Careers in Foreign Relations

By Willy Franzen

Looking for an entry level job or internship in foreign relations? Here's an overview of how to approach the search and a list of companies that might have entry level and internship opportunities that will interest you.

See companies with foreign relations careers or search the latest foreign relations jobs and internships.

Photo Credit: Flickr user isafmedia

Foreign relations deals with the relationships between nations and understanding foreign policy. You can work for an international organization, the federal government, or another organization that focuses on foreign affairs. Or you can go more local and get involved in community development and public service. There’s no one career path for someone interested in foreign relations, but a few possible job titles for a recent grad include:

Research Associate
Program Assistant
Executive Assistant
Member Services Coordinator
Translator or Interpreter
Security Specialist
Project Coordinator

You need a bachelor’s degree for most of these positions. A concentration in the part of the world you want to study and proficiency in a second language will put you at an advantage.

Companies with Entry Level Jobs and Internships in Foreign Relations

Partners of the Americas - Partners of the Americas is a DC based non-profit that works to “build partnerships that create opportunity, foster understanding, and solve real-life problems.”

See the complete Partners of the Americas profile

Job Title	Location
New Regional & OTR Truck Driving - Tanker Class A CDL	Lima, OH
CDL-A Tanker Owner Operators - Regional & OTR	DeKalb, IL
CDL-A Tanker Truck Drivers (Owner Operators & Company Drivers)	Kansas City, KS
CDL-A Tanker Truck Drivers (Owner Operators & Lease Purchase)	Gulf Shores, AL
Finance Coordinator	Princeton, NJ

See all 25,743 job postings

American Council of Young Political Leaders - American Council of Young Political Leaders is a DC non-profit that introduces "rising political and policy professionals to international affairs and to each other.”

See the complete American Council of Young Political Leaders profile

Job Title	Location
GENERAL COUNSEL	Upper Marlboro, MD
Membership Associate	Washington, DC
Major Gifts Officer	New York, NY

See all 3 job postings

Americas Society/Council of the Americas - Americas Society and Council of the Americas are two New York, NY based non-profits in one that aim to improve relations across the Americas.

See the complete Americas Society/Council of the Americas profile

No current job openings.

Group of Fifty - The Group of Fifty is a DC based non-profit made up of select “business leaders who head some of the most significant and forward-looking enterprises in Latin America."

See the complete Group of Fifty profile

Job Title	Location
Physical Therapist Assistant	California
FBR FT/PT Licensed Outpatient Therapist - Johnstown, PA Clinic	Johnstown, PA
FBR Licensed Outpatient Therapist - Indiana, PA Clinic	Indiana, PA
Plant Manager - Corsicana	Corsicana, TX
FBR Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS), Brentwood PA	Brentwood, PA

See all 1,206 job postings

Youth For Understanding USA - YFU USA is a Bethesda, MD non-profit foreign exchange “committed to preparing young people for their responsibilities and opportunities in a changing world.”

See the complete Youth For Understanding USA profile

Job Title	Location
Fundraising Research & Data Mgmt. Intern	Warwick, RI
Fundraising Research & Data Mgmt. Intern	Warwick, RI
Resource Development Manager West	San Francisco, CA
International Student Exchange Intern	United States
Associate Director	New York, NY

See all 30 job postings

Inter-American Dialogue - Inter-American Dialogue is a DC based "leading U.S. center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs.”

See the complete Inter-American Dialogue profile

Job Title	Location
INE/INE. Research Fellow	Washington, DC
SCL/EDU Education Specialist	Washington, DC
Housing & Urban Development Lead Specialist	Washington, DC
Fiscal & Municipal Management Principal Specialist/Lead Specialist	Washington, DC
Social Safeguards Lead Specialist	Washington, DC

See all 8 job postings

Center for The National Interest - The Center for The National Interest is based in Washington, DC and was originally founded by former President Nixon as the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom

See the complete Center for The National Interest profile

Job Title	Location
Registered Nurse - Pediatric Acute -Full Time/Varies	Bakersfield, CA
Bilingual Debt Counselor / Collection Professional	Rochester, NY
Occupational Therapy Assistant	Silver Spring, MD
Sales Technician	Bakersfield, CA
Nurse Practitioner - Neuro (Days / Part-Time / Benefits + wknd differential eligible)	Phoenix, AZ

See all 8,928 job postings

U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress - The U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress is a Washington, DC based non-profit that puts former members of Congress to work on important causes.

