Careers in Development: Interview with Dan Vexler

June 1, 2007—Dan Vexler was, until recently, Research Director at the International Crisis Group, and is currently a development consultant based in Nairobi. Youthink! caught up with him to discuss his varied background and what life as a development consultant is like.

Youthink!: What attracted you to a career in international development?

Dan Vexler: I think the main thing that attracted me to this career was that when I watched the news on television or read it in the papers, I wanted to be a part of it and not just a spectator. Especially when I would see some horrible scene on television and think to myself that policy-makers clearly weren't doing enough—that's when I most felt like this was the right career for me, because I wanted to try and do things differently.

As somebody who traveled a lot and was exposed to other places and cultures, it seemed like a natural step to choose a career that would give me the opportunity to travel and work with people from different backgrounds. I couldn't really imagine working in my home town my whole life …

Youthink!: How can one prepare for a career in international development?

Dan Vexler: I think the best way to prepare for a career in international affairs is to study something practical—for example, development economics, microfinance, engineering, water and sanitation, etc. Not that I did this; I studied international relations, which is fascinating intellectually but, looking back, not all that useful in the real world.

What I've found is that most learning comes from doing—from experience as opposed to books—except when it comes to really technical skills. In international relations, there are a lot of very good generalists with degrees from very good schools. To differentiate yourself, it helps to be able to offer a specific skill set or knowledge base. It's also much easier to broaden your knowledge on the job then it is to start as a generalist and acquire technical know-how as you go.

Learning a language is also key. If you're interested in a career with the UN, it helps to know one or more official UN languages (which, last time I checked, were English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic). You'll also have a lot to offer a prospective employer if you're able to speak the local language of a developing country.

The other major requirement for the prospective job seeker is experience. I know you're probably asking how to get experience if experience is a requirement to begin with, and this is the Catch-22 that many people encounter.

What often ends up happening is that students or recent graduates (and sometimes not-so-recent graduates) take unpaid or very poorly paid internships in order to build up their CV. This is how I, and many of my colleagues, first got their foot in the door. It's of course unjust that the system favors those who can finance several months of unpaid work, but unfortunately it's the reality. There are some fellowships and paid internships out there, but they are incredibly competitive.

I suppose you have to think of your internship as a long-term investment in the same way that you would your studies.

Youthink!: What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

Dan Vexler: Right now I'm transitioning from my previous job, where I was Director of Research at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based NGO, to life as a consultant based in Nairobi. My partner was posted to Nairobi for her work, so I decided to go with her and I'm now learning what it's like to be a consultant, that mysterious and somewhat evil sounding term.

As Director of Research at International Crisis Group, the work was varied and fascinating. Crisis Group's mandate is to help prevent and resolve deadly conflict worldwide, and it tries to do this by analyzing the causes of a given conflict and then coming up with practical recommendations for policy-makers on how to resolve the situation.

My main role was to manage the organization's Research Unit, which was responsible for advising Crisis Group field analysts (those based in or near the countries in conflict) about international best practice in conflict prevention. The field analysts tend to be country experts but not necessarily aware of all the lessons that have been learned from other conflict situations outside their area of expertise, so our job was to keep them up to speed on what the UN and other agencies were learning around the world.

Although I've only been a consultant for two months now, I've already had the chance to get involved in some interesting projects. The first was with the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-based organization that works to promote democracy worldwide. One of the ways they do this is by ensuring that citizens are engaged in what their government is doing. I was sent to Khartoum, Sudan, to train a group of Sudanese researchers in how to conduct public opinion research.

NDI then sends these researchers throughout the country to gather information on how engaged citizens are and to find out their views on a range of peace, security and development issues. It then makes the findings available to the Sudanese government, and also uses the information to plan its own assistance programs and to inform those of other donors. NDI is also providing a lot of assistance to Sudan in preparation for the country's planned 2009 elections, and next week I will be traveling to southern Sudan to help in the process of consulting with civil society on the draft election law.

After that, I'll be joining Oxfam in northern Uganda to research the views of citizens there on the peace negotiations currently underway between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army.

So all in all, it's varied and interesting work. The downside of being a consultant, however, is that you tend to jump around a lot and don't have time to develop in-depth knowledge or build long-term working relationships with colleagues. So we'll see how things go …

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