4 Ways Local Governments Can Use Technology to Better Serve Their Citizens
Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he has been trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and digital marketing topics are his favorite. When he isn’t writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.
Working in government allows you to help your country thrive. But for many people, there is a driving passion to do more. You may feel it is more of a priority to pursue a career that has a meaningful humanitarian impact on the lives of those in greatest need. The good news is, there are opportunities to work in the public sector and achieve these goals.
There is certainly no shortage of humanitarian issues to be addressed at a systemic level. We’re also seeing an increasing number of intense public emergencies requiring professionals to mount effective responses. You have the potential to make a significant difference by engaging in humanitarian careers in the public sector.
Let’s take a look at a handful of the paths you could carve for yourself.
Environmental Engineering
Climate change is one of the most concerning and time-sensitive challenges we all face at the moment. The imperative to make environmentally-friendly changes within the next decade is impacting various areas of both public and private sectors. A career in most areas of climate science can see you working to prevent damage and mitigate the humanitarian knock-on effects. From a public sector perspective, you can help the planet and the community through environmental engineering.
This is a career in which you’ll develop practical solutions to protect the public from the harmful effects of environmental damage now and in the future. Often, this will include implementing environmental remediation techniques that mitigate the damage industries have caused to the local ecosystem. Professionals employed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local governments perform assessments, establish remediation methodologies, and conduct clean-ups of pollutants and hazardous materials. Environmental engineers play a key role in these efforts alongside wider local monitoring and reduction of air, land, and water pollution.
The path toward a career as a public sector environmental engineer usually requires a bachelor’s degree in civil, chemical, or general engineering. However, it’s important to gain some early practical experience by getting involved in volunteer environmental clean-up and protection programs in your local area. Most professionals working in the public sector have a specialization — water resource, geophysical, and ecological engineering among them. As such, it’s worth pursuing internships in your choice of specialization.
You may feel it is more of a priority to pursue a career that has a meaningful humanitarian impact on the lives of those in greatest need.
LUKE SMITH
Foreign Aid
Many of the challenges humans face will not be in your own backyard. This makes it no less of an imperative to use your talents to help. This is where foreign aid can be a rewarding and positively impactful choice. While you may already be familiar with private and volunteer organizations, you’ll find it can also make for a great public sector career.
This is certainly not an easy career choice. The role of a humanitarian aid worker abroad will see you provide emergency assistance to people in conflict zones and other inhospitable environments. The days are often long, stressful, and there’s the emotional component of working with people going through intense struggles. You may be giving general assistance to get locals the resources and assistance they need. Or you might be taking a more specialist role in medical care, transportation, or engineering.
Public sector foreign aid workers are usually employed by relevant government agencies. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) recruits foreign service officers to perform aid work abroad. There are no specific qualification requirements, but candidates with a graduate degree and economic development experience are favored.
You can also find aid roles with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but these are usually high-level medical professions. Indeed, the agency recommends epidemiologists, physicians, and public health advisors at the GS-13 level and below gain experience with domestic programs first. This is good advice no matter what foreign aid position you’re pursuing.
Refugee Assistance
Making a difference in the lives of people from conflict and disaster zones doesn’t necessarily require moving abroad. There are opportunities to live and work locally. One of the most important resources communities can offer those in need is a chance to rebuild their lives in a place of safety and support. A public sector career in refugee assistance can give you the chance to meaningfully affect individuals and families alike.
Each state tends to take its own approach to refugee resettlement and assistance. Case managers and resettlement officers for local agencies assess the needs of local refugees and provide them with financial, practical, and social support. Your skillset here will largely be around gathering and assessing data, interpersonal communications, and implementing anti-fraud mechanisms.
Most entry-level positions in this area will usually require at least a bachelor’s degree and a few years of experience in relevant humanitarian fields. It can also be advantageous to have competence in a second UN language. These include French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, or Russian.
If you’d like to have an impact on a national level, the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration sponsors the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) program with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This career program is designed to give you practical experience in the fundamentals of refugee protection, resettlement, and community services.
This is usually a 2-year position and candidates are usually expected to have a graduate degree in a relevant area. As such, it’s worth pursuing a master’s program in international relations or human rights. The JPO program also tends to put you in a good position to apply for senior refugee assistance roles in the UNHCR and other government agencies.
Conclusion
Humanitarian careers in the public sector can both be rewarding professions and a chance to make a positive impact on people’s lives. You may assist in the fight against climate change by performing environmental engineering at a local level. Alternatively, you can help those living in states of profound emergency as a foreign aid worker. Working with government agencies to assist refugees can also be a route to giving people a positive new start. As the challenges populations face grow and develop, there will always be room for talented and caring professionals to address them.
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