Working for Change: Making a Career in International Public Service

* A Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist for 2005!
* Focuses on development management positions in international service employment
* Devises the concept of the "service-choice spiral" in career evolution
* Provides information about volunteer and professional opportunities, organizations, and degree programs

In Working for Change, Derick and Jennifer Brinkerhoff explore career paths in international public service, focusing on development management positions. They offer practical and inspiring guidance on finding the right mix of public service objectives, degree programs, job opportunities, and personal lifestyle choices.

The Brinkerhoffs’ concept of career evolution is encapsulated in a framework they call the service-choice spiral. This model rejects standard set-the-goal, plot-the-steps planning and pulls one’s personal values, skills, professional goals, and sense of altruism into a solid career choice. Through profiles of six public service professionals, the Brinkerhoffs illustrate how real people have faced the choices that confronted them in the course of their careers.

Working for Change will assuredly become the ideal guide and resource for anyone considering work in public service and mid-career professionals looking for a change in direction. It will also serve as a powerful resource for university career development officers and faculty advisors.

View the entire book online at ebrary.com here.

Derick W. Brinkerhoff is Senior Fellow in International Public Management at RTI International (Research Triangle Institute) and has an associate faculty appointment at George Washington University’s School of Public Policy and Public Administration. He holds a EdD in Public Policy and Administration from Harvard University and an MA in Public Administration from the University of California, Riverside. Derick has published extensively, and is the co-author of Managing Policy Reform: Concepts and Tools for Decision-Makers in Developing and Transitioning Countries.

Jennifer M. Brinkerhoff is an Associate Professor of Public Administration, International Affairs, and International Business at the George Washington University. She holds a PhD in public administration with an emphasis on development administration from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and an MA of public administration from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She teaches courses on international development policy and administration, development management, and organizational behavior; and keeps a foot in the practitioner world through consulting with the World Bank, USAID, and NGOs. Combining her research with this work, she published a book, Partnership for International Development: Rhetoric or Results?, as well as three co-edited journal issues and over twenty articles on topics ranging from evaluation, to NGOs, failed states, governance, and diasporas.