Interested in pursuing a future in Social Impact, Policy, and Law? Find resources, events, opportunities, and advice to confirm your interest and kickstart your career.
Explore a career path in Social Impact, Policy, and Law
Do you enjoy mission-driven work, combining your technical skills and knowledge with non-technical skills such as collaboration and communication, or solving problems that positively affect communities at the local and global scale? If so, a career in social impact, policy, or law might be a fit for you.
Social Impact
Social impact careers span across many disciplines and industries. These careers involve doing work that has a positive impact. This means you could work in many different fields and types of companies. You might work for:
a non-profit consulting company
the government analyzing renewable energy usage
a research institution finding cures for rare diseases
an academic institution providing educational opportunities to historically excluded groups
a large tech company using AI to make products more accessible
Find your social impact career by thinking about the skills you enjoy using and the causes you care about.
Policy
A career in policy can include working in academia, industry, government, and non-profits to create new policies or change existing policies at the local, state, national, or global scale. Policy could be a fit for you if you like thinking about the big picture and having a widespread, tangible impact. Working in policy often involves collecting and analyzing data, making recommendations based on that research, writing proposals and policies, and communicating with stakeholders to advance your recommendations.
Law
A career in law can be a great way to combine your technical interests with non-technical skills. For example, there is an increasing need for lawyers who understand technology and the law as technology continue to advance at a rapid pace. Getting a law degree is required if you want to practice law. However, there are some instances in which a law degree is not necessary, for example, you don’t need a law degree to become a Patent Agent. A law degree is versatile and a career in the law would allow you to work on interesting and challenging problems with a range of colleagues and clients.
CAPD is coordinating the second annual, institute-wide Career Exploration Series that begins on September 12th and runs through IAP! This series is a collaboration between MIT departments, programs, employers, and alumni to help all students learn about the different career and graduate/professional school options available to you.
