Ask a Congressional staffer anything

bigballinnv

bigballinnv

102
10
Joined
Jan 19, 2003
I haven't posted in ages but I'm quite bored and thought this could be an interesting thread.  I'm not where this convo is going to go so I'll be brief in my introduction.  I'm a 23 year old, fairly recent UCLA grad (econ major, minor in public affairs).  After finishing my undergrad I didn't really have any idea what I wanted to do, after loafing around for a while I ended up with an internship in a Senator's personal office and through that I ended up getting a job with a committee that facilitates Senate leadership in meeting with outside advocacy groups.
If you're looking for insight on how to get a job on Capitol Hill or some insight on a day in the life, I'm happy to answer any genuine questions.
 
Originally Posted by Mangudai954

How much box
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There's lots on the Hill, actually. The majority of the offices I've been around have a decent amount of attractive looking women in them.
 
I'm a political science major, and i'm pretty much just getting started. i'm a freshman at a community college. i definitely plan to transfer out to a university and pursue politics/law/international affairs. I interviewed my mayor, and he told me that public administration is a great job to get started in. is this true? i don't know exactly what i want to do; however, i have considered jobs such as being an ambassador, working for NATO, stuff like that. Any advice?
 
Originally Posted by Mangudai954

How much box
Click to expand...
Yes, there's a lot.  There's a pretty extreme difference when you go down party lines though...
Is my salary viewable on Legistorm?  Yes.  And that's the end of that chapter.
 
How do you get a job on the Hill?

I currently work @ DOJ and I'd love to make that move. Tips and instructions would be greatly appreciated
 
when i was there a few years ago to do some work for the drug courts, i was under the impression that the young staffers are the ones doing all the footwork and that this country, in a sense, is being run by kids. that disturbed me. 
 
Originally Posted by skillzboy44

I'm a political science major, and i'm pretty much just getting started. i'm a freshman at a community college. i definitely plan to transfer out to a university and pursue politics/law/international affairs. I interviewed my mayor, and he told me that public administration is a great job to get started in. is this true? i don't know exactly what i want to do; however, i have considered jobs such as being an ambassador, working for NATO, stuff like that. Any advice?
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I don't know much about the world of foreign affairs but my advice would be to get an internship with an agency or organization you like and see for yourself.  But know that "a job" at say, the Department of State, describes so many different positions it's really hard to say what working there is like.  Maybe if you have a specific interest area you could look at some NGOs and see if there's anything that would a fit for you.
 
Originally Posted by BigBallinNV

Originally Posted by Mangudai954

How much box
Click to expand...
Yes, there's a lot.  There's a pretty extreme difference when you go down party lines though...
Is my salary viewable on Legistorm?  Yes.  And that's the end of that chapter.
Click to expand...
Just giving you a hard time fambs. I interned on the Hill last year and spent a few years around there in college when I worked for a law firm that did government relations.
 
Originally Posted by Grey

How do you get a job on the Hill?

I currently work @ DOJ and I'd love to make that move. Tips and instructions would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Get on your networking grind.  When I was looking for a job, half the "interviews" I went on were what are known as informationals.  No job on the table but a chance to make a connection and expand your network, hopefully by impressing someone in the position to make or influence others in hiring decisions.  It seems like everyone I know including myself got their foot in the door because of some contact they have.  There are some really helpful listservs out there too; search for Tom Manatos'.  Also, happy hours and other receptions which are great in their own right (free food and drink) are a perfect avenue for networking especially if you can find events that relate to you, like a *insert your home state* Society reception.
 
Always wanted to work on the Hill. I work in municipal gov't now, had an internship on a Senators campaign (basically I was a doing grunt work), been involved in local politics. Where do I send my resume? I bet it's a lot of fun and very rewarding, most likely demanding at times too. Thats sick that you landed a job on the Hill, I wish I could do that.
 
What expectations did you have for yourself coming into the position and have you found anything to be particularly interesting that you've learned since then?
 
Originally Posted by Stuntman Mike

when i was there a few years ago to do some work for the drug courts, i was under the impression that the young staffers are the ones doing all the footwork and that this country, in a sense, is being run by kids. that disturbed me. 
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Quite true.  I've heard the average age of a Hill staffer is 25.  Not sure if that's true but it doesn't seem too farfetched.
 
Originally Posted by bauercans

How true-to-form was the show the West Wing?
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Hill people love West Wing.  Sure it's spiced up for TV but I think it's a solid fictional representation of a high profile public office.  You do have to realize though that the positions the characters play are the top jobs.  For every office's Charlie Young (entry level position with tons of access to their politician) there will be dozens of others that never do more than answer phone calls from constituents or respond to e-mails with form letters.
 
Originally Posted by PoloLax


Always wanted to work on the Hill. I work in municipal gov't now, had an internship on a Senators campaign (basically I was a doing grunt work), been involved in local politics. Where do I send my resume? I bet it's a lot of fun and very rewarding, most likely demanding at times too. Thats sick that you landed a job on the Hill, I wish I could do that.
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It's tough if you aren't in DC.  Campaign experience is a huge plus though; do you know anyone from that that's working on the Hill?  If so, use your connections.  Other than that, I would suggest contacting offices that you have geographical ties to (your home state's Members, Members from where you went to college, etc).  Figuring out who is the most appropriate person to send your resume is tricky but it's all public record so you can find their e-mails fairly easily.  Look for titles like administrative director, administrative manager, etc.  Failing that, I would contact the Member's Deputy Chief of Staff or Chief of Staff.  I was quite surprised when pretty much every Chief  e-mailed me back, even if it was just "Sorry, good luck on the search."

If you have the means to live in DC for a while and intern, that's a pretty surefire way to get a job if you are competent.  Good luck
 
Originally Posted by PharelFor3

Have you met Obama?
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Nope.  Some of my friends/co-workers got to go to the Joint Session of Congress where Obama unveiled his jobs plan.  My friends that were on the House floor got to shake his hand.  When it was my turn to get to go to a Joint Session, it was for the President of Korea's address...

Aside from President Obama I've seen pretty much every big name politician but have only had superficial "meetings" with most of them. 
 
Originally Posted by ElCatfisho

What expectations did you have for yourself coming into the position and have you found anything to be particularly interesting that you've learned since then?
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Well going into the internship I really had no expectations.  Just saw it as something to do until I figure out what the next step is.  But pretty quickly I realized I wanted to stick around; it can be pretty stressful and hectic and everyone complains about their job but it's a fun place to work. 

There's a lot I've found interesting but I'm sort of blanking right now.  One thing that surprised me is how accessible most Members are to their constituency.  A lot of Senators have weekly events in which constituents can sign up and have a meet and greet.  It's certainly not the kind of access big money/lobbying affords, but if you had a burning desire to tell Sen. Kristen Gillibrand that you wanted to smash, you could do it if you were willing to come to D.C. and whatever consequences may come.
 
Do representatives/legislators read bills and laws before they vote on them, or do they rely on you to read the actual document and then summarize it for them?

Is money important?


Do you notice a change in your representative before campaign season as opposed to after campaign season?

Is your representative important, or does your representative belong to caucuses that have essentially predetermined how your representative will vote?
 
^ thank you. I had the opportunity to meet a clerk for one of the chief justices last year and it really interests me to know what goes on at the capitol. He was a real smart guy too but he liked the hard work he was doing.
 
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