One my big dreams in life is to live and work in a lot of different countries around the world. I’m planning on enrolling in graduate school next year, but I haven’t decided what to study yet. There are a lot of things I’m interested in and considering, but I’m wondering, what are good options for schooling if living and working abroad is a big part of what I want to do?
(By the way, I don’t have an undergradute degree in a science field.)
The US Foreign Service has jobs in these areas: Administration, Construction Engineering, Information Technology, International Information and English Language Programs, Medical and Health, Office Management, and Security.
What duration of assignment are you looking for abroad? It hink these are probably for a couple of years at a stretch.
I get the sense you are not eager to tell us what your bachelor’s degree is in, but that might be helpful.
It depends somewhat on which countries you want to go to, and where you’re from. A masters in TESL will get you pretty good work in most places (often at universities), but it’s harder for U.S. citizens to get English teaching jobs in the EU, because they usually defer to Brits there.
One advantage of English teaching jobs, too, is you have a lot of contact with the natives–you’re not working all day in a bubble with other Americans.
In general, though, you should first think about what kind of work you like.
Then you should probably shoot for a short-term graduate program with very specific requirements and outcomes for your study. Graduate school is usually a lot more difficult, in terms of financing and integration with adult responsibilities, than college life. Having a definite strong preference for a particular field of study is usually what makes grad school worthwhile and rewarding.
If you’re more “outcome-oriented”—more interested in specific lifestyle/career options than in a specific academic discipline—then a short-term Master’s program emphasizing particular skills is probably the choice for you. I second the recommendation of ESL teaching: I know somebody who spent about ten years teaching English in Japan with that background, and really enjoyed it.