Ask An Election Nerd: Why Do Campaigns Post Jobs Anonymously?

I often see postings for campaign jobs that describe the campaign in vague-ish terms. So instead of "John Doe for Congress," I'll see "Top-tier midwestern congressional campaign." Why is that?
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There are several reasons a campaign might advertise jobs incognito, but most boil down to the fact that they don’t want you to know they are looking for staff.

It could be that the candidate hasn’t announced yet, in which case advertising for a Campaign Manger would certainly let the cat out of the bag. It could also be that the campaign is undergoing a staffing change and they would rather that not be publicized. A campaign could be beefing up an existing operation (for example hiring a large paid canvass) and not want to give the opposition time to catch up. In some cases a campaigns may be wary of alerting their constituents to the fact that they are employing “hired guns” aka campaign professionals, but I suspect/hope this attitude is dying out.

I suppose it’s possible that if I announced I was hiring a Finance Director, an opposing campaign could send a spy to apply to try and gather intel about our operation, but I doubt this happens or would be an effective use of their time.

Finally sometimes outside groups, like consulting firms, might post to help their client hire staff. If this is the case, they will want to be the ones to screen and pass on your resume and anonymity is a way of ensuring that the application goes through them.


Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

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