Thank you for the responses so far. Unfortunately, setting up an appointment with professors just isn't possible as they're out of province... otherwise I totally would. To answer some of the questions above, I'm applying for a Masters in public administration and masters in international relations (latter is preferred). I completed a BA in political science and after some temp work, I secured a position with the GoA.
Ideally, my long term goals are to work for the public service/NGOs/IGOs in an international policy development role. After looking through various internal postings in the GoA and in various organizations, it became clear to me that a masters is a must. The strength of my application will probably come from professional references since I have a pretty strong reputation for my writing (minister briefing notes, research, ARs, constituent correspondence etc).
However, every school requires at least 1 academic reference. Most require 2. I'll definitely try to discuss my career goals and what I've been up. I think some might be a little surprised with the international focus of my desired graduate studies given that I just focused on general political science in undergrad. Given that my work experience and undergrad weren't really IR centric, I'm sure they'll want me to explain where that that ambition comes from? In all honesty, it's something that I've just gradually developed. I've always been interested in security studies/diplomacy on the side and definitely enjoyed such related classes in undergrad. However, it never occurred to me that I should take IR as a focus. It wasn't until I started seeing firsthand the application of policy in the government that I realized I'd love to be in a policy development role but in an international focus. As such, the IR masters just makes so much sense.
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FiftyBelow
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