Careers in Political Science and Public Affairs

Internships and career resources

Your degree in Political Science, Public Administration or International Affairs can open many doors for career paths. The key is preparation and persistence in your exploration and search for jobs. Be sure to look into internship options on our internships page. Get help putting together your résumé from the University of Nevada, Reno Career Studio. Talk to faculty and those who are in the career paths you are interested in. Explore the websites below that have links to job boards in fields related to political science, public administration or international affairs. These resources have descriptions of careers and advice on getting where you want to go, or discovering a new route you hadn't thought of. This list does not constitute a formal endorsement nor guarantee of results.

Internships

Preparing for pre-law

Political science and international affairs majors provide outstanding preparation for pre-law education. These degrees equip you with the rigorous analytical reasoning and clear, logical, written, and oral communication skills essential for law school, careers in law, or related fields. Coupled with an emphasis in law, our majors complement various minors including communication studies, criminal justice, philosophy, public health, and environmental studies. For details on the courses below, visit our course catalog.

Pre-Law Courses

Career resources

The student experience

Research opportunities for students

We have a number of faculty members engaged in individual and collaborative research efforts, which are widely published by academic presses and in political science journals. Students have the opportunity to work with faculty members in areas of research including American politics, comparative politics, international relations, political theory, and public administration and policy.

Explore our faculty's research

Internships for experience

Political science internships allow students to broaden their exploration of political life by augmenting coursework with real-life experience. Political science internships offer students the opportunity to explore potential careers in the field, network, apply coursework, build their résumé and receive academic credit. Internship opportunities are available at the local, state, national and international levels in various public, non-profit and private organizations.

Learn more about political science internships

Model United Nations

Model United Nations logoInterested in international politics and affairs? Have you ever wondered how countries negotiate in formal settings? How do they persuade other countries to go along with their proposals? How much informal politicking goes on behind the formal presentations and votes? How effective are they at ameliorating critical problems such as famines and civil war? Find out and learn by participating in the Model UN Club, and by taking our IAFF300 Model United Nations course. Students in the Model UN course have the option of participating in the regional Model UN Conference that takes place late Spring, annually, in San Francisco. Thanks to the generosity of the Judy Nowland & Harry M. Chase, Jr. Scholarship Endowment, we have funds to pay students’ travel expenses.

For more information, contact Nicholas Seltzer.

Pi Sigma Alpha

Pi Sigma Alpha logoPi Sigma Alpha is the national honor society for political science. Founded in 1920 at the University of Texas, its purpose is to stimulate scholarship and intelligent interests in political science. The Delta Xi chapter was established at the University of Nevada, Reno in 1964 and has inducted more than 900 members. Members enjoy the recognition of their achievement, the opportunity to participate in national conferences and leadership opportunities within the organization.

For more information, contact Nicholas Seltzer.