Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Specifically working on the Rohingya/Rakhine response focusing in on programmatic and policy positions. This includes appropriate communication in country and to UK audiences and effective knowledge management for the response/actions taken.

The morning usually involves answering and writing emails, and continuing tasks from the day before.

The afternoon often involves meetings (both internal and external), events, launches and knowledge sharing/policy sessions.

Working with local Myanmar people and building their capacity. I also love the many opportunities I get to go out into the field to meet the beneficiaries and hear their stories.

Language barriers can be extremely challenging both with my colleagues and with the beneficiaries.

Strong desire to work in the field of international development. My parents have always worked in development, so I grew up in many different countries. Their passion has been passed on to me.

The Rohingya crisis is one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies of our time.

Research, communication, editing, open discussions, leadership, diplomacy, debate.

It was extremely difficult to break into the development world. I found it basically impossible to do in the UK unless you want to live in London, but then internships/entry level jobs within the sector are not paid well there and are very competitive. It was a catch 22, every job required over 2 to 3 years of experience but would not give you any! I was advised to move to a developing country and apply for jobs from within country. This definitely did the trick, but was of course a risk to take.

In order to save up for moving abroad I worked at the NHS and Santander call centre directly after graduation from Sheffield.

Nov 2014 - Jan 2015: Admin temp worker - NHS
Jan 2015 - May 2015: Customer Service - Santander
May 2015 - Oct 2015: Admin temp worker - NHS
Oct 2015 - Feb 2016: Moved to Myanmar and got a consultancy job with a local NGO which works to rescue woman from human trafficking
Feb 2016 - Nov 2016: Communications and Knowledge Development Analyst Intern with the UN in Myanmar
Dec 2016 - July 2017: Communications and Knowledge Management Officer at IOM
July 2017 - Dec 2017: Another consultancy job with a local NGO which works to rescue woman from human trafficking
Jan 2018 - current: Information and Policy Manager at DFID

I see myself staying with DFID long term and continuing to work overseas.

- Volunteer in your free time for charities and non-governmental organisations
- If you want to work within development, while you are young and have nothing to tie you down, move to another country and work there. You may have to start at the bottom but it is much easier to get good positions when you are abroad then it is in London
- The more experience in the field the better
- During your studies focus on something that you would like to do in the future, write your dissertation on it etc. You want to start applying for jobs selling this one specific skill set or expertise that you have on a topic, for example migration, human rights, climate change, etc.

At uni I very naively assumed that no one wanted to work in international development. I was very wrong. Don't be discouraged though, if you set your mind to it you will get the right job in the end.