Background
Starting out
The job hunt can really suck, especially early in your career. At best, it’s mind-numbing and slow; at worst, it’s emotionally devastating. It can feel impossible, and like the biggest thing in the world, but it’s important to remember that it’s just a process, that you will get where you need to go if you put in the work in, and that you only need to land one job.
Remember that you aren’t asking anyone for a favor. You’re not trying to get employers to give you anything you didn’t earn, you shouldn’t feel guilty or bad about advocating for yourself, and you’re not doing anything weird or wrong.
Instead, you’re doing potential employers a big service by offering them the opportunity to work with you. You have talents, strengths, and gifts. You could make more money almost anywhere else (more on that later …), and the work would be easier and less stressful. But you really care about making a difference, so you’re stepping up to help. You are a huge get, and you should see that.
At times, the hiring process is going to seem so weird and arbitrary that you’ll think you’re doing something wrong. You might think:
A hiring manager stopped responding to your emails because they don’t like you An organization doesn’t post jobs on their website because they’re not hiring You haven’t heard back from a job you applied to weeks ago because you didn’t get it This often isn’t true. The truth is that most folks who work in politics are incredibly overextended, and hiring, unfortunately, isn’t a priority. People tend not to be responsive because they lose track of email, and, frankly, they prioritize responding to “important” folks (bosses, donors, etc.). They won’t post jobs on their website because they can’t find time to make it happen. This isn’t great--and, when you’re the one doing the hiring, you should do better--but, for now, you should truck along knowing that it isn’t a reflection of your worth or their interest in you.
Ultimately, though, it’s just a numbers game. You need to set yourself up for success by learning to tell your story really well, expand your network as much as you can, and then apply for as many jobs as you can find. Each application and informational interview has a very low probability of turning into a job, but if you get as many shots on goal as you possibly can, it will happen!
I’ve included a lot of background on the landscape here and a deep dive into strategies. If you slammed and don’t want to read a whole guide, here’s a TLDR:
Nail your resume and cover letter Build your network through (virtual) coffee chats and informational interviews Apply to as many jobs as you can.
Please feel free to reach out to me (michael@progressive-pipeline.org or on Slack) if I can ever be useful, or if you just want to chat). I’m happy to be helpful in any way I can!
The landscape
The first thing to know is that there are all kinds of jobs in politics, and you’re already set up to do most of them. If you want to make a difference, there will be a job for you, one that aligns with your skills and interests and allows you to grow and learn. Don’t worry too much whether your first couple internships feel aligned with your where you want to go next. If you’re applying to entry-level jobs, most hiring managers just want to see that you have some kind of broadly relevant professional experience.
The landscape of political jobs and organizations is constantly changing. You don’t need to have a complete sense of it now, but you should give some thought to which of these categories call to you. What do you want to learn more about? What do you want to explore? You don’t need to have all the answers just yet, but you should start to ask the big questions.
Here are, broadly speaking, the options:
Electoral campaigns. There’s nowhere else in politics where you can move up the chain as quickly and nowhere with the pace and energy of a campaign. There are tons of options, from presidentials to Senate and House races to state legislatures, prosecutors, governors, treasurers, and attorney general. Pros: Obvious, clear impact. If campaigns are your calling, then nothing else can quite replace them. You are (generally) immediately recognized for your work and you can get promoted quickly. Everyone should spend at least some time working on a campaign, even if it isn’t your life path. You’ll have a chance to try a lot of things quickly. If the candidate wins, you’ll own a piece of that success. Cons: Burnout is easy, most campaigns are center-left, it’s not a stable job and pays okay, but not incredibly well. Cultures vary widely -- some are awesome and some are toxic -- and you will go through periods of unemployment. After months or even years of hard work, your candidate might lose and potentially leave politics altogether. You will probably work way too many hours. Pay: Organizers typically make $35k - $50k/year, but you have to account for at least a couple months of unemployment. Well-financed campaigns could pay a little more. Salaries increase as you move up the ranks, but not exponentially. Campaign managers on House and Senate campaigns typically make ~$60k - $75k, and on a super-well-funded Senate campaign you could make low six figures (but these jobs are rare). Field/finance/comms directors make a little less than that, RFDs make a little more than FOs. For reference, Biden’s campaign manager made $140k/year. I anticipate that these salaries will increase over the coming years as progressives think more about pay equity, but it’s really hard to tell. Generally speaking, you will make less on a campaign than you would in a comparable role at most other organizations. Location: Everywhere! Most campaigns in 2022 will likely operate on a hybrid model, and will likely require you to live in the district and come into work at least a few days a week. Community organizing. These are grassroots groups that are trying to build lasting progressive power beyond a single election. Some, like , the and , are huge coalitions of groups spread