For many MPA students, the four-month break over the summer at the end of their first year is a great opportunity to complete an internship. This allows them to:

• experience an organisation’s work culture
• understand what to expect of a potential future employer,
• put newly-developed policy skills to practice

• perhaps travel to a different country
• or contribute to a cause they’re passionate about.

In this blog post, some of our second year students share their reflections on what they got up to over summer.

An MPAer who interned at the OECD wrote: 

“Over the summer, I’ve challenged myself to try to “live out the questions” as Ranier Maria Rilke notes in Letters to a Young Poet. After spending 5 years in public service in government, I had a handful of questions I wanted to live out and explore. As such, my original (dream) plan for the summer was to live out in a log cabin in the woods reading, writing, and staring out into the deep dark abyss. But alas, an opportunity came up with the OECD and I could not say “no” to spending my summer in Paris. Specifically, given my previous operational and management background, I wanted to dabble in something more analytical and technical (as equally as I wanted to try all the patisseries and ice cream in Paris). I was fortunate enough to be part of a talented and dedicated team within the Public Governance Directorate and was lucky enough to work on research related to budgetary governance and Middle East and North Africa issues. Through the summer, excel became my best friend, and I was further reminded of the glory of working in an office environment – people scarfing down salads in front of their computer screens, lunchtime grumblings of HRs new policies, and people frantically scrambling to get their work done by deadlines. I felt at home. As the summer closed and upon closer reflection, one of the main things I took away is that making impact does not have to be large and grandiose. Small incremental steps can make a large difference in the long-run – whether it be in the form of engaged workshops, publications, and high-level dialogues. I’ve also realized, beyond the veneer of prestige, the grass is never “greener” on the other side. What’s more important is asking oneself what it means to be fulfilled whether it be in the World Bank or your local Non-profit. Life is too short to be living out someone else’s expectations for your life – as Mary Oliver notes, “you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves”.

An MPAer who interned at a management consulting firm wrote: 

“I worked on a challenging and large-scale social policy case for a big management consulting company. It was great having the confidence to engage with the issues we were covering from an analytical perspective, and feeling like I could really add value to the work. While I had the chance to apply some of the quantitative skills I learnt in EC455 (now PP455), what I found most useful was the background the first year the MPA gave me in economics and economic approaches policy problems and market design. While I learnt a huge amount from my internship, I was also able to identify that consulting is probably not the right career pathway for me. The MPA definitely helped me put this in perspective, allowing me to feel more confident in my policy and evaluation skills and how I want to use them, but also giving me a sense of the wide range of career paths available.”

An MPAer who worked at a start-up wrote: 

“I worked for a property technology start-up based in London over the summer in a legal/compliance capacity. My main tasks included advising on commercial contracts, reviewing government policies and preparing marketing documents. The best part of the internship was gaining experience in the start-up environment. Working for a young and growing enterprise in a competitive market space was a new and exciting professional experience.”

An MPAer who worked at an economic consulting firm wrote: 

“I interned with an economic consulting firm, primarily covering the governmental fiscal and economic policy of several European countries. The MPA programme, especially the econometric methods course, was very useful in this regard as a significant part of my responsibilities required me to model government budgets. The modelling allows one to analyse the sustainability of public finances and use that to forecast government funding requirements. This ability coupled with courses such as the fiscal governance and budgeting and political economy courses, helped me appreciate the dynamics of budgeting across countries, and use that understanding to write economic research for commercial audiences. The equal emphasis on methods and policy in the MPA programme proved advantageous when I was looking for internship opportunities. ”

An MPAer who worked at a political risk consultancy wrote: 

“My summer internship at a political risk consultancy gave me a foothold into the industry I want to work in after completing the MPA. I made amazing contacts and established a name for myself in a competitive environment. I found out about this opportunity at the Women in Business Breakfast organized by the LSE careers office, and several people in my department were LSE alumni. The MPA in general, and the Political Economy of Development course in particular, gave me the necessary tools to thoroughly analyze the challenges that businesses face when operating in emerging markets. I also carried out significant data analysis that built on our Quantitative Approaches course. I’m really happy I was able to directly apply what I learned during my first year at LSE and that I so quickly benefited from the university’s supportive alumni network.”

An MPAer who worked at an NGO wrote:

“During the summer break, I went back to my home country (Peru) to lead an educational activity with underprivileged children from a rural school. Together with Pamela Rubio (teacher in “Teach for Peru”), we raised funds to buy books and football shirts from the Peruvian national team. Set in the midst of the Football World Cup, we organized group reading sessions using football and history themed books. The football shirts worked as a reminder of what they can accomplish with effort and passion, despite the barriers they face every day. Their favorite books where one telling the story of Peru’s qualification to the World Cup after 36 years (by Santiago Roncagliolo), as well as “Bedtime stories for rebel girls” (by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli). Since reading comprehension is one of the biggest challenges for rural students, this activity was an opportunity to engage them with interesting stories and motivate their reading habits. In the end, the books became part of their free access library. Watching them autonomously pick up books during recess was one of the most rewarding outcomes of this activity.”