What No One Told Me About Navigating DC Political World

 

Growing up, I always wanted a big sister. Someone who had been to high school dances, for example and could tell me what people wore, what to expect etc. This would have saved me a lot of grief when I showed up in a bridesmaid dress from the Nordstrom Rack sale section to an event where everyone else was wearing baby tees and jeans. (Keep in mind this was in the earlier days of the Internet when there was no YouTube or Instagram to tell me how to "dress my aesthetic.")  This feeling continued well into my 20's when I did find mentors who were well-intentioned but I soon discovered victims of the same myths and pressures I was battling myself. What I would have given for some straight talk from someone who has been and there and was willing to admit, nay declare, that the Emperor is often without clothes. As my favorite British comedian Joe Lycett would say "sometimes if you want something to exist you have to make it yourself." 

If you have ever felt like you missed the day of school where they taught you how to "be" in politics this post is for you. This is not tips for networking, or resume writing or job searching. Rather this is about the smoke and mirrors I wish someone had discussed with me when I was intimidated and more or less navigating our unique social structure on my own. Let's go! 

1) Being a "consultant" doesn't mean shit. Okay maybe you all are a lot smarter than I am but when I was in my early to even mid-twenties working on campaigns and doing informational interviews in DC I assumed campaign consultants were all hyper-successful-know-it-alls joining conference calls when they deigned to from their second beach house. The truth is being a campaign consultant can mean a wide array of things. In the first place any asshole can set up a website and hang out a shingle and put up a front but that doesn't mean they are either exceptionally qualified or exceptionally successful at it. In the second place, junior associates or account executives even at well established and respected firms are not necessarily making more money than an RFD on a statewide or a manager on a city council race. (Though they should still take you out to dinner on the company's dime if they come to visit.) This also means that they last minute help that you may be lucky to get from your TV or mail firm is not necessarily deserving of the disdain with which you might be tempted to treat them (and I speak now in retrospect to my asshole of a past self) sure a lot of these DC ship-ins can have chips on their shoulders but some of them are there to earnestly learn what goes on on the ground. TL; DR all "consultants" are not equal. 

2) Campaign awards are basically a giant circle jerk. I love and respect my friends on every 40 Under 40 List, recipients of Pollies, and Reed awards. I will be excited for them every time they are nominated, slightly wistful that I am not there myself, and wholeheartedly post about how deserving they are. That said, these awards like everything else are lower case "p", political. Awards go to managers and consultants who are nominated by big firms, and those that are paying members or sponsors of the lists, publications, or organizations that are issuing them. They are great for marketing and a great way to recognize quality or enterprising work but you are not finding your way on to these lists based on merit alone. Conversely while awards are nice for marketing no one serious is counting awards when it comes to which firms to bring in on a project.

3) Selfies with principals are proof of...having access to a cell phone. My grandson, Organizer Memes, recently posted the lament of an anonymous reader who was worried they were falling behind because their contemporaries were taking pictures with "important politicians" while the poster was on the ground doing what I might call "the real work." While having your picture taken with a Member of Congress who you admire can be fun and meaningful, what it doesn't mean is anything about your relative importance. Back in my day when I had to walk uphill both ways to canvass and had exactly 0 days off a month, we were taught "no star fucking." Essentially, pictures with candidate or their surrogates are for donors and volunteers and you are there to work and MAYBE get a pic along with the rest of the staff if you are lucky.  Taking a picture with a politician means that you were there and you asked them. This could be at a rally, a fundraiser or even when you bumped into them with you boss after returning with his Dunkin' order. But just like having your picture with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland does not make you an Imagineer, having a picture with AOC on its own says only that you have a picture with AOC. 

To drive home my point,  here are some pictures of me in 2007 with Howard Dean while campaigning for disgraced Senator John Edwards and maybe the worst picture of my face in existence with Senator Tammy Baldwin when she visited the MN DFL Headquarters in 2019. 

4) Confidence does not equal competence. Maybe it is how I was raised or more likely how I was socialized but if I don't know what I'm talking about I tend not to speak on a subject. If I care to, I try to learn and ask questions. Not so for a lot, and I mean A LOT, of people in our industry. (I will leave you to infer the race and gender of most of them.) When I would visit DC in my younger times, because I was a beautiful naive ingenue, I would marvel at the way that acquaintances would casually drop the names of congressional committees and the bills before them and even more so self-assuredly offer opinions on their sponsors' potential career trajectories. It look me years (read: way longer than it should have) to realize that most of these predictions were ripped straight off of Politico and 538 at best and more likely straight out of their asses. I can't tell you how many people came to me for advice during the 2020 primaries saying "I want to work for X candidate but someone is telling me that only Y can win and I will be burned if I don't work for them." If the past several election cycles have taught us anything it's that nobody knows anything for certain and in many ways conventional wisdom is overrated. The longer I spend in this town the more I recognize overconfidence and lack of curiosity for the red flag toward Losertown that it is.  