across the country, with a national headquarters and hundreds of staff. Others, like and the , are far smaller and only hire occasionally. Some are centered around particular constituencies (e.g. low-income folks, people of color, or Muslims) and some are focused only geographically, but all share a broad theory of change: long-term mobilization and power-building in communities that traditionally aren’t represented is the best way to make a difference. Pros: Job stability! Unlike campaigns, once you’re hired, you can stay on for years. Often, that means they are more invested in your growth and development, since you’ll be with them longer. Generally, they tend to be more thoughtful about race and class than electoral campaigns. And they usually have a small enough scope that you can really see your impact. Cons: Depending on the organization, it can be insular and hard to grow out of: even if you do awesome work, it might not be recognized beyond your organization. You might be working with only one or two other staffers, and there can occasionally be a resistance to learning and growing. Pay ranges wildly: it can be generous, but also at times not livable. You don’t quite get the adrenaline rush of working on a campaign with an immediate outcome and tangible results, and it can be hard to get the exposure to a wide network of colleagues that you would in larger org. Pay: There’s a real range here. Some of the entry-level jobs pay very poorly (think in the $20-$30k ballpark), while some pay closer to $45k or $50k. It mostly depends on the capacity of the org. If you’re working for a national network directly (i.e. you’re a staffer at the Center for Popular Democracy, not one of their affiliates), it’ll be higher; if you’re working for a local group, it’ll be lower. Pay increases steadily as you gain seniority, but you will never make a lot of money. Community organizing groups are pretty good about being transparent about salaries: most job descriptions will offer a payscale. Location: Everywhere! Many community organizing groups have been doing in-person work through the pandemic, since they have to directly engage with constituents. Some of the national ones will stay remote indefinitely. Political consulting. Consultants play a wide range of roles, from helping with direct mail and TV ads to digital and fundraising to top-level strategy. Some consultants are awesome and driven, bringing much-needed wisdom and strategic thinking to campaigns and causes that really need it. Others talk a big talk, but ultimately just bilk campaigns out of a lot of money. If you like the people, go for it; if it feels iffy or sad, don’t. Many firms prefer hiring folks with a couple cycles of campaign experience. Some firms consult to dozens (or even hundreds) of clients and will give you the opportunity to meet tons of people. Others consult to only a few, but would allow you to develop deep relationships with your clients. Definitely don’t rule this out, but make sure that your values are aligned and that your day-to-day work seems interesting and valuable. Pros: (Usually) pays pretty well, you get exposed to a bunch of campaigns and organizations, some firms have super smart people who will teach you a lot, it’s a pretty stable job, a good way of getting a sense of the landscape. Some firms do great, vital work for causes that matter. You will leave with a lot of connections. Cons: Can be corporate and dull, depending on the firm. A lot of firms brand themselves as political consultants, but actually make most of their money consulting to big companies, not campaigns. Dig into their clients before you apply! You could end up learning a ton from your boss, but you might also essentially function as an assistant. You could end up serving candidates and causes that you don’t love. At the end of the day, they’re for-profit and their ultimate goal is to make money. Pay: Highest entry-level salaries out there, consistently in the $45-$60k ballpark. It will scale as you get more senior: you can easily make $200k+. Location: Largely concentrated in NY and DC. Many of the bigger firms are returning to all in-person work in early 2022, most of the smaller ones will probably stay remote indefinitely. Advocacy. These are organizations that have taken up a particular issue, cause, or agenda and are going out and fighting for them. Most are structured as 501(c)(4)s, which means they are primarily responsible for promoting “social welfare” and must spend less than 50% of their money on electoral politics. The smart ones do a mix of everything, from lobbying to policy to storytelling to electoral work. Pros: If you find an org that is advocating for an issue you really care about, it lets you dive straight into the fight rather than circling around the issue: instead of organizing to elect a candidate because you believe they’ll vote the right way on an issue that matters to you, you can cut to the chase and fight for the thing you believe in. Some of these organizations do brilliant, cutting edge work that transcends lobbying and strictly electoral politics. You’ll work with folks with a wide range of skillsets and have the opportunity to learn a lot from them. It’s much more stable than campaigns, and typically pays reasonably well. Cons: While some are super effective, others don’t really do much. All these orgs are great at posturing, so dig in -- is their work actually making a difference? Most of these issues have a lot of players -- which victories can they really claim credit for and which would have happened without their involvement? Cultures vary widely, too: some can get sucked into a depressing DC suit groupthink that you want to avoid (when you spend a lot of time trying to convince politicians to vote with you, it’s easy to start idolizing them). Ultimately, a lot of this will come down to your own theory of change: advocacy groups can only do as much as elected officials will let them. Pay: One of the widest ranges. Smaller, scrappier orgs might offer you a salary