- Name: Sahar Ghadhban
- Age: 31
- Current location: Ottawa, Canada
- Home town: Montreal, Canada
- Education: BA, Political Science and Communication, University of Montreal, Canada; MA, Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada.
- Current position: Foreign Service Officer (Political), Global Affairs Canada.
- Organization description: Global Affairs Canada is a department within the Government of Canada. It manages Canada’s diplomatic relations, encourages international trade, and guides Canada’s humanitarian assistance and international development programs.
- Bio: Sahar Ghadhban is a Foreign Service Officer in the area of politics, who was posted to Russia in September 2017. Speaking fluent French, English and Arabic, Sahar joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 2015, attending the 70th UN General Assembly as a member of the Canadian delegation. Prior to this, Sahar served as an intern in Algiers, Damascus, and Geneva, working on human rights and security-related issues.
- Countries I've worked in: Algeria, Syria, Switzerland, Ukraine, Israel, Tunisia, United States, Russia
- Sector / subsectors: International Affairs, Politics, Global Affairs, Diplomacy
- Areas of expertise: human rights, middle east, humanitarian affairs, multilateral affairs
- Country: Canada, Russia
- Region: North America, Asia
- Degree subject: Communications, International relations, Political science
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What organization do you work for and what is your role there?Meet Sahar Ghadhban and find out how she’s getting paid to learn Russian for a full year.
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How did you get to where you are now? Tell us about your career trajectory.Sahar did not have a direct path to working for Global Affairs. In fact, when she first took the post-secondary public service exam, she was not successful. Find out what she did after that setback to achieve her dream of being a foreign service officer.
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Your first internship was with the Canadian embassy in Algeria. How did you go about getting that?Sahar tells us about making your own opportunities and how she got her internship in Algeria.
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Why Algeria of all countries?
Sahar talks to us about the importance of “selling yourself” to the embassy of your choice, and how to continually push out of your comfort zone.
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Can you tell us more about the post-secondary public service exam?Sahar says more than knowledge, Global Affairs is looking for strong skills in this one particular area. Watch to find out.
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When you look back, what do you think got you the position?Find out why Sahar says quitting her job at Foreign Affairs Canada actually helped her get the foreign service officer position of her dreams.
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You mentioned that there are ways of practicing for the foreign service officer interview. Can you tell us about that?When it comes to interviewing for this position, find out why it doesn’t matter whether you studied engineering, communications or medicine.
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What are some of the challenges working for the Foreign Service?Sahar explains why working for the Foreign Service is like being in a constant state of starting over.
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So what’s an average day or week like for you, as a member of the Foreign Service?Sahar tells us about the reality of being on “language training.”
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Give us some examples of professional challenges you had to overcome.Sahar talks to us about working for the UN in Tunisia, and interviewing Palestinian women in Isreal.
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You mentioned having strong interpersonal skills. Can you talk to us about the soft skills that can help you in this field, and how you can go about developing those?Sahar says the activities you do on the side could help you stand out.
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You have a master’s degree. Is that necessary to succeed in this field? Are there certain degree subjects that will make you stand out?Find out why Sahar recommends getting a master’s degree.
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Are there specific hard skills that are in demand in the Canadian foreign service?Sahar tells us why being an adaptable generalist is the way to go.
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What are various fields and streams within this sector of international affairs?Sahar breaks down the four streams you can work in as a foreign service officer.
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Do you have tips for networking in this sector?Doing this will beat sending an email over LinkedIn every single time.
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