Isabelle will be speaking at the MSc Alumni Panel on Wednesday 25 September from 10am to 11.30am in the CBG Auditorium. Visit the MSc Welcome website to find out more.
Tell us about your journey since graduating from LSE
It’s been a full four years since I finished my Master’s at LSE. I now manage a successful consulting business, focusing on geopolitics, track II peacebuilding, and economic development, particularly in the Middle East and the Caucasus. I get to collaborate with really amazing think tanks and INGOs, as well as university bodies like the LSE School of Public Policy and the Cambridge Centre for Geopolitics, helping to develop partnerships and increase their social impact. I am pleased to say that all my projects are intellectually engaging, involve quite a bit of travel, and allow me to work with fabulous teams.
Rewind to graduating in the midst of the pandemic, in a foreign country, in the middle of a cost of living crisis. My life looked pretty different. I struggled to find that golden job offer, held a few temporary positions, and eventually got so fed up with the job market I decided to change tactics. I started my own business. This led me to pursue different avenues - social research, fundraising, language work, advocacy - with all kinds of organisations, from major clients like the EU and United States Department of Justice, to tiny NGOs and boutique agencies. I refined my portfolio, kept on forging ahead and expanded my network. At some point, I realised I had actually created the working life I wanted all along. I’ve now been 100% self-employed for the past three years.
If you could tell your younger student self one piece of wisdom, what would it be and why?
Focus more on the tasks you will be doing and less on the job title. What are the professional activities you are naturally good at and enjoy doing? What are the skills you see yourself using in your big life dream? Put more store into figuring out the kind of activities you actually like doing day-to-day, and then be open to the possibilities of different professions which align with that. Sometimes you will be surprised by what comes your way.
How has studying in the Department of Government helped you since graduation?
Studying in the Department of Government gave me fantastic research skills and world-class credentials to back them up, which I use regularly in my work. It also gave me such a great community of people - some of whom I have gone on to work and collaborate with, as well as become my lifelong friends.
What’s the one piece of career guidance that has most impacted you?
Know your worth and ask for what you want. Starting out in my career, I definitely undervalued what I already knew, accepting jobs which didn’t compensate me properly, and being afraid to ask for what I wanted. I found it a great relief to discover that negotiation is actually a skill you can learn. The more you negotiate, the better the chances are that you will get what you want. At the same time, when you face rejection frequently, it becomes way less intimidating. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, I think the saying is. So take that shot!
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
Delivering in-person dialogues between experts from Armenia and Azerbaijan was a real culmination of different strands of my work this year. Also, my assignments with NASA interpreting for Turkey’s first astronaut in the International Space Station were out of this world.
What is your fondest memory from LSE?
Pandemic-era picnics.