Benjamin Irvine Email & Phone Number

United States

Special Agents (SA) are responsible for the security of Foreign Service personnel and property in the more than 270 Embassies and Consulates around the world in which the Department of State operates. While serving in the US, SAs also conduct criminal investigations and protect foreign dignitaries. After completing my basic training course in 2021 I was assigned to the Miami Field Office. I am now in training for my onward assignment in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Tokyo, Japan

I was the sole foreign employee in the International Department at Mizuho Leasing (formerly IBJ Leasing Company, Ltd) in Tokyo, Japan. Mizuho Leasing is a major financial leasing company which has traditionally focused on leasing for industrial assets. Today the company has dozens of branches across Japan and is affiliated with four international leasing companies in the Asia Pacific region. My duties included bi-weekly presentations to the department on economic news and trends in Southeast Asia, market research to aid in our expansion plans (both across industries and foreign markets), cross-department projects which were international in scope, and proofing documents sent to our international affiliates and foreign shareholders.

Greater San Diego Area

After taking International Law and Regulations in spring of 2018, I was chosen to be the teaching assistant for the spring 2019 course. The role involved researching and designing the class simulation, which ran for one month of the quarter. In the winter I researched and chose the topic (cyber security), designed the rules of the simulation, chose the countries and roles which would be represented, and wrote memos for each character as a primer for students. In the spring, I presented to students about the topic, organized weekly meetings, and ran the in-class sessions for the 51 students who participated.

Singapore

At Goldman Sachs, I worked in the Corporate Services and Real Estate Division (CSRE) in Singapore. CSRE supports other areas of the business and aims to make GS the best work environment for our people. Our division’s scope is diverse, from designing renovations for our offices, to managing relationships with our travel partners. As an intern, I was assigned two projects to work on over my 10 weeks: one in a function called Document Management, and another in Travel. These projects required me to coordinate with employees across over a dozen offices in Asia, as well as in Europe and the Americas. As part of the Travel project, I proposed a new contingency plan for one of our Asia offices, which the team decided to incorporate and use to run a live practice drill after the internship.

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

I worked with Chinese high school students who planned to attend university abroad, primarily in the US, and advised them on school selection, application essays, resumes, and majors. In addition to counseling I taught a writing class to the grade 12 students at the Affiliated High School to Hangzhou Normal University in Hangzhou. After my first year at the school I helped the in-house counseling services double the number of students who chose our counseling services, which also doubled revenue for our department.

Norseman, Australia

During my working holiday visa I spent five months in a town of 500 people in the Australian Outback, starting as a service attendant at the BP station. I was promoted to work as the sole employee on hand at the adjacent motel, and in charge of booking reservations, running the front desk, serving customers at the restaurant, and making drinks at the bar. During the motel shifts I was the only employee on shift outside of the kitchen.

Songpa-Gu, Seoul, Korea

After three months with YBM I was chosen as the homeroom teacher for two kindergarten age classes, both of which started the program in their first year with no prior English experience. As homeroom teacher I was in charge of planning lessons, grading assignments, filling out progress reports, and giving presentations to the student body. In the afternoons I also taught elementary age students in YBM's after school program.

Master'S Degree, International Relations And Affairs

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, International Relations And Affairs