See the complete U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress profile

Job Title	Location
Supervisory Medical Officer	Rockville, MD

See all 1 job postings

InterAction - InterAction, is a Washington, DC based non-profit that “seeks to shape important policy decisions on relief and long term development issues."

See the complete InterAction profile

Job Title	Location
Education Coordinator	New York, NY
Inside Sales Manager / Recruiter	New York, NY
Mobile Design Intern	Washington, DC
Financial Services Consultant	Annapolis, MD
Staff Cyber Security Scientist - New MS Grad	Cambridge, MA

See all 127,140 job postings

World Economic Forum - The World Economic Forum is an international non-profit that builds dialogue on the world's most pressing issues, and they're hiring.

See the complete World Economic Forum profile

Job Title	Location
Summer Internship 2014	New York, NY
Senior Community Associate, Mobility Industries	New York, NY
Associate Director, North America	New York, NY
Research Assistant	Durham, NC
Program Assistant	Washington, DC

See all 357 job postings

Results for Development Institute - Results for Development Institute is a Washington, DC based international development non-profit with some great job opportunities for new grads.

See the complete Results for Development Institute profile

Job Title	Location
PPC INTERNET MARKETING EXPERT	Scottsdale, AZ
Regional Account Executive	Orlando, FL
Leadership Fellow	New York, NY
Analyst Programmer / Actuarial Programmer - C# / .Net Framework	Cincinnati, OH
Compliance Officer	La Crosse, WI

See all 3,503 job postings

International Foundation for Electoral Systems - If you’re interested in the work that IFES is doing to promote democracy, then you need to check out their Career opportunities.

See the complete International Foundation for Electoral Systems profile

Job Title	Location
Editor and Writer	Washington, DC
International Organizing Director	New York, NY
Editor and Writer	Washington, DC
Records & Operations Assistant	Washington, DC

See all 4 job postings

Atlantic Council - If you’re interested in getting involved, then head over to The Atlantic Council’s Jobs page to learn more about how they foster international relations.

See the complete Atlantic Council profile

Job Title	Location
EMS Communications Supervisor, Per Diem	Newark, NJ
Chief of Audiology ( Job Number: 233653 )	Largo, MD
Postdoctoral Research Scientist	New York, NY
Commercial HVAC Service Apprentice	Waldorf, MD
Sr Field Safety Specialist	University Park, IL

See all 66 job postings

Institute for the Study of War - If studying war sounds interesting to you, check out The Institute for the Study of War’s job opportunities for college grads.

See the complete Institute for the Study of War profile

Job Title	Location
Associate Registrar	Norfolk, VA
Associate Registrar	Norfolk, VA
Chief Consultant, Post Deployment Health (Physician)	Washington, DC
Associate Registrar	Norfolk, VA
Summer Intern: Social and Cultural Studies	Washington, DC

See all 13 job postings

Sister Cities International - If reading about Sister Cities International gets you excited, check out their Jobs page and their Youth Ambassador Program Coordinator position.

See the complete Sister Cities International profile

Job Title	Location
Intern, Horizon Air Chief Pilot's Office	Portland, OR
Intern, Flight Operations Training	Portland, OR
Marketing/Social Media Intern	New York, NY
Digital Marketing Internship	Washington, DC
Choice and Rights Intern	New York, NY

See all 56 job postings

National Bureau of Asian Research - The National Bureau of Asian Research conducts research on U.S. relations with Asia while also training next generation of Asian specialists.

See the complete National Bureau of Asian Research profile

Job Title	Location
Social/Behavioral Sciences (14-42)	Los Angeles, CA
Political and Security Affairs (PSA) Internship	Seattle, WA
Social/Behavioral Sciences (14-42)	Northridge, CA

See all 2 job postings

U.S. Agency for International Development - There is tons of information on the USAID website, so if you’re considering a career with them, spend a good amount of time learning about the agency.

