Sometimes all you need is good advice.
Although Anne Rittman Rancourt, M.P.S. ’10, enjoyed her job as a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she was looking for a bit more responsibility.
So, last fall as a graduate student in GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, Ms. Rancourt met with GSPM’s Career Services Director Mag Gottleib and, with her help, applied to the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program, a rigorous, two-year paid fellowship which provides training and rotations within various federal agencies.
“I am so grateful that Mag gave me the idea to apply,” says Ms. Rancourt, who found a position with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “It was the best career advice I've ever received.”
On July 6, Ms. Rancourt began her fellowship within the Office of the Secretary in HHS’s Office of Recovery Act Coordination, which oversees distribution of the agency’s funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“Even though I just started, I am really happy in my new position,” she says. “Working on Recovery Act coordination allows me to learn about activities across HHS, like health IT, research projects at NIH, community initiatives to combat obesity and tobacco use and help for families, children and seniors. It's challenging work and I'm looking forward to getting my feet wet.”
The PMF application process is competitive and requires transcripts, recommendations, and a test assessing an applicant’s writing and critical thinking skills.
“After I applied in October, I took the standardized test in the winter and then found out I was selected as a finalist in late March,” says Ms. Rancourt. “I was thrilled to make the cut.”
When she was looking at graduate programs, Ms. Rancourt says GW’s Strategic Public Relations program stood out because of its placement in GSPM, which offered her an opportunity “to think in-depth about how communications shape politics and policy in Washington.
“Taking political management and legislative affairs classes really added to my experience,” she says. “I met new groups of people and learned about issues from a campaign and Hill perspective, which really helped round out my educational experience.”
Ms. Rancourt says her graduate degree was “absolutely necessary” for acceptance into the PMF program. “My coursework exposed me to the full range of tasks that lay before a communications professional,” she says. “Studying public relations has given me a strong foundation from which I can build new skills, and I've learned ‘best practices’ to apply to new situations as they arise.
“I am also really happy to have built a network of communications professionals working in Washington D.C., especially those working in the public sector,” she adds. “I'm excited to join their ranks and to connect with them when I need advice or can offer help over the course of our careers.”