Foreign Policy Officer

"I am a Foreign Policy Officer working with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). I work in the Trade and Economic Group with its Trade Negotiations Division. MFAT is responsible for a number of significant trade agreements with our international partners. I work with a number of these Free Trade Agreements, making sure they happen from end to end.

"The role requires you to understand foreign politics, society and cultures. Interacting with people from other countries and cultures constantly stretches my knowledge and ability. What's more, the role requires a great deal of travel and training that focuses on building this skill set.

"Having a background in Sociology and Media, Film and Television makes you versatile in this role. Sociology develops a socio-political perspective that's key in assessing risk and gauging reception.

"Having a media background has more oblique benefits. Policy Officers engage various stakeholders about trade policies and existing trade agreements. Understanding media, especially digital media, allows you to better engage stakeholders and optimise your reach, messaging and data analysis.

"Communication is key as a Policy Officer. You must be able to communicate with public officials, international ambassadors and subject-matter experts. An Arts degree, when properly exhausted, can put you in front of a cross-section of subjects and discourse.

"While course material and assignments are important, extracurricular activities like publishing work, volunteering your time with the faculty’s various student organisations and offering assistance to social enterprise groups all help to build that communication skill set.

"While the course work can teach us things, application is key. Applying my Arts degree set me up for a strong start as a professional communicator."