Maria Filipa Seara e Pereira is a research assistant in Trade & Competitiveness at the World Bank. She works mainly on topics of international trade and international development, particularly in modeling, trade policy, and the distributional effects of trade and global value chains. She participated in several World Bank publications, including “Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains”, “ Global Economic Prospects” and “Africa Continental Free Trade Area”. Before joining the World Bank, she worked for the Embassy of Portugal in the United States as economic affairs research assistant following the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement and several anti-dumping cases. She holds a master’s degree in International Policy and Practice, with economics and international trade specialization from the Elliott School at George Washington University and a master’s degree in political science from the Catholic University of Portugal.
When did you realize you wanted an international career?
When I was still studying in my home country, I got the opportunity to do a 6 months internship in the Portuguese Embassy in Washington DC. This was my first time working in a foreign country, as well as in the area of international policy. Before the internship, I knew little about international organizations – such as The World Bank – and was not sure what career path to take. Living in DC and working in the Embassy gave me the opportunity to go to conferences, talk to people with different careers and backgrounds, and work on a wide range of topics. I learned and experienced firsthand the work of an Embassy, the influence of think tanks, and the role international organizations play in the international stage. After those 6 months I knew what I wanted to do; I wanted to be a part of the international debate, to contribute to the conversation, and to do research aimed to support the decision process. The interdisciplinary nature of an international career, where there exists the flexibility to work in different topics, to learn something new in areas outside my expertise, and to work with people from many diverse backgrounds, is also something that attracted me to this career path.
Describe your current position and what are your favorite aspects of the job?
I am currently working as a researcher assistant in the department of Trade & Competitiveness at The World Bank. In our work we try to quantify and analyze the economic impacts of a wide range of trade policies. We use a global economic model that allows us to simulate certain trade measures, like a reduction of tariffs, and see its effects in the economy of any country, we see it effect in GDP, trade flows, or even in poverty numbers. Our latest projects include the analysis of the impact of the US-China trade war, and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. All this requires collection, cleaning and preparation of data, creation of the different scenarios that we want to simulate and the analyzation of results. My favorite part is to gain a deeper understanding of how economies work and how they react to shocks. It gives me an insight on the impact of trade, its benefits, but also its negative consequences in parts of the economy and what we can do to alleviate this negative impact. Working at The World Bank also allows me to learn about different countries and their specific economies. In the end, the goal of our research is to offer advice to governments and to the public, so more informed decisions and policies can be execute.
What are the current trends driving the future of your career field and what advice would you provide an Elliott School graduate student that is interested in your field of work?
We have now access to data that we never had before. The technologic advances allow us to collect and prepare a vast quantity of data, and its benefits for research and policy making are indisputable. We rely more and more on data to make decisions. Having the necessary skills that allows us to know how to collect, prepare and interpret the data brings great benefits to a career in international policy. And learning how to tell a story with data can be a decisive advantage. Those skills and experience can be acquired in classes that teach how to use the necessary tools and methods to deal with data. Being able to apply those skills in academic projects or papers is one way of gaining experience, that later can be shown in job applications. Talking to people that work in organizations or fields of work that you may be interested in (or even job postings) is also extremely helpful to know precisely what type of tools and skills they are looking for, so you can look for classes that offer them.
How does your current position compare to what you thought you would be doing when you first started your degree at the Elliott School?
Before starting my degree at the Elliott School, I was working on a job that had little connection with what I wanted to do (and did not like it much, either). I knew then that I wanted to work on economics and international trade, but that was not where I was heading, so I decided to start a Master’s at Elliot School while I was working. I tried to take classes that were aligned with my goals and took the opportunity offered by the school to meet and talk to people that could offer some insight on which the best steps I could take for the path I wanted. I was also lucky to have great colleagues and professors that supported me and inspired me. However, there were some moments, in my past job, that I did feel stuck or lost. Being able to study the topics that interested me gave me motivation to keep looking for the job I wanted. A little after I finished my Master’s, I was able to find my current job, which was exactly what I was hoping for. I am able to do research on international trade and economies and to contribute to the discussion on current topics in the field. It is demanding, and can be stressful, but it is worth it.
If you could have any other career, unrelated to international affairs, what would it be and why?
If I could choose a different career, it would probably be photojournalist. I believe that images are one of the most beautiful ways of storytelling and allows us to show the true nature of what human can do, the good and the bad. Since I was little, I always enjoy taking pictures and my grandfather had a small photo lab at home where he would develop pictures. I loved to see images come to life. Nowadays, there are still so many events happening, all over the world, that deserve to be seen and so many stories that deserve be told. Internet allows us to access more information, but we ended up of losing ourselves in it. That is why I still believe that a photojournalist is important since it is he/she that is able to give form to a story or an image in a way that is able to capture our attention. It is first with our attention, and then with our actions, that the necessary change in the world can take place. And so now more than ever we need people that know how to tell stories and are able to show us the images that truly matter.
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The #ElliottProud profile series is managed by the Elliott School Office of Graduate Admissions and highlights graduate program alumni to answer common questions posed by prospective, incoming, and current students. For more information on this series or to submit questions, e-mail the Office of Graduate Admissions at esiagrad@gwu.edu.
The views expressed by students profiled do not necessarily represent those of organizations they work for, are affiliated with, or the Elliott School of International Affairs.
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