City Managers

You can learn about public administration by becoming involved in student government or by serving as an officer for a school club, such as a business or Internet club. A summer job in a local government office can give you a lot of insight into the workings of a city. Work for the school newspaper and you'll learn about budgets, projects, and school administrators. An internship with a local newspaper or radio or TV station may give you the opportunity to interview the mayor, council members, and the city manager about city administration. You could arrange an information interview with a city manager. Suggested interview questions include: What made you want to enter this career? What do you like most and least about your job? How did you train for this field? What advice would you give to young people about preparing for the field and being successful on the job? 

Read Careers in Local Government Management, https://icma.org/careers-local-government-management, to receive answers to questions such as What is the Local Government Management Profession?, What Course of Study Will Best Prepare Me For This Career?, and What are the Employment Opportunities? Breaking into Local Government as another useful resource. Both are available at available for download at https://icma.org/career-guides.

Join student business organizations—such as Junior Achievement (JA) (https://jausa.ja.org), DECA (www.deca.org), Business Professionals of America (http://bpa.org), and Future Business Leaders of America (https://www.fbla.org) to participate in activities that develop your leadership, managerial, and financial management skills.