Pramod Already Had the Career. He Went Back for the Questions.

By 2018, Pramod Rijal had already spent six years working at the intersection of economics and policy in Nepal.

He had worked at the Samriddhi Foundation, risen to Senior Economist at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies, and advised organizations like FNCCI, UNDP, ADB, and the National Planning Commission. He had published research, written op-eds, and sat in rooms where policy was being made.

He wasn't a newcomer looking for a credential. He was a practitioner who had identified a precise gap in his own toolkit — and decided to go all the way to Nottingham to fill it.

That gap had a name: behavioral economics.

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Pramod chose Chevening not out of necessity, but out of clarity. He knew what he wanted to study, he knew where he wanted to study it, and he knew why.

"Chevening recognizes practical expertise and impact," he says. "Unlike many other scholarships, it aligns with a background like mine — someone who has already been doing the work, and wants to do it better."

That clarity, he believes, is what made his application stand out. He wasn't describing what he hoped to become. He was demonstrating what he had already built — and showing exactly how a year at Nottingham would make it more precise.

"Showcase your professional impact, your long-term vision, and how the scholarship aligns with your commitment to contribute back home," he advises. "Chevening isn't selecting you for one year. They want to see the full arc."

At the University of Nottingham, Pramod studied MSc in Economic Development and Policy Analysis. But the thing he came specifically for — the thing he had identified from the outside and decided he needed — was behavioral economics.

The discipline asks a different set of questions than classical economics. Not just what people should do, given incentives and information — but what they actually do, and why. It draws on psychology, data, and field research to understand how people make decisions in the real world.

For someone who had spent years watching policy designed in theory and land differently in practice, this was the missing piece.

"The academic depth, the global perspective, the direct engagement with leading experts — it provided an experience that would have been difficult to access elsewhere," he says. "You can read the papers. But sitting in those rooms, asking questions of the people who wrote them, changes how you think."

Beyond the classroom, the Chevening community itself became part of the education. The exposure events, the scholars from across the world, the conversations that happen when you put driven people from very different contexts into the same room — that too shaped how he saw the problems he had come from.

He came back to Nepal and put the tool to work.

Drawing on the analytical methods he had studied at Nottingham, Pramod applied impact evaluation techniques to assess the outcomes of economic development initiatives in Nepal — identifying gaps, recommending evidence-based improvements, and helping organizations move from assumptions to data.

His work has since taken him through EY, SAWTEE's USAID Trade and Competitiveness programme, and assignments with ADB, UNDP, and the National Planning Commission. The Chevening credential opened doors — but more than that, the year changed how he enters the rooms those doors open into.

"The international academic experience strengthened my technical skills and enhanced my professional credibility," he says. "It increased trust among employers and opened doors to opportunities that may not have been accessible otherwise."

He has also collaborated with fellow Chevening scholars on research in renewable energy and cost-benefit analysis — the alumni network proving useful not just as a credential on paper, but as a working community of practice.

Chevening interview invites have just gone out for 2025–26. If your name was on that list, here is what Pramod would tell you.

His own interview experience was positive — and his preparation was more focused than most.

"I primarily prepared by revisiting the essays I had submitted during the application process," he says. "I made sure I could clearly articulate and expand on every idea and experience I had previously shared."

That single instruction contains more practical wisdom than most interview guides. Your essays are a contract. The interviewers have read them. They will probe them. The question is not whether you can impress them with new material — it is whether you can stand fully behind what you have already said.

Beyond your essays, Pramod advises preparing for four specific areas:

Your chosen university and course.

Know why you chose this specific institution. What makes it the right place for what you want to learn? Who are the academics or research centers that drew you there? Vague answers here signal vague commitment.

Your leadership experience.

Chevening selects leaders, not just scholars. Be ready to speak concretely about moments where you influenced outcomes, built something, or changed a direction — in your organization, your community, or your field.

Your future career plans.

The clearer and more specific, the better. "I want to contribute to Nepal's development" is not a plan. Name the sector, the problem, the role you want to play, and how the Chevening year bridges where you are now to where you are going.

Consistency.

Your interview answers should be consistent with your essays — and with each other. Inconsistency doesn't just raise flags. It suggests you haven't thought deeply enough about your own story. "Ensure your responses are clear, consistent, and well-articulated," Pramod says. That word — consistent — is the most important one.

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Too experienced. Too far along. That they have already figured it out, and applying for Chevening is too much of an opportunity cost.

Pramod Rijal had six years of experience, a USAID assignment, ADB and UNDP consultancies, and a track record that most people would call more than enough.

He still found one thing he was missing. He still went.

The question isn't whether you've already built something. The question is whether there's a sharper version of you on the other side of one more year.

Applications for the 2026–27 Chevening Scholarship open in August 2026.

Pramod Rijal is a Chevening Scholar (2018–19), currently an Independent Consultant in Economics, Energy and Environment, and former Policy Reform Manager at USAID Trade and Competitiveness Activity, based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Connect with him on LinkedIn and know more about his work here.

Story #002 — ScholarsNext | Chevening Nepal Series

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