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.:Resource Guides:Interviews-Janey Skinner.
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Interviews
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Advice
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What books, magazines, periodicals, websites or other materials should people read to learn more about this field? |
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Global Exchange has a great website, www.globalexchange.org, a good place to learn more about international human rights. There's also Human Rights Watch at
www.hrw.org and Amnesty International at www.amnesty.org. For the specific area of human rights I have worked in -- protective accompaniment -- check out
www.peacebrigades.org for info on Peace Brigades International, a fabulous organization that takes volunteers ages 25+ and also student interns in Washington D.C. For more on domestic violence, check out
www.endabuse.org, the Family Violence Prevention Fund.
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What questions would you ask of someone who wants to do this work? |
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If you want to do consulting, do you have the contacts and the self-discipline to make it work? If you want to go overseas to do protective accompaniment work for human rights, are you ready to learn a whole heck of a lot? If you want
to work on domestic violence prevention, can you connect to community members where they are and still help move them forward on the issue?
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In what kinds of jobs can recent college graduates have the most impact in your field? |
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Hmmm. . . in my two fields! In domestic violence, there's a ton of work -- recent graduates are ideal as peer/community educators for young people -- and many also volunteer on hotlines and gain skills that way. In human rights,
recent college graduates are perfect for entry-level jobs in scrappy nonprofits working on every aspect of human rights, and with a bit more experience (travel, volunteer for a development project, visit communities) they are fabulous for international
accompaniment work. Accompaniment work saves lives and helps support human rights monitoring organizations around the world.
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What are the major trends and/or key issues in your field? |
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In domestic violence, the big thing is collaborations with other sectors, like health or workplace or faith, to promote education and services. For human rights, the big thing is tying in the economic development/big industry angle,
and holding up human rights as a priority despite the "war on terrorism" that can be used to justify postponing human rights.
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What forms of support and/or advice have you found most valuable (mentoring, trainings, professional development, attending conferences, etc.)? |
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Mentoring relationships and friendships with people who know more than I do.
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What is a common or tough interview question a candidate in your field should be prepared to answer? |
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Why do you want this job? How would you deal with XYZ situation?
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What other advice would you give people who want to do this work? |
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Go for it! Call people up, meet people, find your way in. Also, ask your friends for honest feedback on anything about you -- personal issues or habits, ways of working that might hold you back -- and either work with those issues to
change them, or else find a niche that makes use of them, turning them into a strength.
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