8 Careers for those interested in Israel-Palestine

Laurence

We often discuss career opportunities with young people who take part in our school and youth opportunities - whether our classroom workshops on Israel-Palestine, to our week-long Bridge Builder programme or our brand new Model United Nations project.

So, to help get you or your students thinking about what careers are out there for young people interested in Israel-Palestine, human rights, conflict, charity + more, we've put together this short guide to some of the exciting careers SNS participants can go on to! We have had participants in our programming over the years go into all of these fields (except maybe diplomat, but its early days!) and we have lots of evidence from schools and young people that participation in our programming helps with UCAS and university applications - so if you're looking to apply for further education soon, or have a cohort of students who will be, get in touch to see how we can help!

  • Journalist / Media: 
    • Skills - Curiosity, interviewing, social media, critical thinking, storytelling, ethics
  • Charity / NGO Specialist:
    • Skills - Empathy, storytelling, resilience, data analysis, fundraising, mindfulness
Charity staff from Solutions Not Sides and Seeds of Peace at a conference, speaking on stage about Israel-Palestine.
Charity staff from Solutions Not Sides and Seeds of Peace at a conference, speaking on stage about Israel-Palestine.
  • Civil Servant:
    • Skills - Project management, patience, budgeting, team work, networking
  • Youth Worker:
    • Skills - Building trust, active listening, empathy, team work, social & emotional learning
  • Academic:
    • Skills - Research, communication, storytelling, critical thinking, integrity, mindfulness
Photo of late Guardian Middle East Editor, Author and Academic Ian Black speaking to a group of students at a Solutions Not Sides student leadership programme event.
Photo of late Guardian Middle East Editor, Author and Academic Ian Black speaking to a group of students at a Solutions Not Sides student leadership programme event.
  • Diplomat:
    • Skills - Conflict resolution, non-violent communication, negotiation, languages
  • Lawyer:
    • Skills - Ethics, professionalism, judgement, critical thinking, active listening, team work

Solutions Not Sides student leadership programming - Bridge Builders and Model United Nations - prepares young people particularly well to pursue careers in law, media/ journalism, diplomacy, and politics, and many of the skills developed are directly transferable to other areas:

  • "The SLP taught social skills, leadership, self awareness, communication and argumentation. I love reading the SNS newsletter and getting relevant information." - Victoria, SLP 2018
  • "Meeting people from different cultures by attending the SLP gave me the skills to be able to work with people effectively from all over the world." - Rhiannon, SLP 2019

SNS' student leadership programming, and our school workshops, can also directly contribute to students' UCAS applications in a number of ways:

  • Provides development and evidence of well-developed critical thinking and communication skills
  • Evidence of well-developed public speaking skills
  • Demonstration of active engagement with a complicated geopolitical crisis through SNS' workshops and our SLP will particularly help students applying to study subject such as History, International Relations, Politics or Philosophy.
  • However, our work helps to develop both the soft and hard skills selected for in personal statements

Applications are currently open for our Bridge Builders Programme 2023 - learn more & apply here.

We're also considering additional applications from school teams for our first annual Model United Nations conference - more details available here.

Finally, you can read about the experience of other SNS alumni on our blog and social media pages, but if you have any specific questions, drop us an email at [email protected] and we'd be happy to discuss career and further education options and ideas.