Alder Bartlett was among the thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development employees laid off last year. Her 16-year career with the agency had taken her to Kyrgyzstan, Jordan, Bolivia, Nepal, and finally to Ecuador, where she was working as a senior program director. While many in the sector expected change with the arrival of the Trump administration, “most people were really, really shocked at the extent of destruction,” she said.
Following news of the layoffs, international staff didn’t know if they would be leaving the country in a day or in six months, she explained, and there was also very little clarity for national staff. The experience was difficult on a personal level and as someone in a leadership role — while trying to support her team, Bartlett, who is the sole earner for her family, realized she had to pivot quickly. In February, she was already applying for jobs, and by July, she was working remotely in her new role as chief operating officer with Oregon Housing & Community Services, or OHCS, before relocating to Oregon a couple of months later.
In part due to time constraints, Bartlett decided at the start of her job search that she would apply selectively and only to positions that were a good fit. Finding a mission-driven role was important, and she quickly realized this meant preparing her résumé for an audience outside of the international development sector.