that just isn’t livable in DC, larger, more established ones can pay closer to political consultant salaries (think $40-65k entry level, in the $125-$200k range if you are more senior). Location: Concentrated in DC, but many will likely continue to offer remote opportunities for roles that don’t involve directly engaging with legislators. Organized labor. It’s been the backbone of the progressive movement for decades, and, despite challenges, they’re still doing lots of good work to build power for working people. There are a few routes here that might make sense, and they look very different: you could work as a local organizer essentially anywhere in the country, or you can work in a national office (usually DC) doing political/tech/admin work. Don’t discount the power of these jobs, even though they aren’t quite as in style as they once were. Pros: Unions are funded by their members, so you are accountable to working people -- not big donors. The jobs pay well (many are unionized!), with opportunity for advancement and a thoughtful approach to race and class. They’re very stable gigs: they expect you to stick around for a long time and will invest in you accordingly. Depending on your role, your work will often have an immediate impact: instead of having to wait for the next election to make change, you can do critical political organizing and help workers win better wages, healthcare, and dignity on the job. Cons: Local organizing is really hard work, and you might burn out. At the national level, unions are massive organizations where people stick around forever, so you’ll likely have a pretty rigid set of responsibilities, and advancement will be slow (although it will happen). Because of the Janus decision’s limits on dues collections for public-sector unions and a larger push against organized labor, budgets are tight, and there’s an existential threat to the movement. Because unions are ultimately accountable to their members--not all of whom are super progressive--you’ll run into some challenges: for instance, the AFL-CIO, which, in many ways, is at the forefront of progressive political infrastructure, counts the International Union of Police Associations among its members. Pay: Most unions are great about pay transparency, and follow strict payscales that they’ll post publicly with the jobs. You’ll likely be represented by a staff union (a union of union staffers) that will have a lot of leverage, and you’ll get great benefits. The pay varies a lot depending on the role, but usually in the 50s and up. Location: If you’re working for a local (essentially, a chapter of a union that represents workers in a certain area), you’ll probably have to live in the area and do some in-person work. There are locals pretty much everywhere. If you want to work for the national, that will probably (but not always!) require you to live in DC and work in-person. Policy. This is a weird, interesting world. A lot of people say they want to go into policy, but you should be thoughtful about why you want to do it. Is writing and researching what calls to you? Or do you just want to make an impact on issues + causes that matter to you? These jobs are hard to get and not always rewarding. (FWIW: the line between policy and advocacy can be fuzzy, and many organizations do both) Pros: You will likely work with very smart people. It will pay reasonably well. If this is the kind of work that gives you energy, you will know and it’ll be a fit for you. Can sometimes drive real, transformative change. Less on-the-ground than other work. Cons: Entry-level policy gigs are less thrilling than they seem. Lots of research and fact-checking driven by a senior staffers’ agenda. If your title includes “associate” or “coordinator,” there’s a chance you might actually be someone’s assistant. It can often feel like shouting into a void: generally, the reason why we haven’t made progress on an issue isn’t because no one’s thought of a good solution. Easy to succumb to DC groupthink. Pay: Like advocacy, it will really vary based on where you’re working and how well they are funded. I would estimate $40-65k entry level, in the $125-$200k range if you are more senior. Location: Lots and lots of these jobs are in DC, but not all. They’re mostly staying remote through early 2022, but some might be remote indefinitely. Data / analytics / political tech. This is the biggest emerging space in progressive politics, and you can learn how to do it without having studied data science in college. Organizations like , and offer excellent, often free or extremely low-cost, comprehensive data trainings. Introductory statistics and computer science classes work too. Tons and tons and tons of jobs here, and they generally pay you pretty well. for more info. Pros: Interesting work, usually pays quite well and is relatively stable, super smart staff. Can be an awesome career path. You’ll learn transferrable skills. If the idea of spending your whole day talking to people sounds less than thrilling, this can be a great alternative. Cons: A steeper learning curve than organizing. Sometimes data can be a little fetishized –– it’s important, but we need other things, too! Not a very diverse field (yet!). Some of the roles on campaigns (where you’re essentially a VAN admin) are dull, and you might spend much more time cleaning data than analyzing it, even as you move into more senior roles. Consulting firms are driving a lot of the work right now and might make you work for their corporate clients, too. Pay: Entry-level is typically in the $40-$65k range, usually increases to $55-$80k after a cycle or two, then $80k+ once you’re managing a few people. Will generally be slightly more if you’re working for a consulting firm. There are very few data/analytics jobs that pay poorly. Location: Generally speaking, these are the roles that are the most likely to stay remote forever because: a) data folks tend to be pretty introverted and not so into hanging out at the office, b) the work itself doesn't really have an