See the complete U.S. Agency for International Development profile

Job Title	Location
Financial Analyst	Arlington, VA
Financial Operations Examiner - Member Regulation, ROOR - New York, NY	New York, NY
HR Manager	Waukegan, IL
Quality Assurance Manager	Lake City, PA
Director, Campaign Delivery & Yield Management	New York, NY

See all 5,102 job postings

Bridging Nations - Bridging Nations pursues their mission in 4 program areas: India-China-US Relations, Energy Technology/Policy, Education/Innovation, and Leadership/Governance

See the complete Bridging Nations profile

Job Title	Location
Arabic Interpreters	Cincinnati, OH
Bilingual Interpreters - Part Time	Cincinnati, OH
Letters/Humanities (FTL English ELL/ESLL)	Turlock, CA
Spanish, Interpreter, Interpreter Services, PRN (as needed)	Indianapolis, IN
Sr Engineer, SystDesign & Strategy	Bellevue, WA

See all 31 job postings

German Marshall Fund of the United States - If you’re interested in foreign policy, then it’d be hard to find a more interesting place to work than the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

See the complete German Marshall Fund of the United States profile

Job Title	Location
Summer 2014 Intern, Transatlantic Leadership Initiatives	Washington, DC
Summer 2014 Intern, Transatlantic Academy	Washington, DC
Summer 2014 Intern, Foreign and Security Policy	Washington, DC
Summer 2014 Intern, Human Resources	Washington, DC
Summer 2014 Intern, Transatlantic Trends	Washington, DC

See all 1 job postings

National Endowment for Democracy - Current openings that might be suitable for new grads include Publications Coordinator and Program Assistant for Middle East and North Africa.

See the complete National Endowment for Democracy profile

Job Title	Location
Communications, Media, and Outreach Intern	Washington, DC
Knowledge Management Intern	Washington, DC
Intern, World Movement for Democracy / Summer 2014 – (Job #1418)	Washington, DC
Program Assistant for Europe (Job # 1424)	Washington, DC
Grants Administrator, Asia (Job #1423)	Washington, DC

See all 14 job postings

Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates - Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates is a Washington, DC based corporate communications and public affairs firm that is hiring new grads.

See the complete Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates profile

Job Title	Location
Summer Booking Internship - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity	Dallas, TX
Behavioral Health Phone Intake Coordinator	Natick, MA
Human Resources Intern (can lead to permanent role)	Belmont, MA
Summer 2014 Booking/Production Intern - Entertainment and Media Industry Opportunity	West Palm Beach, FL
Behavioral Health Phone Intake Coordinator	Natick, MA

See all 535 job postings

Council on Foreign Relations - The need for understanding foreign policy isn’t going anywhere, so I think the Council on Foreign Relations is going to continue to be an exciting place to be.

See the complete Council on Foreign Relations profile

Job Title	Location
Program Coordinator	Virginia Beach, VA
Corporate Social Advocacy Manager	Washington, DC
Branch Manager I (Bentonville)	Bentonville, AR
Associate Director	New York, NY
Assistant Branch Manager I (Northwest)	Houston, TX

See all 74 job postings

Independent Diplomat - Independent Diplomat is a unique foreign relations focused non-profit currently looking for a Program and Development Assistant in their New York City office

See the complete Independent Diplomat profile

Job Title	Location
Real Estate Agent	Rockville, MD
Associate Real Estate Agent - Hampton Roads	Norfolk, VA
Associate Real Estate Agent - Philadelphia	Philadelphia, PA
Associate Real Estate Agent - VA	Washington, DC
Associate Real Estate Agent - Queens, Nassau, or Suffolk County	New York, NY

See all 58 job postings

World Learning - Right now, World Learning appears to have two entry-level job opportunities available in Washington, DC.

See the complete World Learning profile

Job Title	Location
Assistant Buyer	Dallas, TX
Intern- Software Engineer	Provo, UT
Web Applications Developer	Fort Mill, SC
Digital Communications Producer	San Diego, CA
Market Intelligence Intern -- Architectural Coatings	Cranberry, PA

See all 32,791 job postings

Carnegie Corporation of New York - The Carnegie Corporation currently has three job openings. One is definitely entry-level, and another could probably be seen as such for the right person.

See the complete Carnegie Corporation of New York profile

Job Title	Location
Operations Coordinator	New York, NY
Director of Funding Collaborative	New York, NY
Information Technology Support Specialist	New York, NY
Software Development Engineer, Principal-BING	Bellevue, WA
Director of Communications and Content Strategy	New York

See all 8 job postings

Institute of International Education - Located in NYC, Institute of International Education manages the Fulbright Program, along with 250 other programs worldwide.

See the complete Institute of International Education profile

Job Title	Location
Certified Personal Trainer	Teaneck, NJ
Delegate Sales Coordinator (Telesales)	New York, NY
Internship	Washington, DC
Internship - JISEA	Golden, CO
Associate, Major Donors & Special Events	Washington, DC

See all 1,593 job postings

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