Careers & alumni

腾达娱乐In the first ten years of its existence, the advanced MA in EU International Relations and Diplomacy Studies formed a network of close to 800 alumni worldwide from almost 70 different nationalities. Many of them are today working as diplomats, EU officials, national or international civil servants, but also in academia, civil society or the private sector. 

腾达娱乐An online survey carried out by the Alumni Association in autumn 2016 (with a response rate of 19% that included many replies from the more recent promotions) showed that 87% of the graduates assessed their studies as a useful head start in their career. They highlighted in particular the combination of a high-level academic programme with professional skills training and the opportunity for personal development. The College’s alumni network was also rated very valuable.

According to this survey, four fifths of the students found a position at the latest within three months after leaving the College. Although the programme is still relatively young and the vast majority of its graduates are under forty years old, many of them have achieved attractive positions of responsibility. 54% of the programme’s alumni indicated they were working in the public sector (EU institutions, diplomacy, national administrations, international organisations), 26% in the private sector (business, industry, consultancy, non-governmental organisations) and 16% in academia, research or think tanks. Close to a quarter of the alumni were working in an EU institution or agency. 

These findings were confirmed by the membership database of the Alumni Association. In late 2016 over 300 alumni from the EU International Relations and Diplomacy study programme (40% of its graduates) were registered with the Association, including many from earlier promotions of the past ten years. While compared to the survey above fewer graduates were active in the academic world, a relatively higher share had entered diplomacy (see chart). Overall, more than half of the programme’s former students pursued a career in foreign service, national, European or international administrations, but a sizeable share worked in other sectors of employment as well.