Government jobs are a market underutilized by millennial graduates, who make up only a tiny fraction of the overall population of federal employees. This is despite government jobs offering various benefits, such as working with influential personalities and availing the government’s comprehensive benefits system, including a student loan exemption scheme. Much of the working population within government jobs are also at or near retirement age. This means that there are multiple opportunities for promotion and career growth for people who want to work with the government.
While no government job comes with a specific degree requirement, certain degree choices can empower you with the necessary skills to excel.
A Degree In Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security is a relatively new appendage of the federal government, founded to deal with the rising security threat posed by issues such as terrorism. As a department, it deals with anti-terrorism, border security, cyber security, immigration, and disaster prevention and management. Its primary responsibility is to ensure that the public is safe from the many growing and emerging threats in the United States.
Homeland security is an emerging specialization and has led to the development of a degree in homeland security. This course teaches important skills relating to law enforcement, emergency management, anti-terrorism, and cyber security. These skills ensure that you can work in a plethora of different agencies and roles, with careers in homeland security including:
- An information security agent (CIA)
- Cybercrime agent (FBI)
- Intelligence analyst (NSA)
- US Customs Agent
- Emergency management specialist (FEMA)
A Degree in Public Health
A degree in public health teaches valuable skills relating to managing community health systems, preventing and responding to outbreaks, expanding access to health facilities, and identifying and resolving underlying health problems. Considering we live in a post-pandemic world, this is an area of expertise where there is a growing need for meaningful work to be done.
With a degree in public health, you can work as an epidemiologist in charge of creating systems for issues such as substance abuse and the outbreak of new diseases. You can be a Health Educator responsible for creating awareness about government services and programs. You can be an Environmental Specialist where you assess the impact of a community on an environment and create systems to manage this impact. Agencies that employ Public Health Specialist include:
- Center For Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institutes of Health
- Environmental Protection Agency.
A Degree In Business Administration
A degree in business administration teaches you the fundamental principles underlying businesses, their financing, operation, leadership, and management. While government agencies are not primarily influenced by a profit motive, they share similarities with businesses in that they are complex organizations that require structure and management.
A degree in business management can empower you to work in any government agency or department. All government bodies require accounting, auditing, management, and human resource specialists to function properly.
A Law Degree
While different government agencies have varying functions and are diverse in their setup and responsibilities, they all are similar in that they must comply with the law. Someone with a legal background interested in working for the local or federal government has multiple ways of doing so.
You could work as a litigant for the Department of Justice as a public defendant or attorney. You could work in a Federal Regulatory Agency, ensuring that people and organizations within your industry comply with the law. You could also work in public policy, helping craft the policies that will define how a department or agency will function, making sure that they are not in defiance of existing legal regulations.
A Degree In International Relations
A degree in international relations allows individuals to understand how states interact with other countries and international bodies and how these relationships affect the economy, politics, society, and culture of individual countries and the world at large. Someone with a background in international relations will have been trained in analyzing global challenges and issues, how to interact with international bodies, and might have good diplomacy skills.
A person with an international relations degree can find various forms of governmental employment. You can be hired by the US Department of State, working as a foreign officer, representing the United States and its government abroad. You can also become a foreign affairs analyst, providing valuable insight into whatever area of expertise is most closely associated with your interests; this could include international trade, foreign policy, human rights, or domestic security. Students of International Relations can even look towards finding a job in the United Nations, with its headquarters in New York.
A Degree In Public Administration
Public Administration is a broad field of expertise concerned with planning, organizing, and implementing public policies by government bodies or other organizations committed to the benefit of the public. It imparts skills in leadership, planning, policymaking, and financial management.
A degree in public administration opens many opportunities to work in the government sector. You can become a city manager, in charge of ensuring all the various bodies responsible for the management of a city are functioning properly. You can work in Human Resource Management in any of the existing government agencies to ensure these bodies have healthy workspaces with employees committed to doing their jobs and helping the public. You can become a public relations manager for a politician or department to ensure they are well-liked by the public and do not face obstacles in fulfilling their duties.
Conclusion
Federal jobs offer their employees a safe and stable form of employment that comes with many more benefits than are available in the private sector. Government jobs are also full of room for growth, and the sector is actively looking for younger blood to take up the positions of retiring government officers. For people interested in becoming federal employees and who want to acquire the skills necessary for a high position within their government agency, these six degrees will give you all the knowledge you need to stand out and excel.
