Career Support

Professionalization and Careers

The flexible design of the program attracts diverse students who complete the MA in Global Thought with enhanced research skills and a capacious knowledge of the complex processes that shape the contemporary world. 

Throughout the degree program, students receive support through Careers Without Borders, CGT’s professional development series. Events bring together current MA students with CGT advisory council members and Global Thought alumni from a wide variety of fields in order to network and think about global careers.

Careers Without Borders supplements the work of Compass, the career development center of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Through workshops, resume and career advising appointments, job fairs, and other activities and services, Compass assists students in GSAS doctoral and master’s programs in identifying, working toward, and achieving their post-graduation career goals.

Global Thought graduates pursue careers in development, nongovernment organizations, government, public policy, academia, research, and the private sector. The combination of rigorous academic research and broad intellectual range prepares them well for employment, as well as for further study in professional schools or PhD programs. Graduates and current students can search for jobs through databases listed below.

Internships and Employment During and After Your Degree

You may wish to work during your degree. Below are some resources to help you in your job search. Keep in mind, however, that the MA degree is very intensive and it will be challenging to work more than 5-7 hours per week. In addition, please note that Global Thought cannot offer course credit for internships.

Every year, the Columbia Global Thought MA Internship Program offers enthusiastic CGT MA students the opportunity to connect with select relevant and engaging work experiences across fields such as finance and technology, research, global policy, media and journalism, international affairs, strategic communications, and more.

PROGRAM DETAILS

  • All CGT masters students have the option to apply for the Columbia Global Thought MA internships. Domestic and international CGT MA students alike are encouraged to apply.
  • These internship opportunities are limited to Global Thought masters students.
  • While CGT MA internship details depend on the circumstances and specifics of each position, most internships require a commitment of 7 to 10 hours per week through the entire school year.
  • Internships might take place on campus, in New York City, hybrid, or remote.
  • Internship opportunities and application deadlines are shared with current CGT MA students and posted on the website in the first few weeks of the school year.

Internship offerings change every year. Some past placements have been with the following institutions and organizations: Columbia Business School, Adam Tooze’s Chartbook newsletter, Columbia Global Reports at Columbia Journalism School, The Knight First Amendment Institute, Global Gateway Advisors, the Committee on Forced Migration, the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, Theorem Media, and more.

There are numerous employment opportunities on campus. Some of these are only open to students with federal work-study status, while others are open to all students, including international students. For more information, visit Columbia’s Human Resources site for students. Compass, the GSAS Career Development Center, also hosts a job database for on-campus and off-campus jobs.

GSAS Compass offers a variety of career development services tailored to master’s and doctoral students, including career development workshops, employer events, networking opportunities, and one-on-one advising. The Compass website contains information about upcoming events (and recordings of past ones), sign ups for advising, and access to LionShare, an online job search database available exclusively to Columbia University students and alumni. GSAS Connect is an online career-management hub available exclusively to the Graduate School’s master’s and doctoral students and alumni.

The Diversity Abroad community inspires, connects, and assists you in reaching your academic and career potential in our increasingly interconnected world.

More than 3,000 NGOs, think tanks, governments, and private sector companies post to Global Jobs. Global Jobs allows users to search through these listings, and apply through the website.

The Idealist job search engine allows students to search for opportunities across a wide variety of industries and filters these results based on their individual interests.

Indeed enables users to search jobs posted on thousands of websites. Employers also post jobs directly on Indeed. Users can create an Indeed resume, and apply to jobs posted on the website.

NAFSA provides funding for work, internships, volunteering, and research.

One World provides the latest job and volunteer positions from organizations working to make a better world.

Search the United Nations Career Database.