WEBINAR RECORDING · 2021-05
Getting Started in a Trade Policy Career
In this conversation: Michael Ferrantino, Marion Jansen, and Caroline Rubin; moderators Ben Shepherd and Hanna Norberg.
Michael Ferrantino, Marion Jansen, and Caroline Rubin describe nonlinear routes into trade policy and the skills that sustain them. Their advice connects substantive expertise with project management, professional relationships, and realistic expectations about entry contracts, including routes that begin outside international organizations.
Session information draws on the recording and its original description. Affiliations and policy context refer to the time of the webinar.
FROM THE CONVERSATION
Three takeaways.
What they mean in practice.
Prepared from the session recording using automatic transcription and editorial review. Follow the timestamp links for the original wording and context.
Build a range of skills that matches the work
Watch 20:49 ↗Rubin explains how project management, research support, and exposure to several technical areas prepared her for leadership. Jansen identifies opportunities for lawyers and public-policy graduates, while Ferrantino describes trade-facilitation colleagues whose expertise came from customs practice rather than economics doctorates.
Practical implication: Investigate the actual tasks in a target role before choosing further qualifications. Develop evidence of reliable delivery, teamwork, and communication alongside technical depth; a PhD is appropriate for some research positions, not a universal entry requirement.
Use conversations to understand needs before making a pitch
Watch 39:40 ↗Ferrantino recommends informational interviews to learn what jobs involve and identify further contacts. In recruitment conversations, he advises listening to the organization’s needs before explaining one’s fit. Jansen’s own entry story combines qualifications, a timely contact, and an opportunity she otherwise might have missed.
Practical implication: Request focused conversations, prepare questions, and ask who else could offer a useful perspective. Treat these exchanges as learning and relationship-building, not promises of employment, and make applications specific to the work described.
Local experience can open international doors
Watch 48:40 ↗Asked about access from low- and middle-income countries, Ferrantino stresses that many international-organization staff first did trade policy at home. Rubin points to transferable consulting skills and local professional networks. Jansen cautions that a multiyear contract can still depend on unstable project funding.
Practical implication: Consider ministries, customs, development consultancies, and relevant domestic projects as substantive starting points. When assessing an offer, examine funding and contract conditions as well as the institution’s name and the experience it could provide.
From the discussion
At 32:51–34:14, Jansen qualifies the discussion of passion: it helps sustain demanding work, but family income and practical constraints matter too. At 36:40–37:06, she distinguishes a model result from advice whose consequences have been thought through. At 57:04–58:47, she emphasizes that repeated professional interactions shape future referrals and that clear English writing and speaking matter for international careers.
Recording references
- Recording: entry routes and complementary skills — 20:49–27:17
- Recording: informational interviews and listening — 39:40–45:46
- Recording: local experience, contracts, and reputation — 48:40–58:47