in-person component, and c) data staff are hard to hire, so orgs don’t want to limit themselves. But if you’re working in a data role at a bigger org that has a universal policy, that might not be true. State parties. Capacity and style depends on the state. It’s always worth a look. Staff balloons during election years and then shrinks way down off-cycle, but they keep a few folks around consistently. Pros: (Sometimes) more stability than a campaign, but you get the thrill of an election. Lots of exposure to everything happening in the state. Cons: Depends on the state. There’s a real range of staff ability and knowledge and may or may not be room for advancement. Pay: Roughly the same as campaigns, depends a lot of geography and funding. Most are pretty transparent about salaries. Government. Definitely an option! It can be fun to work on the Hill, especially if you helped elect the candidate. You are right in the heart of government, and there’s often room for advancement. Pros: You’re there, in the thick of it! Often cool people. Cons: Some positions are really dull (think responding to constituent mail full-time) and you can get absorbed in DC bs. Usually pays really poorly at the entry-level, especially for DC. Pay: Chiefs of staff make ~$130-150k, mid-level staff make ~$50-$80k. Entry level is usually $30-$40k, which is tough in DC (try finding an apartment near Capitol Hill for $750/month!) There are also lots more options and areas — explore and figure out what works for you!
Choosing a career path
Before you start the job hunt, take a few minutes to figure out what you want and need from a job. Be as specific as you can be: while it might seem like saying “I’ll take anything” will lead to the most possible jobs, it actually makes it nearly impossible to find a place to start. It is okay to be (reasonably) picky. Drill into what you actually want out of a job: are you saying you want to work in policy because you feel particularly called to the research process, or because you want to change policies that affect people you care about? If it’s the latter, you might consider broadening your scope.
Some questions to ask yourself:
How much money do you need to make? Look at your budget: Will you have student loans? Will you need to send money back home? How much of a cushion do you want? If you’ve been making most of your money from student jobs on campus, you should know that you’ll automatically start paying about 7.5% more in taxes for a non-campus job, and if you’re making more money overall, your federal and state tax rates may also go up — budget for this too. If you’re planning on working for a campaign, you should adjust this up so that you have some savings in case you’re unemployed after November. Be thoughtful about location, too: $35k goes much farther in Maine than it does in DC. You should be realistic here: you’re not going to do your best work if you’re constantly stressed about money. Most, but not all, employers will post a salary range on job listings. If they don’t, it’s okay to ask during an interview. Where do you want to live? It’s fine to make a need vs. want list here: maybe DC is your top choice, but you’re willing to be flexible if needed. Maybe you need to stay within driving distance of family, so you really are limited to one region. Again, be thoughtful here: if you can’t drive, Texas isn’t your best bet. (This will all look different with COVID, and each employer will have different expectations: some don’t care where you are, some will want you to have ties to the community you’re working in, others will expect you to relocate once the world opens up, and others still will expect you to work remotely while physically residing in the state where they’re operating) What do you care about? You probably think you know this already, and you likely do, but taking a few minutes to hash this out will really make a difference. You are going to spend a terrifying chunk of your life at work, and you deserve to do something that matters to you. Most of us don’t really care about every single progressive issue, and you should hone in on the ones that you would be excited to get up every morning and fight for. What kind of change do you want to make? This doesn’t have to be super broad or philosophical. There are a bunch of ways to make a difference, and not all of them are going to be your calling. Do you want to build long-term local power for marginalized groups? Do you want to help progressives think in new and different ways? Do you want to fix the system from the inside? Do you just want to make sure we elect Democrats and beat Republicans? There’s no objectively right answer here, but your preferences should inform where you choose to work. What do you want your schedule to look like? Think about your own style and other commitments, and be realistic about what would bring you joy and what would end up feeling miserable. If you want a 9-5 job, a campaign probably isn’t the place to be. If you want to work 24/7, don’t go to a think tank. What do you want to learn? How do you want to grow? Early career jobs are, more than anything else, learning experiences. You wouldn’t get an MBA or a JD without knowing what kind of skills you wanted to build, and you shouldn’t take a job without considering what you want to learn. After a year on the job, how do you want to have changed? What do you want to know? What skills do you want to build? How do you learn best? Everyone has a different learning style. If you learn best by getting thrown in the thick of things and figuring it all out on your own, go work on a campaign or in an under-resourced community organizing group where they’ll give you lots of responsibilities. If you learn best by observing really skilled people in action, maybe a political consulting firm (even serving as an admin assistant!) or a big advocacy group is for you. And if you learn best through rigorous training and leadership development, find an organization that has a long-term vision for staff development.
