International ambassadors, investigators and military officers gathered as one panel in Lipscomb’s Ezell Center Thursday, Nov. 5 to discuss with students and community members what it means to have an international career.
Hosted by the Tennessee World Affairs Council and Lipscomb’s Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, the event had pver 60 attendees that came to engage in discussion and glean helpful advice on future international jobs and careers.
Panelist Colonel Beverly Lee said there are deep rewards that come with international careers.
“This is a quote that I love, ‘my deepest fear is that I’ll look back on my life one day and wonder what I did with it,’” Lee said. “And in this type of career, you’ll never have to do that because you’ll know you were busy with humanitarian work and you were busy building cultural relationships with other nations.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia Charles R. Bowers served as the panel moderator for the evening while the other six panel members spoke on various subjects regarding international careers and jobs.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Ronald Schlicher was one of the panel members and advised students to take full advantage of opportunities to attend career panels.
“Forums like this are really great. When I was at the University of Tennessee back in 1979, I didn’t have anything like this,” Schlicher said. “So, when I thought about the Foreign Service, I kind of had to concentrate on the theoretical aspects of it and those are important and compelling, but they’re not the whole story.”
Schlicher spoke about both the pros and cons of working in the United States Department of Foreign Affairs. Some of the pros mentioned included gaining executive experience and the opportunity to serve one’s country, while a few of the cons included being away from home and the heavy amount of moves and disruptions such a lifestyle often demands.
Panelist Acquania Escarne has served as a Management Officer for the U.S. Department of State in Haiti, Ecuador, Washington, D.C. and the United Arab Emirates. She focused her presentation on how students or career-seekers might go about getting into the Foreign Service.
“There are different pathways you can take to get into the Foreign Service and some of those are through internships,” Escarne said.
Escarne also described the interviewing and hiring process of the State Department and the opportunities afforded through scholarship programs, such as the Thomas R. Pickering Fellowship for those interested in graduate school or a second career option.
U.S. Department of Commerce Export Manager Andy Collier also gave a short presentation, mostly on the subject of international trade and business. He also offered practical advice to students regarding job interviews.
“Having been in recruiting with Dominion Power and with the federal government, I know that when you guys are going through interviews, you might have an idea of what you want to do and interviewers may suggest something else,” Collier said. “Be open. Listen to what they have to say. These people have a lot of experience interviewing.”
Executive Director of Marketing and Aftermarket Sales for Cummins Filtration and former Peace Corps volunteer Beau Lintereur concentrated on the benefits traveling with the Peace Corps gave him, both professionally and personally.
“It scares me to think what my life would be if I hadn’t done the Peace Corps,” Lintereur said. “I didn’t go into with any professional ambitions; I went into it for personal reasons, but I have to tell you it has helped me in my professional life. I don’t think the dots would have connected in the way they did for me to be able to make that all happen if I didn’t have some international experience.”
Panelist Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus spoke from the perspective of someone who has worked for non-governmental organizations instead of for the State Department. She formerly worked as a researcher for Amnesty International in West Africa.
The panel concluded the evening with a short question-and-answer session from the crowd.
“There’s a big world out there,” Bowers said in closing. “Go get it.”