With the drought, financially and otherwise, this career issue has reared its ugly head and now I feel like talking about it. I know this is not the right time to whine about my job since so many people are unemployed and would much rather have any job than none, but since I have been on this eternal quest for the perfect job (along with everything else) I deserve to have a chance to vent about this being another unrequited quest.
Because I am not fulfilled in my career, or not having a "career-best experience" as I feel I should, I have been trying to figure out what's wrong. I think there's a certain disparity between what I am doing, what I want to do or I feel I would get the most joy doing and what may be available out there.
A few months ago, a co-worker mentioned to us, us being the non-US licensed attorneys that we should seek a career in compliance, which involves conducting reviews and audits in various ways. It could be an audit of a company's contracts and procedures (which I am hoping to do), technology, accounts, programs, quality assessment, etc. Compliance goes high and dry, the dry being the Q&A and technology aspect. The high being FCPA, SOX compliance and regulatory aspect of it. But breaking into that is just as hard. Some positions are advertised with as much detail that tell me that this is not something I will enjoy doing. It may sound great not to have to deal with the degrading aspect of reporting to US attorneys that left school 2 -3 years ago which I do now, but will it be a "career-best experience"? I don't know. Based on the job description, I don't think so. And I am not sure if I want to embark on that psychological experiment.
So with all that said, I've posted a job description that sounds like something I would love to do, that I have the passion to do and that I know will give me the career-best experience which I seek. But with Human Rights Watch Organization, it's almost always a dead end. I started applying with this company before I finished my Masters and even sometime after. I only stopped when I realized that they didn't have the decency to send me a nice note acknolwedging my application but in turn rejecting it, a cookie cutter rejection letter would have sufficed instead of silence on the other line. I sent in an application to my dream job, so silence was a tad bit disappointing. But everytime I read their job descriptions, I wish it were me taking one of those positions, that it was available to me, and that the ability to want to do some good and expose human rights violations around the world was available to me.
Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) is seeking highly-qualified applicants for the position of Researcher with the Women’s Rights Division (“WRD”).
Description: The Researcher will work to improve awareness and accountability for human rights violations against women in the Middle East and North Africa by, among other things, conducting fact-finding missions; writing and publicizing reports, briefing papers, letters, press releases, op-eds, and submissions to international bodies based on the findings; developing and implementing local, regional, and international strategies to change abusive laws, policies, and practices; presenting human rights concerns to government officials, inter-governmental agencies, and the press; and working closely with colleagues in the region to ensure that the work of HRW complements and enhances their own work. The Researcher's responsibilities will also include monitoring legislative and/or policy developments related to women's rights in the region and liaising with human rights and women's organizations in the countries s/he will cover. S/he will preferably be based in the region.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate should be knowledgeable about international human rights, women's rights and Middle East affairs and will have at least three to five years of directly related post-graduate experience working on women's human rights in the Middle East and North Africa both at a national and a regional level. Experience of living in the region is essential. An advanced (graduate) degree in international relations, journalism, law, or social sciences is required. S/he must have: strong field research and documentation skills; the ability to produce excellent written material under tight deadlines; polished oral and written communication skills; experience in international human rights law; strong advocacy abilities, including experience with face-to-face advocacy with high-level policymakers. The ideal candidate will be fluent in Arabic and English. S/he should also be able to work under pressure and juggle multiple tasks, be collegial and team-oriented yet able to work independently, and be able to travel overseas for three or more weeks at a time, several times a year. Creativity, initiative, perseverance and flexibility are required while maintaining HRW's high standards.
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