I was wondering what your job title used to be or where you worked? The about says "former Democratic Campaign Operative" I was wondering if you had any tips on getting to that position for a sophomore Political Science major in the Honors program at his college.
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Oooh boy! Good question! First of all, I am super glad you are interested in working on campaigns. It is a horrible, awesome job that has changed my life forever. Assuming this site is still up and running when we both graduate from our respective programs get in contact with me and I will happily help you out.
Starting out on campaigns, the easiest job to get is Field Organizer, which is what I did for my first 2 cycles. (In Minnesota in 2006 and then in the caucus in Iowa in 2007.) Most of the posts on here refer to field, which is the direct voter contact portion of campaigns. I love field because as much as they drive me crazy, I love interacting with volunteers and voters.
The truth is, if you are fairly intelligent and can demonstrate a good (or really great) work ethic, these jobs are not terribly hard to get in an election year because the need is high. To see if this is something you’ll like, I would suggest interning on a campaign. This is a great way to get experience and make connections. Let me know where you are at school or for the summer and I will try to help plug you in somewhere if you like.
In addition…Wellstone, DFA, Emilys List, 21st Century Democrats, New Organizing Institute (google any of these, I have done 21st Dems) all offer trainings that can give you a jumpstart on the skills you need and usually end in a career fair.
There are also a number of listserves like EmilysList Jobserve, Tom Manatos and Jobsthatareleft that list these types of jobs, as well as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Senate or DNC's websites.
I hope this helped you and others!!! Feel free to reach out if I can be of help.
Best,
Nancy
Thank you SO much! You don't know how much this means to me that you answered! I am definitely going to email you with more details about me. ANY help you can give is so greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I blog at politicsandcardigans.wordpress.com (more personal, political blog) and campusbeautiful.wordpress.com (more about school, politics, the future). I have two, because I'm not out to my parents yet.
Thanks SO MUCH for the help and I will definitely email you! :)
So happy to help! If you are thinking of coming out, you might find my friend's recent project interesting. You can follow this link. (http://campaignsick.tumblr.com/post/26804605288/and-now-for-something-completely-different) Let me know if I can help with that or jobs or anything!
ReplyDeleteOrganizer Love,
Nancy
Thank you so much for your support! The idea that you would help me job wise is so wonderful to me. You have no idea how much it means, honestly. I am a very hard working, very passionate political junkie that loves campaigns. I get so giddy when campaign season comes around. I'm strange, I know. I know I have what it takes to go far, especially within campaigns (and eventually becoming President, just you watch) I just never had ANY clue on how to do it and especially was constantly looking for some way to get my foot in the door. The best part, on August 20 of this year, I will start my sophomore year at my college. I am an undergrad majoring in Political Science in the Honors Program. I'd like to think I'm pretty smart, and have tons of passion. I look at your tumblr and it's what I want to do. I see listings saying long hours, and I think, I can't wait :) Expect an email from me tomorrow, as tonight, I can barely put together an coherent sentence. Thank you so much!!
ReplyDeletePS: I awkwardly and shamelessly attempted to add you on LinkedIn... Feel free to ignore it if you would like!
With Great Appreciation,
Tyler
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ReplyDeleteHappy to hear that! I am excited for you! I will happily add you next time I am on Linkedin. In the meantime, feel free to facebook me or message me here or at campaignsick@gmail.com.
ReplyDeleteAll my best,
Nancy