Member-only story
A Turbid Path
Trudging Toward Happiness at Work
And the expert advice I rely on to make it through the fog
My career started off a bit too lucky. During my studies I would get teased about how a degree in international human rights law would land me at the unemployment office. There was even a time in between studies where I was on unemployment benefits, and when I asked my counsellor what kind of work I could do, he told me, “You have just the profile to work here!”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him, but it wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
Then, a tremendous stroke of luck. Two months out of university, I landed my dream job: an internship for the Swiss Foreign Ministry covering humanitarian issues at their United Nations representation in Geneva. I’d gone from video game-obsessed dorm nerd to suit-wearing research assistant for senior diplomats in a dizzyingly short amount of time.
Those were the days. Shined shoes and pressed suits. Hot coffee in hand, I would rush from one meeting to the next through the sumptuous marble-clad halls of the Palais des Nations, learning about the latest developments in conflicts between ethnicities I’d barely heard of, in places I’d never visit. I felt important.
