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Navigating Internships and Jobs in the Humanities

Isra Rahman
8 min readFeb 26, 2021

Disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list or a fool proof guide on how to get a job. The market right now is going through a recession for many humanities/public interest/non-profit positions and these are some tactics I used to find and apply to jobs. I am also not a pro at resume building or cover letter writing, but take what you will from mine. I have bolded organizations that I have interviewed for, feel free to reach out for more information preparing for those interviews if you get them!

In addition to that, feel free to email me at israfrahman@gmail.com or dm me on twitter @israfrahman for questions about specific interviews, or cover letters I may have written to get first round or second round interviews. I am open to being transparent about my experiences in multiple different places!

If you are considering law school, I don’t have any resources on that but have looked into this resource compiled by some law students on how to apply, things to look for, and overall guidance!

Job boards

The careers part of an organization’s website is usually either at the bottom of the website or under the ‘about’ section. I have seen it in the ‘get involved’ sections as well.

MISC Non-Profit

Criminal Justice related

Policy

legal offices

Organizing

Journalism

Grantmaking/Big Non-Profit work

internships/fellowships:

Interviewing

While I wouldn’t say I am at all the master of interviewing, I think many positions and fellowships offer a lot of insight into how interviews will go just based off of their websites. I can’t emphasize how important it is to understand the work an organization does and how it fits into that certain space. The interviews I have been most passionate about and gone the farthest in are for organizations that I spent time researching and was personally passionate about what they offered and the space they cultivated. It shows when you have taken the time to look into an organization’s different projects, cases, and what past fellows have done.

Ways to find jobs/organizations

I have compiled quite a robust list over the years of organizations and fellowships I am interested in and there are a few key reasons why. When I find a position I’m interested in, I usually look to see who was in it in the past. From there, you can find out where people have worked in the past and learn about orgs you may not have heard of. This also helps me prepare for an interview by knowing what sorts of people tend to land different positions. If I like an organization, sometimes it’s also helpful to see where attorneys or higher up folks have worked in the past, to understand the network and compile a list of organizations to follow! This can be done through website ‘about us’ sections, and then switching over to Linkedin to see where people have worked in the past.

Networking ugh

Before giving tips and tricks on this, it’s important to also acknowledge that networking feels ingenuine because it is ingenuine. For the most part you’re reaching out to people not to learn and grow and build with them, but to get them to flag your application for a job. Once I realized that and put less pressure on myself to ‘network’ and build this concentric circle of folks I can call on to flag my application, I started thinking more critically of what types of spaces I wanted to be in. I do recommend reaching out to people for things like informational interviews, and learning about their experiences in different industries. But it is also important not to treat those same people as disposable after you do so. Especially Black and brown women.

questions I have found helpful to ask

  • People’s experiences in the negative aspects of their work
  • Working as a part of the ‘system’ or the ‘institution’
  • whether they thought going to grad school (if they did) was a good experience?
  • What they did post grad/during gap years?
  • How did they fund their grad studies?
  • About their workplace environment and experience working in big or small non-profits
  • Skills they believe are helpful for the industry right now

reasons to reach out to someone:

  • You think the organization they work at seems cool and you want to know more
  • You are interested in a specific grad program they went to
  • You want to learn more about the organizing work they do

reasons not to reach out to someone:

  • you just want someone to flag your application
  • You are not that interested in the org but you need a job

Resume/CV/Cover Letters

  • lots of universities (esp rich ones) have career services info online! And you can attend resume and CL workshops!

Resumes, CVs, Cover Letters

A resume is a brief, informative document summarizing your abilities, education, and experience. It should highlight…

ocs.fas.harvard.edu

Resumes, Cover Letters, and Online Profiles

On-Site Resume & Cover Letter Support Undergraduate Resume Resources Graduate Student Resume Resources Cover Letter…

www.brown.edu

For more info, feel free to email me and I may have written some cover letters that could be relevant to organizations you’re interested in. (My email is israfrahman@gmail.com).

random tips

  • always be clear with yourself about your capacity, taking on too much while a student can be bad for you as well even if you think and are told you need to build up your resume
  • think creatively, you don’t need institutions to have internship credit on your resume, but if you think of a research project that you want to do those can also be meaningful and teach you a lot
  • think interdisciplinarily — yes like your major as much as you can but also the overlaps are endless. data can be used to inform so much radical work and organizing and bridge out if you like.
  • Once you’re on the job hunt many, many, MANY people will ask you why you want to do what you want to do whether it’s radical or just in the non-profit industrial complex that’s fine, beyond that it’s important to know what you are grounding your work in and how YOU derive value from it. Be sure you’re not using savior language or playing the POC card too much (if you’re not a directly impacted population don’t make it seem like you are), but just investigate what makes you come to this work and why. if it’s honest it will come of as honest, if it’s clear that’s even better.
  • Everyone at some point has to reach out for job reasons, but the more you build relationships with people the less ingenuine it will come off as.
  • Don’t blame yourself for the things you have to do to sustain yourself. and the work you want to do. If you are truly driven by your values and critically thinking about where and how you spend your time, then you also owe yourself forgiveness.
  • Don’t get caught up or bogged down by institutions with ‘big names’ or universities with high rankings.
  • Don’t feel bad following up multiple times after an interview. It’s always important to bump yourself and they do owe you a response even if it is a rejection. It’s unfair that in overburdened industries we get used to not getting a response, because everyone has been in the position of applying to jobs and not getting a timely response.

Lastly, good luck!! It’s a pandemic and even if it wasn’t, finding a job as a humanities major can be super difficult! Hopefully the best for you comes for you and everything till then teaches you something.

Career Advice
Job Search Tips
Liberal Arts
Politics
Journalism

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Isra Rahman

Written by Isra Rahman

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