Career and Professional Development

Public Affairs Professional Development Workshop

La Follette students are required to take the one-credit PA 800 Professional Development Workshop in their first fall semester. The Associate Director teaches the course with input from the Career Services Coordinator. The course focuses on essential skills students must have to be successful in graduate school and in their careers, such as policy memo writing, data visualization, job search and networking strategies, resume and cover letter development, interviewing, and policy memo writing. Students are also provided with hands-on opportunities to network with and learn from La Follette alumni and other public affairs professionals via guest speaker panels, speed networking events, mock interviews, and informational interviews.

Alumni Connections

Students can meet and work with La Follette School alumni and friends, many of whom hold important positions in international organizations; federal, state, and local government agencies; nonprofit organizations; and private business. Students and alumni connect through speed networking, mentoring, work site visits, informational interviews, and the La Follette in D.C. and La Follette in Chicago programs. Many La Follette School alumni and friends share information about their jobs and workplaces, participate in professional development functions that highlight their knowledge and experience, and provide informational interviews for students. Alumni also serve as mentors, meaning students can arrange to meet with them two or more times to talk about career opportunities, visit a work site, discuss interviews, and/or review résumés.

Students interested in learning more about alumni and friends can:

• Read alumni profiles (to find alumni in certain policy fields, search the school's web site for "profile, alumni, [policy field]", or click on policy field at end of an article to see more articles related to that topic).

To get alumni contact info, students can:

• Talk to the Career Services Coordinator, Associate Director, student services staff, outreach staff, or the University Relations Specialist
• Look them up on Badger Bridge (access limited to University of Wisconsin–Madison students & alumni);
• Find and contact them via the alumni search feature on the La Follette LinkedIn Page; and/or the UW LinkedIn Page
• Join UW alumni groups on Facebook related to the city where you hope to live.  Examples: DC Badgers, Big Apple Badgers, Mile High Alumni, Chicago Badgers, etc...
• Don't forget to check the LinkedIn page for your undergraduate school if it was not UW. You may have double the alumni to call on for assistance!
• Finally, you can try to find their contact information on their employer's web site

If information is out of date, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so staff can follow up with alumni to update.