Benjamin Todd

Example, Dylan couldn't imagine studying anything except philosophy.

Then he found out about the research that shows our interests can easily change.

Convinced, he decided to try out economics and computer science as minor courses because he thought these would open up more options in philosophy.

He liked them more than he expected and is now doing a PhD in economics.

Three, take an entry-level route into policy careers.

Tom Khalil spent 16 years working for the Clinton and Obama administrations.

He worked to foster the development of the internet, then nanotechnology, and then cutting-edge brain modelling, among other things.

But the way he first got involved was his decision to volunteer for Michael Dukakis' campaign for the presidency in 1988.

Dukakis lost, but some of the people Khalil worked for also wound up working for Bill Clinton in 1992, and Clinton won.

As we saw in the previous chapter, careers in government and policy can be very high-impact.

There's also a very wide range of roles in this area, which often share common entry routes.

This means these entry routes can open up a lot of impactful options, while potentially also giving you a general professional training, knowledge and connections in the policy world, and credentials.

The options differ slightly depending on the country you're in.

We focus on the US here because it's the country where we have the largest number of readers.

But there are often similar options available in other countries, and we highlight a few.

Executive branch fellowships and leadership schemes.

like the President Management Fellowship in the US or the Civil Service Fast Stream in the UK, among other possibilities.

There are other options in the US depending on your background, the AAAS Fellowship for people with science PhDs or engineering masters, or the Tech Congress Fellowship for mid-career tech professionals.

If you're a STEM graduate, also consider the National Security Innovation Network's Technology and National Security Fellowship.

These are especially good options if you want to work anywhere in the policy world or social sector.