Jobs in Global Health - Entry Level

(Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Not exactly entry level. Photo Credit: Joi)

Editor’s note: Today we are kicking off a series on global health careers. A lot of readers have contacted me asking for advice about jobs and the job market, so I am trying to address that for you. Every Wednesday, I’ll feature a career post from me or a guest blogger, and an interview with a global health professional. If anyone would like to contact one of the people interviews, send me a message and I’ll do my best to connect you. The first career post comes from Jessica Pickett.

I spoke on a global health career panel several weeks ago, and was encouraged by how energized college students are about entering the field after graduation. Although it's certainly true that the supply of global health jobs is growing rapidly, I'm less confident that universities are preparing students well for the realities of the market - both in terms of what it takes to land an entry-level global health job, and what they can reasonably expect such a position to entail.

Broadly speaking, most global health jobs are based in Washington, Seattle, and Geneva (and to a much lesser extent, in New York, Boston and San Francisco). Most entry-level assistant, associate or coordinator positions in these cities pay starting salaries in the mid-$30's (and will almost certainly include at least a little bit of scheduling and photocopying), while paid positions abroad are few and far between. In general, junior staff members at nonprofit health organizations typically stay in their first job for 1-2 years at most, and frequent turnover is common at all levels.

Beyond these generalities, the requirements and responsibilities can vary widely, based on the specific type of career path (which Alanna has done a great job of describing in earlier posts), along with the typical graduate education. These include:

• Medical providers (usually with an MD or RN), who work at the front lines actually delivering health care to those in need
• Grant writers/fundraisers for US or European NGOs
• Program managers (the most common career path for an MPH), who can work on a wide range of projects with NGOs and USAID contractors, private foundations or the government. Another variation on the operational side can include working with public-private product development partnerships, supply chain logistics firms, or multilateral donors (which may place more value on an MBA or JD).
• Outreach, communications and event coordination at policy and advocacy organizations (including think tanks), consultancies and public relations firms, and development journals or foreign policy publications.
• Technical experts, academic researchers and/or consultants (usually favoring PhD's). Economists are highly valued at the World Bank, large foundations, and think tanks, while basic scientists and epidemiologists are in demand by pharmaceutical companies, product development partnerships, universities, and government research institutes.