I am blessed to be in the field of public service. This feeling has always been in there but now days I work in the field actually, I feel how lucky I am to be here.

Yesterday I went for a wonderful presentation about the Association’s program in Afghanistan. Along with Federal Agency my organization works in many countries with their local governments. As the Afghanistan program director mentioned, the aim is not to bring sweeping changes in those countries but just to be an addendum to the wheel to better governance. Afghanistan has been in the discussion for more than forty years now. The conflict, instability, continuous distraction and all these factors leading to unstable country and unstable economy. Many cities do not have the basic infrastructure with water , electricity, schools ,roads , waste management etc and association is working with localities to build these facilities.

The director mentioned about the safety issues there and even said that we had to withdraw from some cities due to the security concerns. We were unfortunate to lose 25 of local staff in one of the cities due to security situation. But still the on site staff is working with the same zeal, even if they need to wear heavy armors sometimes.

Then there was a story about a girl who could not go to school. Not because her parents did not let her but because she had to fetch water from river all day to keep enough water at home. Now with the water faucet in her home, she does not worry about drinking water. Now she goes to school. What a simple situation! But as we never face this problem, it’s hard to comprehend the gravity of these things. Association did not do any thing drastic. We just got a water faucet that brings safe drinking water. Very small change but a huge impact.

Then there was Women’s market which is built and operated by women. It’s a market where women can shop without a man being present. Not something radical but a project that made a difference.

I think, the satisfaction I get even thinking that am attached to an organization which is able to bring very small but important changes in the lives of many, makes me feel grateful. I am extremely satisfied with my decision to be in this field. I am truly blessed to be here.

Today I started working on a new project. Being the professional association my organization publishes many reports, articles and books. The published material is not only for professional managers but also for elected officials. In fact we have been producing some handbook for elected officials which kind of "How to be a part of elected official profession?" I actually got an old handbook and I found it very interesting. I knew about lot of material which is out there for management professionals. In fact the whole MPA/MPP programs designed for a career in city management. But I was not aware of any such materials for elected officials.
The handbook was interesting and it was targeted towards policy making. If we wish to admit the 'politics-administration dichotomy' then policy making is the function of elected officials (al though these boundaries have changed and more overlapping than strictly dichotomous functions).

Anyway the point here is having a guide book for officials to learn about policy making process or how to efficiently design policies, how to conduct public meetings, how to be efficient decision makers etc is a very innovative idea. I never thought about being an elected official as a profession. I think it’s a great resource of elected officials and I am sure that many of them would be using it.

Today, I completed one month in my current intern position. Time flies….It has been a very happening one month. Coming to DC, getting settled into apartment, getting to know about Association and my work, meeting new people. All has been very fast and interesting. I just don’t remember a single dull moment during this time and I hope this continue until the end.

Most of my work need me to work of computer and internet researching about new material, information, legislation about the preference areas. I have visited many governmental web sites and something I found common was not very robust websites. Of course I am talking about local governments as federal and state governments do have more robust and up to date websites. E government is one of the most talked and preached term these days. I had to chance to work on a small e government index project with Alliance which was based on Association's survey. Interestingly when I was working on that project I was surprised to think that why we need a question like “DO you have a web site?” and now I know the answer. Many smaller jurisdictions still need more resources to provide information about the interesting practices they are following.

Given the information age and the computer oriented world today, not even having a web site makes it difficult for someone who is not in the area and wants to contact the particular local government.I once tried to contact a jurisdiction and the email bounced back saying that the mailbox does not exist. I was taken aback. If I can’t contact the government for a small inquiry, how am I supposed to get my information going?My point is am not expecting a great Google website but all I want is simple and easy where I can just go and find all the information I need without calling 1800 number listed.

I don’t want to underestimate any part of work government and the agencies do. But I would just like to mention that “I need to know your great work and please give me access easily”.

The City of Power

I would like to call DC as the “City of Power”. When I visit some place I just think about what names I would like to give them. For me New York is “Young and Vibrant”, San Francisco is “Truly International”, San Antonio “Beautiful” and DC is definitely is “Power”. I am sure many of you will agree with me. Being the capital of one of the world’s strongest country (both economically and politically) Dc has the charisma which just makes me love it more everyday.

When I first visited the city I just spent time in and around the mall. So it was more like a cultural experience for me. But after that I had opportunity to visit DC again and now am here for 10 weeks. The first day when I was coming to work, I could see all the professionals walking briskly on the roads. All those huge federal buildings and cops around capitol. Seeing the bureaus and institutes about which I read only in texts or online was an experience. Isn’t it wonderful to see what you cherish all the time?

May be DC is overwhelming for some but if you are into policy and administration, DC is the place you want to be. It’s the land of federal and many important non profits, professional. Research institutes. It has the speed of NY without the too much crowd of it.

I found an apartment in Foggy Bottom and Georgetown is just a walk away. I love to walk there and feel the magic of it whenever I can. I could not believe how lively the neighborhood was even at 12.30 on the night. No wonder young professionals hang around there.

