With all the talk about Healthcare reform and the Insurance industry spending a million bucks a day on ads and lobbying, I was thinking to myself… “self, how do I hook up one of them lobbyist gigs??”
What kind of education do I need? I’m currently an IT programmer type. I deal with business customers directly and sometimes they let us sit in the requirements phase meetings. I don’t have a college degree. I just happened to get my foot in the door (luckily) and here I am.
Where and how do I apply? Are these lobbyist gigs few and far between? Do they like to hire internally from their HR or PR depts first? Are there contracting firms specializing in churning out lobbyists?
What kind of skills do I need? Do I need to have a sharp tongue, have excellent communication skills, be able to bullshit my way into a U2 concert backstage, etc…?
Obviously knowing people in political circles would help, correct? What kind of connections would be best?
A friend of mine was a lobbyist for a few years. He made $20k a year, top, plus travel expenses. That’s not to say there aren’t some who make a lot more…
He doesn’t have a Bachelors degree and got the job 100% on his charm - which is really the only job requirement.
First, you probably need to move to Washington, DC, or at least your own state’s capital.
Second, lack of a degree is a problem. Your competition will all have degrees.
Third, there are lots of lobbyist jobs. The better ones would generally require you to have a law degree, but that’s not a requirement. You ought to have some basis in the legal, political, or regulatory process to be a good candidate, which means an internship in a related policy-making field would be helpful.
Fourth, you start looking through the Internet and finding lobbying firms that specialize in issues you’re interested in. You send them resumes and cover letters, and hope for the best, just like any other job.
Fifth, if you did get a job, you’d be starting at an entry level since you have no experience in public policy, so you’d probably be doing things like answering phones, making copies, etc. I’d expect that your starting salary would be in the $30,000-40,000 range.
But, at this point, you’d be a pretty poor candidate, because you have no college degree and no experience in policy related fields.
I’ve known about two dozen lobbyists, and in the course of my work met dozens more. They have a few things in common.
All of them either came out of the industry they lobbied for, or have a degree in something like political science, public administration or law. Most of them had Master’s degrees.
Except for the ones who had worked up through the industry side, they all had served multiple unpaid internships in something related to government: legislative assistants, clerkships for judges, public-interest groups, etc.
More than a few of them came from politically connected families, so they grew up in or around government. I know one lobbyist who came from one of the oldest families in Georgia. Working in government was basically the family business.
All of them had personalities that make the typical Type-A person look like a stoner.
One of the keys to lobbying is to look exactly like the person you’re lobbying to – except that you should be better looking and probably younger. One time at my state capitol I stopped for a haircut and the barber shop was full of state officeholders, their assistants and lobbyists. Not only did they all migrate to the same barber, they all bought their suits at the same store. And be prepared to work long hours, particularly when the legislature is in session. 18 hour days for several months in a row aren’t uncommon.
I don’t know of any contracting or temp firms for lobbyists, since a real lobbyist has to be registered, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they exist in Washington or some of the larger state governments.