top of that, we have created god-like technology. It is a dangerous mix."
Edward O. Wilson
The Social Conquest of Earth
Acquire the fundamentals of working in exceptionally challenging environments. Such as, anticipating needs prior to departure, adapting to physical challenges & constraints, maintaining physical and psychological balance, obtaining personal and professional provisions, planning and execution in environments with significant corruption in politics, policing and rule of law, managing expectations, and working with interpreters, foreign nationals, for/alongside donor agencies, host nation leadership, peacekeeping forces, etc.
"You can never win a war against terror as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate -- poverty, disease, ignorance…”
Desmond Tutu
Learn the basics of consulting in dangerous, severely deprived and unpredictable environments. For instance, mental and physical preparation, practical communications, food & shelter, getting around, interface with US and foreign militaries, working with host nation population, collaboration with/between multilateral agencies, cooperation with humanitarian organizations, emergency preparedness & best practices for maintaining safety and security.
“If men can develop weapons that are so terrifying as to make the thought of global war include almost a sentence for suicide, you would think that man's intelligence and his comprehension... would include also his ability to find a peaceful solution.”
Dwight D Eisenhower
"While we celebrate independence, we often foster dependence. Neither is sustainable. We survive and thrive through interdependence, as a human family, not a human race."
Dr. Dianna Wuagneux The Independence-Dependence Paradox, 1998
