Our Career Development team works with students in a variety of ways to ensure they have the experience and network needed for an impactful career in public service. We provide support for admitted students, current students, and alumni one year out of graduation.
Advancing Successful Careers in Public Service
Career Development Services for Evans Students
While the Evans School does not provide job or internship placement services, we do offer a variety of events and career coaching advising appointments. We have hosted career fairs, panels, and foundations workshops. Students can work with the Career Development team to identify their career interests and goals, find internship and job leads, receive feedback and coaching on application materials, prepare for interviews and salary negotiations, and grow their network.
Students and alumni have access to the Evans School’s Handshake account, a hub for full-time, part-time, contract, and internship positions.
Handshake
The Evans Career Development team also uses Handshake to post career events and host advising appointments. Students may log in using their UW NetID. Incoming students will receive access after they register for classes.
Cross-Sector Employment Partners
The Career Development team is dedicated to not only maintaining a strong network of employers, but also expanding it. As the career interests of students evolve each year, we target organizations and policy areas of interest to incoming Evans School students, creating new partnerships and opportunities for engagement and employment.
High Impact Careers
We survey MPA and EMPA graduates six months after they leave the Evans School to learn about their career path. That information is pooled to create an annual employment report, featuring employment outcomes by sector.
Employment Highlights from the MPA Class of 2023 Survey
- National or central government in U.S.: 36
- Nonprofit domestic-oriented: 15
- Private Sector but not research/ consulting: 10
- Unemployed (not seeking employment): 1
- Unemployed (seeking employment): 14
- Status Unknown: 81
Total: 182
Expansive Alumni Network
As a strong and reputable presence in the Pacific Northwest for more than 60 years, the Evans School is trusted and deeply embedded throughout the public, private, and nonprofit organizations across the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
The Evans School’s alumni network spans across 6 continents, 56 countries, 49 U.S. states and territories, and 684 cities around the world. Our growing global network more than 5,500 alumni working for organizations including the City of Seattle, the Obama Foundation, the Washington State Department of Ecology, Mathematica Policy Research, and more. LinkedIn is the best way to find alumni by sector, location, organization, and job title.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many MPA students work or intern at least part-time while attending graduate school. Students may choose to work during the academic year, but most students seek a graduate-level internship or work experience during the summer between their first and second year in the MPA program. International students may work but must be aware of the U.S. laws for F1/J1 visas to work off-campus. Due to the connection of their visas to their academic status, it is strongly recommended for international students not to work full-time during the academic year.
EMPA and certificate students are more likely to be employed full-time, in large part because those programs are designed to be work compatible.
Ph.D. students receive part-time teaching or research assistantships as part of their funding package.
The Evans School makes a concerted effort to encourage employers to offer paid internships; in fact, since 2018 more than 70% of internships secured by Evans MPA students have been paid opportunities. If a student accepts an unpaid summer internship, they may be eligible to apply for internship fellowship funding through the Evans School. Note: funding is limited and cannot be guaranteed.
87% of internships reported by the graduating MPA Class of 2023 were paid. Internships Evans MPA students have completed include:
- Child Care Resources – Grant Implementation Intern
- City of Bellevue – Neighborhood Traffic Safety Intern
- City of Kirkland – Recovery Intern, Financial Planning
- City of Seattle – Municipal Government Intern
- City of Shoreline – City Manager’s Office Fellow
- Duwamish Tribal Services – Graduate Intern, Public Policy & Nonprofit Management
- Moss Adams – Public Sector Strategy and Operations Consulting Intern
- Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC) – Public Policy Intern
- PATH – Asset Tracker Intern
- Port of Seattle – Summer Intern, Commission Office
- Sankofa Consulting – Intern Monitoring & Evaluation
- Seattle Public Utilities – Environmental Justice & Service Equity Graduate Intern
- U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – Knowledge Management Intern
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – Policy Intern for Strategy and Innovation
- United Way of King County – Public Policy Graduate Intern
- Vulcan Inc./Paul G. Allen Family Foundation – Impact Entrepreneurial Intern
- Washington Environmental Council (WEC) – Water Quality Intern
- Washington Maritime Blue – Maritime Blue Graduate Fellow
- Washington State Department of Commerce – Energy Policy Intern
- Washington State House of Representatives – Legislative Assistant
- Washington State Institute for Public Policy – Research Assistant
- Washington State Senate Committee Services – Summer Intern