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Your Career

The MIA programme opens up a wide range of careers and professional activities.

What can you do with an International Affairs degree? 

A degree in International Affairs prepares one to solve problems through diplomacy, defense and development. It provides you the tools to help manufacturers, communication firms, consultants, energy companies and NGOs to move products and ideas around the world.  In the study of International Affairs our students find meaningful careers across all sectors. 

Guide to Careers in International Affairs:  A career guide by APSIA

Competences

Our graduates leave St.Gallen with the requisite knowledge, but also with the appropriate conceptual and methodological tools to take on complexity. More particularly, they can:

  • access quantitative & qualitative data
  • research & write policy memos, proposals and other key documents
  • track and explain legislative & public policy issues
  • conduct country & market analyses
  • communicate effectively across cultures & languages

Broad range of careers

Statistics show that the MIA programme has invariably lived up to its main promise of bringing forth broadly trained, flexible generalists who find employment across the board – and across the globe. On the private sector side, they go on to work in banking and financial institutions, for insurance companies, consultancies and other multinational corporations. On the public sector side, they are employed by federal, state and local government, development agencies, and international organisations. The variety of careers as well as feedback from our alumni clearly demonstrate the value of a generalist degree.

 

 

“This ability of connecting the dots while looking at topics from different angles helps me in my daily job of internal policy-making and relationship-building at the ICRC and in the broader Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.”
Milena Müller, Senior Advisor on Movement Affairs, Resource Mobilization, ICRC, (MIA & Sciences Po 2018)
“The need for more sustainable finance is crucial. I try to contribute by supporting investors in the integration of environmental and social factors in their decision making. Here the MIA's multidisciplinary approach appears essential.”
Guillaume Checri, ESG Product Manager, Moody’s, (MIA & Sciences Po, 2019)

Where are they now?

MIA graduates are employed in consulting firms, international corporations and diplomacy, as well as in international organisations and NGOs, among others.

First career steps of our graduates:
Simeon Bond M.A. HSG 2021 Communication and Outreach Officer, International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva
Lise Handal M.A. HSG & Sciences Po Paris 2020 Economist in DG International and European Relations, European Central Bank, Frankfurt 
Irene Bruhin M.A. HSG 2019 Scientific Advisor at the Directorate of State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Bern

In addition, the MIA prepares students for a PH.D. programme, including the Programme in International Affairs and Political Economy (DIA) at HSG.

MIA - a lifelong community

As a MIA graduate, you will be part of a strong, diverse and dynamic community that facilitates networking opportunities and friendships.

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Our faculty

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Career and Corporate Services (CSC)

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Contact

Dominik Sachs

Prof. Dr.

Economics

SIAW-HSG
83-4220
Rosenbergstrasse 22
9000 St Gallen

Daniela Engelmann

Dr.

Executive Director, International Affairs Programmes

International Affairs / SEPS
Büro 52-5062
Müller-Friedberg-Strasse 6/8
9000 St. Gallen
north