Professional profiles
OFFICIAL OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Function in a professional context:
The official of international organisations:
- Supports or manages activities relating to the representation, protection, and promotion of the (public and private) interests of their own country or organisation internationally, with the task of analysing and defining public policies, assistance, intermediation, and negotiation. The officials of international organizations may perform activities in political, economic, commercial, social, and cultural sectors.
- With management functions, coordinates administrative activities linked to international fields, analyses and interprets decision-making contexts, and identifies organisational efficiency and innovation solutions.
Competencies associated with the function:
- Must have the skills required by the relevant competitions and a complete command of English and at least one-second foreign language.
- Has specialist historical, legal, political, economic and language knowledge of geographical and thematic areas.
- Can interact with experts in law, economics, and finance.
- Can adapt to different events and situations, interpret them in apolitical, economic, legal, and cultural key, and assess them in international issues.
- Knows how to draw up and promote their solutions (problem-solving) ingroups of experts (team management) and a complex, interdisciplinary and risk context (risk-taking), and can manage social networks (networking).
- Has persuasion, mediation, negotiation skills (bargaining) and high-level oral and written communication skills.
- Uses computer programs for open-source intelligence (mind maps, semantic web), is familiar with national and international information databases, and has a good command of strategic analysis and planning, context analysis, impact analysis and game theory tools.
Employment opportunities:
Diplomatic career or official of international organisations such as the European Union or the United Nations, through competitive selection.
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REPORTER
Function in a professional context:
- The International Business Reporter:
- Collects, reports and comments on news and events of international relevance published in newspapers, periodicals, radio, television, websites, and other mass media.
- Produces studies, analytical dossiers, consultancy, and seminars for institutional bodies, businesses, representation bodies, national and international research institutes, and (conventional and new) media on international topics of strategic interest.
- Interview other people on issues of international importance.
- Writes editorials and expresses opinions on facts and events of international importance.
- Reviews, selects, and organises articles and other information materials for publication in compliance with privacy laws.
- Acquires, selects, and processes information on international events, turning it into a finished product that may be a press release, news article or TV report.
- Monitors, gathers, and organises information and data on the international political, institutional, economic, and social context, then uses them to produce original (historical and prospective) analyses, essays, specialist articles, and research.
Competencies associated with the function:
- Understands the operating mechanisms of the international system political, legal, historical, economic, and social levels, and can perform a comparative analysis between different countries.
- Has in-depth knowledge of one or more foreign languages in addition to English.
- Has the general skills of a journalist and knows how to develop interpersonal skills within multicultural and social contexts, managing social networks (networking).
- Has a strong sense of curiosity and flexibility in their approach to problems, strong analytical skills, and the ability to assess different issues critically.
Employment opportunities:
New media include blogs, websites, web radio and web TV, and conventional media include radio, television, and newspapers. The journalist and freelance journalism professions are governed by the related professional associations and Italian law, requiring further training and internships.
SPECIALIST IN INTERNATIONAL POLICIES
Function in a professional context:
The Specialist in International Policies:
- Studies, describes and interprets the origin, development, functioning and logic of the systems of economic, financial, and political relations among States and other actors in world politics, the economic, financial, and political decisions, their interrelations with public opinion, the activities of governments, international organisations, and firms.
- Coordinates the conception, processing, drafting, funding, implementation, promotion, monitoring, and evaluation of national, international, and supranational programmes of public relevance on issues such as conflict resolution, environmental protection, migration flow management, and welfare system sustainability.
- Advises, dialogues, and holds relations with executive, managerial, political, and administrative levels of complex public and private national and international organisations and organisations with which they have frequent contacts.
- Develops and uses methodologies suitable for implementing and assessing the impact of national, international, and European public policy, enhancing their public impact.
Competencies associated with the function:
- Understands the national, international, and European international institutional and political system, its operating mechanisms and interrelationship with other types of systems, the operating mechanisms of complex organisations and their decision-making processes, and the characteristics and prospects of global governance.
- Knows how to analyse and interpret national and international decisions ‘political and organisational context. Knows how to manage a public policy project and monitor its results (project management and evaluation), promotes its objectives to national, European, and international public institutions and informs public opinion via digital communications, the World Wide Web, and the mass media.
- Knows how to assess the legal implications, contacts with legal experts, and financial implications, keeping contact with financial experts, as well as the operational requirements of projects.
- Applies critical thinking and knows many ways to solve problems. Knows how to use logical and reasoning skills to identify the strengths and weaknesses of processes and solutions, developing empathy: knows how to understand the reasons, actions, and motivations of the behaviour of others.
- Is highly creative with excellent interpersonal skills when discussing, communicating, and negotiating on behalf of administrations or private firms with public administrations at national or European level, and knows how to use social networking.
- Can source, read, and interpret planning documents (laws, proposals, decisions, programme descriptions, tender regulations) issued by national, European and international institutions.
- Uses computer programs for open-source intelligence (mind maps, semantic web) and has a good command of strategic analysis and planning, context analysis, impact analysis, scenario analysis and game theory tools.
Employment opportunities:
Think tanks, research institutions, communications, PR and consultancy companies and firms, trade associations, non-profit organisations, and local, regional, and national public administrations.
PEACEKEEPER
Function in a professional context:
The Peacekeeper:
- Performs conflict prevention, construction, peace-making, peace keeping and peacebuilding activities.
- Provides humanitarian aid, organises human security systems, promotes disarmament and demobilisation initiatives, economic reconstruction and confidence-building, protecting human rights through electoral monitoring and observation.
- Coordinates activities for creating, drafting, funding, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and assessing schemes of international and supranational programmes on different topics.
Competencies associated with the function:
- International political skills for identifying the causes of conflicts and their resolution, as well as international relations and development cooperation, political science, and international security methodologies.
- Knows how to apply conflict resolution and peacebuilding techniques.
- Has analytical, problem-solving, persuasion, negotiation, and project management skills.
- Has excellent knowledge of the English language, preferably with that of the language and culture of the country of destination and is very able to adapt to international and intercultural contexts.
Employment opportunities:
National and international civil organisations and voluntary associations. In some cases, further education may be required.
EXPORT SALES STRATEGY MANAGER
Function in a professional context:
The export sales strategy manager:
- Helps to define the marketing and export strategies of firms and the characteristics of the sales and distribution network, focusing on foreign markets concerning geopolitical conditions.
- Can conduct research and assess analyses of international market conditions, specifically regarding risk situations, potential(in)compatibilities with the goals, and agreements relating to problematic international situations in the countries concerned.
- Can assess the costs and benefits of collaboration and merger agreements with firms at national and international levels.
Competencies associated with the function:
- Speaks English and another foreign language.
- Has a general knowledge of the most critical processes within modern companies, particularly the economic, financial and political issues each country faces.
- Knows how to carry out empirical studies in international contexts and geographical areas using social science methods.
- Can assess and weigh up country risk situations.
- Has specific skills and conduct, including significant negotiating, work organisation and planning skills.
- Is flexible and able to adapt; has excellent human resource management skills and practical economic and soft skills.
Employment opportunities:
Public and private business trade associations are focusing on internationalisation.
