Jihye Kang, class of 2015

Can you describe your academic and professional background?

I completed my four-year undergraduate studies in Seoul, including a one-year exchange programme (similar to ‘Erasmus’) in Aix-en-Provence. I took a gap semester as I wanted to gain some practical experience before my fourth year in university. During this break, I worked as an intern at the French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul.

After graduating from my undergraduate programme, I was accepted to Sciences-Po where I specialised in European Affairs (Class of 2015). Back then, it was a different department from the current Master in European Affairs. After the first year, I took on a summer internship at KIAT, a Korean government institute based in Brussels. At the end of my second year, I had the opportunity to work as an intern in the Public Affairs and Communications Directorate of the OECD in Paris.

Towards the end of my internship at the OECD, the Korean Embassy/Mission to Belgium and the EU offered me a position in the political section. Since then, I have been working as a research analyst in the political section, as part of the Korea-EU bilateral relations team for 7 years.

What were the major stages in the construction of your professional project? 

There were two major stages in the construction of my career path so far. The first one was my internship at the OECD, as I have always dreamed of working in an international organisation. At the Public Affairs and Communications Directorate, I was involved in the participant management team and received inquiries from internal and external participants of the annual OECD Forum. It was very busy and sometimes diplomatically tricky but it enabled me to enhance my communication and engagement skills while dealing with people from diverse professional backgrounds.

In addition, at my current workplace, I have been able to draw on my expertise built through my studies in Seoul and Paris. Sciences Po friends and alumni are everywhere in Brussels, which helped me to quickly adapt to the new environment when I moved from Paris, and to expand my network thereafter. While writing diplomatic analysis and expanding further my network, working at the embassy opened a new challenge, a part-time PhD project.

How did your training at the School of Public Affairs, and more specifically the Master in European Affairs, help you to pursue your Phd?

In addition to deepening my understanding of the EU, the Master in European Affairs was in every aspect excellent training experience as it offered numerous discussions, presentations and analytical reports. I have to admit that it was highly intense and I sometimes felt overwhelmed with the volume of readings and assignments during the programme. However, all of this truly helped me to develop my analytical skills, critical thinking, and public speaking. I believe this became the foundation of my professional memos and academic reports. Furthermore, as a PhD journey requires self-discipline and independent research, Sciences Po courses provided me with hardcore training to meet such challenges.

Would you have any advice to give to a student or future graduate?

It’s easier said than done. I would advise them to try to gain experience through internships in the area they wish to work in the future. One’s profile becomes more interesting when there’s a coherent story and theme. Once you’re in the area, building a network is also very important, through which they can also find other new opportunities.

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• The Master in European Affairs at the School of Public Affairs

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