Was aid/development work a career change for you?

[Grace Bahng]

Students are always wondering if they chose the "right" major or graduate degree.  I myself started as a software engineer before I made the switch to development.  I am wondering how many of us in the AidSource community started out in a different career before they ended up in humanitarian aid/development work.  My thought is to encourage those who might need a little push to make the jump to a different job/career while bringing their skills and knowledge from their former job into the humanitarian sector.  After all, there are lots of skills that prove extremely useful in this sector (see #2 in Alanna Shaikh's article "Five Unusual Ways to Prepare for...).

So what was your first career and how did you find yourself into a career in the humanitarian sector??

[Michael Keizer]

My previous career was as an accountant, consultant and auditor with first PwC (back then known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, formerly known as Coopers & Lybrand, formerly... well, you get the idea) and later the Dutch central bank. So yes, a bit of a career change there -- although I still use many of the skills I learned during my time with PwC.

[Grace Bahng]

I know a few people who took a similar path.  It's interesting how a lot of corporate and finance skills come in handy in this line of work.  But then again, organizational and administrative skills are necessary for most organizations/businesses to function well.