Think of these as starting points in your search, not firm criteria. You probably don’t have a perfect answer to all these questions, and that’s fine: ultimately the job, not the search, will help you come closer to answering them. But by having some sense of where you are now and observing what questions spring from these, you’ll have something that resembles a starting point -- or at least a set of guiding principles -- for your search.
Don’t worry too much about finding the perfect fit. Once you steer yourself towards the right job for you, you will know it.
Getting Ready
Resumes
Framing
Resumes are another one of those opaque, kind of annoying things you probably half-know how to do but aren’t super proud of! This is something that you can absolutely perfect in a few hours. Getting your resume right is an excellent use of time: every employer on earth is going to ask for one when you apply, and it’s usually the biggest factor in whether or not you get an interview.
The first thing to remember is that resumes are stories, not lists. Your goal isn’t to simply outline every job you’ve had or to show that you’ve been employed for a long time. Instead, resumes should be a concise, clear way of telling a potential employer what skills, strengths, and experiences you’ll bring to the job. That means that they should be tailored to every job you apply for and hyper-focused on key, transferable skills. If you were a cook last summer, a campaign isn’t going to care that you “Cooked fries, flipped burgers, and cleaned kitchen daily,” but they will care if you “Cooked 400 burgers daily, increasing output by 75% by developing new ordering system.” That is a super transferable set of skills!
Basics
You should keep your resume to one page, unless you’re applying for a job with the federal government (these are weird, , the federal government also has its own ). You might think that giving employers more information will allow you to demonstrate more of your skills accomplishments, but employers spend so little time looking at each resume ( that recruiters spent an average of seven seconds on each one) that chances are you’ll just dilute the really important stuff. Because you are in college or a recent graduate, you almost certainly don’t have so many accomplishments that employers need to hear about that you can’t fit it onto one page. Keep your resume clean and simple. Don’t include fancy fonts, colors, graphics, or headshots. These won’t help you stand out; instead, they’ll distract from the actual content of your resume and make you seem unprofessional. (hit file > make a copy), and also has a free, easy-to-use resume builder. Avoid typos, misspellings and grammatical errors. This seems obvious, and you might skim past this, but it really matters. Proofread your resume many times. Read it backwards (this works!). Ask a friend (or two or three) to read it. Ask me to read it! Recruiters and hirers are shockingly good at finding typos, and, when they do, they’ll think less of you for them.
Don’t use too much jargon or any enormously fancy words. If you have any doubt that your employer won’t understand an acronym, spell it out or find a different word. For political jobs, stuff like GOTV is fine, because your employers will almost certainly know what you’re talking about. Using thesaurus words when others will do will make you seem silly. There is no need to write “Executed an operationally excellent electoral mobilization agenda to exhort low-propensity members of the populace to exercise their rights of enfranchisement” when “Led GOTV” will do. Remember that you’re always shooting for fewer words with more impact, not the other way around.
Use active voice, not passive voice. “Led a team of 30 organizers” is a lot stronger and more concise than “Was tasked with leading a team of 30 organizers.” You want people to know that you’re a doer! , in case a refresher would be helpful. Be thoughtful and consistent about tenses. Use common sense here: if you’re still doing the job, it should usually be in present tense, unless you’re referring to something that’s now been completed (e.g. if you are still a field organizer, your bullets should be in present tense unless it’s something like “Led precinct-wide GOTV operation on primary day”). Keep this all in mind when proofreading; it’s a really common mistake.
Keep everything consistent. There are very few firm rules for resumes except for consistency. If you include a city and state next to one job, include it next to every job. Keep date formats the same everywhere. This will make it seem like you are on top of things.