I simply am loving this experience. I hope I would be able to enjoy this city for a long time in futur

If you go to ASU School of Public Affairs, then Association is not a new name for you. SPA professors do recommend Association publications as their course materials. ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins is quite a favorite among SPA faculty. I think, SPA students are very much familiar by Association than some of their counterparts in other schools. Especially if you are interested in local government (which is an important concentration SPA) then Association are you household name. I was lucky to know about Association and also work on some of the projects while working with ‘Alliance for Innovation’.

Currently I am working on two projects. E-library which is an online resource for local government managers, students, professionals and researchers. We have recently introduced some more topics of interest in the library and keeping the library up to date is a big task. I have come across really good resources which are easy to read and understand. If you are a local government professional then getting resources which will help you do your job better is very important. As we all know how busy the professionals are. So focus is more on practical and easy to process materials. This does not mean that professionals don’t read or appreciate sophisticated research.

Another project I am working is the LGEAN. The Local Government Environmental Assistance Network (LGEAN) is a "first-stop shop" providing environmental management, planning, funding, and regulatory information for local government elected and appointed officials, managers and staff. It is one of the many compliance centers EPA has. It’s interesting to keep members updated with latest news/ regulations/programs etc.

Most of my work is related to updating and as easy as it sounds, it is not. In fact time comes when I just get lost in tons of information. But finding related and useful information is the trick of the trade. Sometimes I do get to anser memeber queries and in that case sending research articles is very much fun.

I think it’s a small way to start my way towards some of these issues. I hope to know more about them in coming days.

One of the things I like being at Association is the work environment here. Staff is friendly, team leaders are understanding and outfits is not too “Formal”. On my first day my supervisor told me that I don’t need to wear a suit everyday. Isn’t it cool? I still kept on having a suit as it was for the first time I had a suit J However, for me suit is no fun especially in the hot DC weather. So this suggestion was a great “Thank God!” moment.

I was very surprised to see many Indian staff on board. I knew about few of them but I did not expect so many. The great surprise came when I heard two of my colleagues speaking Hindi. But then I came to know Association's International department does have many international people and so listening to a language other than English is not a very uncommon thing.

Soon I got my responsibilities and it’s interesting to learn about the CMS, LGEAN and Smart Growth projects. I think this is a very valuable addition to my real life learning experience. Answering the local government queries about these issues actually makes me understand what exactly the “need” out there is. Until now my work in DC is coming up well and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the summer.

Internship

Internship is the most valuable experience for any degree program. Especially if you are in public administration or policy program and you don no that have public sector experience; internship I would say is mandatory. First, public sector works differently than private sector and it’s not sufficient to read about it in the text books but the real life experience is helpful in understanding the theory. Secondly, an internship is also helpful for a future job prospects with organization you did an internship with and also helps with the other organizations. Even if it’s an internship which is not exactly a job, you still get the experience where you get a little insight to the public sector or non profit work culture.

Well to land up with a good internship the key is start early. Many good organizations have application deadline as early as December. So it’s helpful to start looking for one since October. (At least I did) You have to decide what kind of work experience you are looking for. Does a specific organization attract you? (local government, federal government, PPIC, Cato Institute etc) or are you looking for particular skill to learn while working (budgeting, performance measurement, communications, survey research etc) Focusing on “what I want” will help to think and visit the websites of the organizations you are interested in.

Many of the famous research organizations have applications in a specific format. The prospective employers may ask you to write about a specific policy issue or submit research /policy analysis work along with resume and cover letter. Read the instructions carefully or you may end up not sending the complete application (You may send something later on but this may mean that you are not careful enough to begin with) Most of the employers will ask for 2 or 3 references. Depending upon your academic and professional background think about the appropriate references. If you applying for budgeting internship giving the reference from the budget class might be useful. Of course you need to request this in advance. My experience is all the SPA faculty members are more than helpful when a student is seeking an internship.

Not all internships are paid. If getting paid matters it’s advisable to look for certain internships. Unfortunately, in this case some good opportunities pass by.

Where to find them? SPAN is a great resource for these internship opportunities. Also you can contact the career services. If you have friends or family working in some particular place of interest do not hesitate to inquire about the opportunities there.

Once you receive the internship letter, you still have to do formalities such as registering to the appropriate course, getting paperwork done with HR in the organization etc. Especially if you are an international student, I would strongly suggest contacting International Students Office as soon as possible. International students need to apply for CPT and it’s helpful to get all the paperwork done at least 2/3 weeks before the internship start date. This may sound like a big buffer, but given the kind of paperwork needs to be submitted in different administrative offices, earlier the better. You will get all the support from SPA staff, so you do not have to worry about it at all. But the other units may not be as quick as SPA.
Once you are done with all these chores you are all set to land your new job and learn great many things about practice.

Immigration

As a part of my work with Association I am compiling some resources about immigration and local government. Immigration has been a hot topic for quite a long time especially with the upcoming elections this topic has become one of the most debated issue among the candidates.
Generally when we discuss immigration we think about Federal legislation, panelists, senators and congressmen. However this is hot even for local and state governments. Last week I got an opportunity to listen to experts debate about economic impacts of immigration on low skilled native born workers. Of course some economist had already developed a model for this.
But today I came across some interesting research done by Heritage Foundation scholars. I think those interested should have a look at http://www.heritage.org/research/immigration/. The link gives access to articles, fact sheets about many aspects of the immigration debate. Definitely a worthwhile resource to tap.