Career in Public Administration: Jobs, Career Path and Relevant skills

Career in public administration: Introduction 

For the proper functioning of the organization or institution in every sphere of life, be it social, economic, and political, requires proper rules or management. The idea of administration emerges from here. Behind the laws that are made to govern us and their implementation are a policymaker and a public administrator. A public administration degree can get you the educational foundation required by various roles in government, non-government, and non–profit organizations. A career in public administration can help one influence a future outcome for the institutions and organizations they work with. One may also be integral to establishing and implementing programs and collaborating with key decision-makers for their effective operation. 

At the School Level 

To embark upon a career in public administration right from school, one should choose Humanities/Arts stream. 

Humanities/Arts stream is the most preferred path because knowledge of subjects such as political science, sociology, history, geography, economics and so on, facilitates a better understanding of public administration and policy later on. However, one can pursue public administration with any of the streams, as choosing a stream at the school level does not have any direct bearing upon one’s career in public administration in the future. 

Undergraduate and Post-Graduate level 

Choosing the right course at the bachelor’s level is the most important step in making a career in public administration. Following are the options one can choose at the undergraduate level: 

• B.A. (Hons.) Public administration/Political Science* 
• B.A. Pass/Honours in any of the social sciences/humanities discipline 

*Public Administration is not a very popular course at the undergraduate level. Therefore, most students can start off with pursuing either political science or the second option. Knowledge of a subject in disciplines such as political science or law can put the student in a better position of understanding the course at the latter. If while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in any other disciplines other than the above mentioned, one wishes to pursue a career in public administration, one is open to doing so by pursuing a Master’s degree in public administration or courses of similar nature (public policy and governance) by qualifying the entrance tests of recognized programs. 

Eligibility  

General eligibility to pursue a B.A. degree in Public Administration/Political Science is a Higher Secondary qualification/ 10+2 or equivalent qualification in any stream from a recognized educational Board of the country, with a minimum of 50% in aggregate. 

Please note that this is the basic eligibility and is not the same as the actual cut-off/ qualification of entrances needed for admission. 

A career in public administration can be established with more fruitful outcomes at the level of post-graduation. 

• Studying public administration as an end in itself or to establish a career in research and academia requires one to choose the following paths: M.A./M.Sc. in Public administration, followed by M.Phil. + Ph.D. in Public administration 

Or 

• M.A./M.Sc./M.Phil. + Ph.D. in specialized and allied fields such as criminology, social work, development studies, international relations, comparative politics and area studies, human resource development and management, mass media and communication, and so on. 

Colleges/Universities offering Post-Graduate degrees in Public Administration/Public policy and Governance 

• Aligarh Muslim University 

• Amity University, Noida (also offers an undergraduate degree in Public Administration) 
• Azim Premji University 
• Banaras Hindu University 
• Indira Gandhi National Open University 
• Kurukshetra University 

• Lovely Professional University 
• O.P. Jindal University 
• Panjab University 
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences 

Curriculum 

A standard post-graduate degree course in Public Administration constitutes the following: 

Semester 1. 

• Term Paper [Non-Teaching Credit Courses] 
• Administration in India [Core Courses] 
• Introduction to Public Policy [Core Courses] 

• Political Theory: An Introduction [Core Courses] 
• Public Administration: Concepts and Theories [Core Courses] 
• Advanced Communication [Communication Skills] 
• Self-Development and Interpersonal Skills [Behavioural Science] 
• Foreign Business Language 

• Open Elective Courses 
• Outdoor Activity-Based Courses 

Semester 2. 

• Seminar [Non-Teaching Credit Courses] 
• Administrative Thought-I [Core Courses] 

• Dynamics of State Administration [Core Courses] 
• Local Governance in India [Core Courses] 
• Public Personnel Administration [Core Courses] 
• Communication for Employment [Communication Skills] 
• Conflict Resolution and Management [Behavioural Science] 

• Foreign Business Language 
• Open Elective Courses 
• Outdoor Activity-Based Courses 

Semester 3. 

• Administrative and Policy Institutions in India [Specialisation Elective Courses] 

• Governance and Administrative Reforms [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• Urban and Rural Development in India [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• Summer Internship [Non-Teaching Credit Courses] 
• Administrative Thought-II [Core Courses] 
• Civil Services in India [Core Courses] 

• Globalization & Public Policy [Core Courses] 
• Professional Communication Skills [Communication Skills] 
• Professional Competencies and Career Development [Behavioural Science] 
• Foreign Business Language 
• Open Elective Courses 

• Outdoor Activity-Based Courses 

Semester 4. 

• Civil Society & Public Action [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• Comparative Public Administration [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• E-Governance [Specialisation Elective Courses] 

• Governing Development in India [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• Policy Analysis and Evaluation [Specialisation Elective Courses] 
• Dissertation [Non-Teaching Credit Courses] 
• Administrative Behaviour [Core Courses] 
• Cross Culture Communication and Global Competence [Communication Skills] 

• Leadership and Managing Excellence [Behavioural Science] 
• Foreign Business Language 
• Open Elective Courses 
• Outdoor Activity-Based Courses 

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Job Prospects in Public administration 

Besides teaching and research one can also to take up various roles such as: 

• Politician, 
• Journalist, 
• Lawyer, 

• Policymaker, 
• Development planner, 
• Educator,  
• Human resource management personnel,  
• Public Relations Manager, 

• Business owner, 
• Social worker, and so on. 

Other lucrative alternative careers for public administration degree holders include: 

• Civil Services: The Civil Services Examination is a nationwide competitive examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment to various civil services of the Government of India, including the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Forest Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS).  

The State Civil Services examinations and recruitment are conducted by the individual states public service commissions in India. These services are feeders of All India Services. 

Public Administration is one of the optional subjects for the mains examinations and competence in the subject could help the candidate ace the mains paper. Civil services are the perfect choice for a public administration graduate to directly showcase their understanding of public institutions and policymaking. 

• MBA/MBA-HRM: Students seeking admissions in Indian universities have to appear for certain entrance examinations like CAT and CMAT.
• Next steps are personal interview, group discussion, and written assessment test
• There are a variety of good master programs in public policy available at IIM’s. One such program is at IIM Bangalore 

We hope this is going to be helpful if you are planning to pursue a career in public administration. For more guidance, feel free to connect with us and provide your feedback as well, so that we can also improve in the future.