My view is that, generally, you don’t need a professional summary or a skills section. This is a little controversial, but I think that they take up a lot of space and usually add very little. Instead, consider incorporating your skills into your bullets and including information you would have put in your professional summary in your cover letter. Most of the skills people list are either assumed (proficiency Microsoft Office and Google Docs is not going to wow anyone) or can be better demonstrated by tying them to a specific, job-related accomplishment. If you have a lot of technical skills and are applying for a data-ish role, then you might one.
Unless you have a really good reason not to, put your jobs in reverse chronological order. This is going to make the most sense for almost everyone.
My general view is that it is okay to include volunteer activities in your professional experience sections as long as they are professionally relevant.
The education section should be pretty straightforward. Include an estimated graduation date if you haven’t graduated yet. You should include your GPA if it is above a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, along with any awards/honors you’ve received.
Make sure to save your resume as a PDF, not a Word doc or other format. If you save it as a PDF, employers will consistently be able to open it without any formatting changes. If you save it as a Word doc, it’s more likely than not that the formatting will get jumbled in transmission. And if you use another format, there’s a good chance the employer won’t be able to open it at all.
Make sure the name of the document is clear and includes your name. Many employers download all the resumes at once, and will be annoyed if they can’t find yours because it’s called “Resume.pdf.” Something like “Michael Michaelson Resume.pdf” or “Michaelson Resume, Progressive Pipeline.pdf” is the way to go.
Accomplishment statements
The hardest and most important of a resume are your accomplishment statements. These are the bullets you put under each job that you list. Again, keep these goal-oriented: what can a future employer take away from them that’ll give them faith in your ability to perform a new job? Most people just list their roles and responsibilities, which really isn’t useful. Instead, you want to focus on specific, measurable, and concrete examples of the impact you’ve had and how you’ve used your skills to excel.
Imagine you’re an employer, and you see two resumes from people who’ve held the same position. You’ve heard that one is an awesome employee and one totally sucks, but you don’t know which is which. If both of their resumes just listed their duties on the job (e.g. “Served customers nightly, Opened restaurant every morning, Bussed tables and managed cash register”), would you be able to tell who is incredible and who isn’t? Definitely not!
What if, instead, they each listed clear, measurable accomplishments? That would give you a meaningful barometer to tell who would be an amazing employee and who might not excel.
Remember, employers aren’t hiring you because of the jobs you’ve had; they’re hiring you because of how well you’ve performed. Your resume should reflect that.
Many of you have held jobs in retail or food service, with titles that might not immediately catch an employer’s eye. You definitely built skills and experiences there that you can transfer to the political world, and it’s your responsibility to use your resume to clearly articulate how those jobs qualify you to work in politics.
Before you start writing your accomplishment statements, ask yourself if you’ve ever:
Improved something? Achieved more with fewer resources or money? Reduced costs? Improved productivity? Saved time? Increased recruitment numbers? Designed, developed, or implemented a new process, program or product? Brought diverse constituents together to accomplish something? Improved morale? Solved a pressing problem? Managed or led a team? Presented complex information clearly? Successfully multitasked? Dedicated long hours of work to accomplish something within a short timeframe? Balanced extracurricular/outside commitments with coursework? Took initiative without anyone asking? Received awards or positive performance reviews? What are you most proud of? What would others you have worked with say about your contribution? How have organizations benefited from your work? What special projects have you worked on and what was the outcome? What is the tangible evidence of your accomplishments?
(I lifted these questions from a pamphlet by Yale’s Office of Career Strategy) This is exactly what you want to showcase in your accomplishment statements.
There are three formats that I think work really well:
Action + Project + Result
Project: Group related tasks into a single, meaningful project or activity Action: Choose a strong action verb () that describes what you personally did (not your team). Highlight the skills you used. Result: Keep this super specific and quantifiable. What numbers or other evidence can show that you did an amazing job? What kind of impact did it have? Quantify either in terms of an absolute number (e.g. “served 600 customers per night) or a % increase (e.g. “increased output by 250%”)
Accomplished [x] as measured by [y] by doing [z]
This is very similar to A+P+R, but ordered slightly differently.
STAR
Situation: What was the situation, problem, or conflict you were facing? Task: What were you tasked with? What were your responsibilities or goals? Action: What action did you take? What did you do to solve this problem? (start with action verbs) Result: What was the result or outcome of your action? How did it benefit the organization? Can this result be quantified?
Use 2-5 of these bullets per entry. Keep them detailed but concise. Pack as much of a punch as you can in as few words as you can.
Here’s an example of a strong set of accomplishment bullets, courtesy of the National Democratic Training Committee:
Here are two great examples of conversions from weak to strong bullets, courtesy of Yale:
This stuff matters––especially when you’re looking for your first or second job in politics––and doing it right will help you stand out from the crowd.
