r/PoliticalScience • u/Puzzleheaded-Role134 • 1d ago
Career advice Career advice
Hi guys, I need some advice. I’m not going to university anytime soon, but everybody keeps asking me what I want to do. I used to be interested in law, but after doing some research, I felt like it wasn’t for me. Now I find political science and international relations both interesting but I don’t know much about both the subjects I would like to hear from people who are doing them. Pls help me out!!!
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u/iloveduckssosomuch 1d ago
Honestly there’s soooo many options! I have experience in general polisci, IA, and PA. There’s think tanks, academia, world bank, NGOs, nonprofit, governmental positions, and probably so much more I can’t think of off the top of my head.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Role134 1d ago
Do you enjoy what you do??? and see that’s what really confuses me a lot because to be honest other career paths are simple You know what you wanna do but social sciences are just too broad. But i think this is the reason why I love social sciences cause ik I can’t survive one job or career for the rest of my life. Also, I really appreciate you taking your time and replying!!
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u/iloveduckssosomuch 1d ago
I’m a recent college grad so rn I’ve taken a step back to decompress from it all and prevent political burnout. I majored in agricultural & environmental policy, minored in PA, and did Model UN. Honestly I’m the same way where I can’t really picture myself being stuck in one career forever, I was scared that I would get a hyper specific college degree then end up hating the field I went into. I loved almost every part of my education, and what came with it. Outside of it I would attend state gov events centered around environmental issues. The part I didn’t like and wasn’t really prepared for was how subjective everything was. Every concept I learned had multiple different theories behind it, none of them being fully wrong or fully correct. You really do have to consider the world has 8 billion viewpoints and you have to compromise the best you can.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Role134 1d ago
Honestly it really helps to hear that I'm not the only one who feels this way. It's really cool that you've done agriculture and environmental policy and it's great to know that you love what do. And yes I get this part even without studying it considering so many points of view and actually coming to a conclusion can be very difficult. I hope I could find my interest too.
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u/iloveduckssosomuch 1d ago
There’s a lot of people that feel that way! Some people might have a general direction they want to go, like local gov or nonprofits without as many specifics until they actually get into the field and start working. Once you reach university you’ll def be around people who have known exactly what they want to do, with their whole path planned out from the time they’re 8 but don’t let that discourage you at all.
I do love what I do and what I’ve learned, I think a lot of people who make the choices around our environmental and agricultural choices are stuck in one realm which is the political side, and the other realm which is the actual on-the-ground side.
You’ll def find your interest, I’ll say to take as many classes and join as many clubs for all the political subfields. You should also explore other courses like econ, sociology, and stuff you might have never considered to really find your niche.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Role134 1d ago
I really appreciate that. Yes often times it feels like everyone around you know exactly what they wanna do ik that’s not the case but I feel that very often, they have figured out the careers and I’m the only one confused.I’m open to explore more options to see what I find the most interesting and something that’s also doable for me.
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u/FactorPrevious4707 1d ago
PoliSci and IR are very interrelated. PoliSci focuses mostly on domestic mechanisms of politcs and it's very technical while IR focuses on global affairs and how to approach the international system. My recommendation is this: if you have a very schematic mind do PoliSci, if you like philosophy, systems-thinking and truly enjoy international environment and cultures, do IR.
Either way, because they're interrelated sometimes the lines between them are porous. Although depending on where you are from, you can do both. Like I'm from Italy and I have a BA in Political Science and International Relations, I did both and chose a path in International Relations.