Cover Letters
This is another slightly annoying but eminently doable part of the job process. Most cover letters suck, but, when done right, they can be an incredible opportunity to tell your story and introduce yourself to your employer.
Much of the advice from the resume section holds here. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation are super important, so you should proofread at least three times and get a second reader if possible.
There are no firm rules here, but I’ve found the following four-paragraph model (courtesy of the National Democratic Training Committee) to be the strongest:
Introduction: Introduce yourself and articulate both your interest in the specific position and your interest in the field in general. Progressive politics is mission-driven work, so concentrate on your unique “why” for choosing this pathway. Skills and Background: Now that you’ve established your enthusiasm and sense of purpose, begin to establish credibility by using this section to discuss your background qualifications for the position. Show and Prove: So now we know you’re eager, and we know you’re qualified, so what have you done with all that energy and capacity? Use this section to talk about the ways you’ve applied your skills and the positive impact of your effort. Don’t just list your accomplishments, provide engaging stories that illustrate the impact of your work. Anyone can say they’re detail oriented, but it’s another thing entirely to share a story about your attention to detail saving an important project. Land the Plane: Conclude by concisely restating your interest in the organization. Be specific: What is it about this particular organization that excites you? Thank the recipient for their time, provide ways to contact you, and invite continued engagement by encouraging them to reach out.
. It’s definitely worth a read! You should think of this as a tool and an opportunity, not just another obligation. You want to pack as much of a punch as you can, so you shouldn’t just repeat what’s in your resume. If you do this right, employers will leave with a sense of who you are, not just what you’ve done.
Make sure to customize each letter for the job you’re applying for! This should be pretty self-explanatory: there’s no way your introduction and “land the plane” will be the same for every job. Make triple sure that you get the name of the employer right on each letter. Again, keep it to one page and save as a PDF with a clear name.
Networking
Why network?
The good news and the bad news is that, strangely enough, politics is a really small world. Everyone knows everyone. That means that, with a little bit of effort, you can usually network your way into any job you really want if you put some time into it. It also means that you really don’t want to burn any bridges. Word will get around and it will come back to bite you.
An old saying says that people who ask for money get advice, while people who ask for advice get money. That may or may not be true, but the underlying point is both valid and critical: asking people for advice, rather than a more demanding request like a job referral or introduction to someone important, can take you a long way, for a few reasons: first of all, people often have good advice. If you have spent 20 hours researching a new field (which is a lot!), think about the fact that someone working in that field has spent twice as much time in the field as you did, every week, for hundreds if not thousands of weeks. Don’t underestimate how much useful knowledge they might have to share! But there are other reasons to ask someone for an rather than directly going for something more aggressive. Reaching out to someone you don’t know and immediately asking for a job can seem pushy. It might also seem arrogant. But if you ask for 30 minutes of their time and have a good conversation, the person might say “hey, if you’re interested, I could pass along your name to the folks hiring for this job,” or “hey, do you know XYZ? If not, I’d be happy to make an introduction.” They could easily say that for the job/organization/person you had in mind, plus five more that might even be better fits for what you’re looking for but that you didn’t know about, either because you didn’t find them in your research or because (in the case of a job) they were never posted online at all. An important note is that you shouldn’t be deceptive about what you’re asking for. Don’t set a time for a conversation about advice, then make the hard ask for a job or connection when you get there. Not only is that dishonest, the bait-and-switch will probably turn off the person you’re talking to, making them unlikely to help and leaving them with a poor impression of you. A better strategy is to reach out to a (thoughtfully-selected) group of people, without the expectation that any one person will give you exactly what you’re looking for, but rather that the group of people as a whole will provide you with a mix of advice, connections, and opportunities that together help you accomplish whatever you are trying to do. The most important thing for you to know is that the best networking strategy is to do good work. In the small world of politics, word about your good work will get around. Word about bad work will, too. Most of these networking strategies are about getting in the door: pushing for opportunities to get on the radar of folks who might be able to hire you. None of that matters if you aren’t doing great work. If you are--and you do it consistently, treat your coworkers with courtesy and respect, and work as hard as you possibly can--it will get recognized. All these other tips and strategies pale in comparison to the power of competence and intelligence.
How to find any email address
The first step in reaching out to someone is finding their email address. It is shockingly easy to find the email address of pretty much anyone who works in politics. Try these methods (in the following order) until one sticks:
Google them! You will often find a link to a bio page on their organization’s website with a public email address. If that doesn’t work, try creating a free account with . They’ve figured out that pretty much every organization has the same email format for all their employees: for instance, if my email is , Sagal’s email is probably going to be sagal@progressive-pipeline.org. Pop the website of their employer into the Hunter.io search bar, and it’ll spit back a pattern. If you don’t have any luck with hunter.io (or if the person you’re trying to reach is currently between jobs or doesn’t have an organizational email), try rocketreach.co. Also free, but you’re limited to 5 lookups per month, so use them carefully! Just pop in their name (or, better, a link to their LinkedIn profile) and it’ll usually spit an email address out. In case that doesn’t work, I’ve found that people are a lot more willing to put their emails on PDFs than they are on websites. Occasionally, googling someone’s full name in quotation marks plus “filetype:pdf” will spit something out! Anatomy of a cold email
Right now, you have a huge networking advantage that won’t last forever: old people really want to help young people! If you send a thoughtful email to someone who you don’t know, but who’s doing interesting work, and ask if they’d like to connect, your chances of success are really high.
Writing a good cold email is a skill that you’ll use forever, but it’s especially important at the start of your career, when you most need to build your network.
Here’s the rundown:
Subject Line
Keep it short, professional, and not too formal. Give them a sense of who you are and what you’re asking for.
Bad
- help? (or anything all lowercase)
- I am looking for a job in progressive politics and would love your advice (much too long!)
- MEETING REQUEST (weird!)
- (No Subject) (you need one!!)
Good:
- Coffee next week?
- Advice for a student?
- Anything else that’s crisp, clear, and professional
Salutation
I generally think “Dear” is better than “Hi” for folks you haven’t met before, especially if they’re older. Never start an email with “Hey” unless you know them well. Spell their name right!
Opening
It never hurts to start with something nice. “I hope this finds you well!” or “I hope you’re staying safe and healthy!” can help set the tone of the email as two real human beings connecting with each other, not just job-seeking robots.
Then cut to the chase: tell them who you are, how you know about them, and why you want to talk to them. Do this immediately, and don’t beat around the bush.
Bad:
I’m a global citizen and someone, at least in my opinion, who is deeply engaged in the world and progressive politics; I’m both an organizer and an activist at heart. I came to this work when my grandmother told me about the time she met Eugene Debs and -- damn! -- I was hooked. It’s my passion and my calling, and I’d love to speak with you about it because I want to work in politics one day. Can we chat next week?
Yikes! Both TMI and really no information. They don’t need your life story, they just need a little bit of context. And you could have sent this email to anyone. Why do you want to talk to them in particular?
Good:
My name is Valerie, and I’m a junior at the University of North Carolina. I saw that you’re leading analytics at the SEIU, which I’ve admired ever since you all organized my mom’s workplace a decade ago! I’m interested in working in labor, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about how you got started.
Ask
The most important thing is to make an ask! Be clear and concise. The person should understand exactly what you are asking of them. Being vague about what you want doesn’t somehow make it more polite; it only confuses them. Be direct and polite in asking for what you want; it’s doing the other side a favor. If you’re asking for a time to meet or talk, it’s always polite to offer a few time windows that work for you to minimize the back-and-forth in case they are busy and don’t have much availability to meet. Make sure to specify the timezone you’re talking about, especially during COVID times when many people aren’t where they normally would be.
Bad:
It would be such a joy and an honor to learn from you and hear your story. I’m sure you have a lot of wisdom to share, and I can’t wait to engage with you and blossom what I imagine will be a deep and fulfilling relationship.
You didn’t make an ask! They’re left guessing as to what you actually want. Be warm and polite, but also treat them like a normal human being.
Good:
Would you have a few minutes to connect next week? I’m free Monday 3-6pm EST, Tuesday 10am - 2pm EST, or Friday 9am - 12pm EST.
Closing
End with something like thanks, warmly, or best and your first name. Keep your email signature short and professional. It doesn’t need to be your whole story.
Pulling it together
That’s it! All together:
Subject: Connecting next week?
Dear Joanna,
Hoping this finds you well!
My name is Valerie, and I’m a junior at the University of North Carolina. I saw that you’re leading analytics at the SEIU, which I’ve admired ever since you all organized my mom’s workplace a decade ago! I’m interested in working in labor, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about how you got started.
Would you have a few minutes to connect next week? I’m free Monday 3-6pm EST, Tuesday 10am - 2pm EST, or Friday 9am - 12pm EST.
How to get a job in politics!