5) All the above this advice boils down to the following: take the work seriously, don't yourself so seriously! This is not House of Cards or West Wing and anyone acting like it is, is in fact themselves desperately insecure. While the stakes of our collective work are literally life or death, the stakes of your particular career are not. Don't drive yourself crazy over your "career trajectory." Do what lights you up, that makes you feel passionate and excited to go to work with people you enjoy working with. This is the best way to gain a good reputation, make a real difference and ultimately advance your career. 

Join The CampaignSick March Madness Bracket

March Madness is upon us! 

March Madness was wildly popular when I was starting out on campaigns and I was never really into it. Then my husband (then boyfriend) was away running a Congressional and I wanted something in common to talk to him about every evening other than work so I gave it a shot. If you are a doubter I am here to tell you March Madness is mad fun. If you feel like you can't participate because you don't follow college basketball the thing you need to know is that no one does! Last year, 15 seed* St. Peter's led by friend of the blog, Shaheen Hollway*, beat number 2 seed Kentucky and made it all the way to the Elite Eight*.  So no one knows. All you need is basic knowledge of basketball and the willingness to lose your mind over $20.*

So with that in mind I have created a CampaignSick March Madness Bracket! There is no entry fee and as such no monetary prize but there are bragging rights! I created this bracket group specifically for the campaign and progressive community because I thought it would be fun but you don't need to be part of the community to participate. I invite you to participate especially if this is not generally your thing but you want to give it a shot in a supportive low-stakes environment.

So give it a shot! Feel free to share widely and tweet me @CampaignSick with how your bracket is doing!

Campaign Love and Mine!

Nancy 

*seed indicates how highly ranked a team is 

*current coach and alum of Seton Hall, where my husband went 

*the final 8 teams left in the tournament 

*I find wagering even a little on the games gets me really passionate about them but you can also just enter brackets for fun, like this one! 

Tips For Campaign People Interviewing At Non-Profits

Happy New Year! Long time no blog! As you may have seen in some of my YouTube videos I had crappy year, health-wise. BUT I am feeling much better and ready to share more job search wisdom post-2022 cycle. I did a poll on Twitter and you all said you would rather have this information in written blog form rather than YouTube or TikTok. In truth, nothing about my views and engagement leads me to believe that's the case BUT since I've never been able to monetize any of this and blogging doesn't require me to put on makeup on my last day of vacation, let's do it! 

I've already done posts and videos on topics like what to ask on an informational interview (video version here), job search frustrations and writing a campaign resume. You can find lots of other advice here in my archives. 

In searching for a topic that a) I haven't written about before b) would be helpful to job searchers and c) I am better equipped to write about now than I was 5-10 years ago when I wrote most of the advice referenced above (TEN YEARS? I am officially ancient), I thought of a question I get asked a lot. It's usually some variation of  "How do I make the leap from campaigns to X campaign-adjacent field?" Today,  I'm going to talk about progressive non-profits because that's what I've done and it is also where most of the opportunity to do this switching is. Specifically I want to talk about job interviews because it's something I haven't covered before and as a hiring manager I have seen my share of mistakes. Below you will find my tips for campaign staff interviewing for jobs at a non-profit. 

 

1. Don't sound lazy.  In the past I have asked a former campaign staffer "why do you want to switch from campaigns to non-profits?" and gotten some version of "I am burnt out on campaigns" or "the campaign lifestyle is too intense/crazy hours." These, in my opinion, are bad answers. They are not wrong answers. No one knows better than I do the lure of stability, work-life balance and ability to plan for the future that pulls a person from campaigns- but they're not what a hiring manager wants to hear. 

The problem is that you are essentially saying "I want to do something that is less difficult, less time- consuming and/or less work" and when you are trying to get a job it is unwise to tell the person with the job to give that you are looking to do less work. 

Regardless of how the question is phrased, you want to use every opportunity to discuss what excites you about this new role and what you can bring to the new organization - not what you've disliked about the things you've done in the past. 

I believe in my interview for my current job I answered this question with something like: 

"I've been doing this for a long time and jumped around a lot. I am looking to use what I've learned to grow a program over the long-term and make my mark on something." 

Some other examples might include: 

"The time constraint of campaigns doesn't always give you the opportunity to be as intentional as you'd like to be when making decisions. I'm really passionate about X (healthcare, voting rights, whatever this organization works on) and I want to be a space where I can work strategically on it." 

"Because of the way they're structured organizing on campaigns can be very transactional, I love the idea of being able to take my time to invest and build relationships in the community here." 

Of course your answer will depend on the job/organization but the point is your can still get across wanting more stability or a slower pace in a way that highlights what excites you about the job and what you can bring to the table.

As an addendum to this point, don't insult my best friend, campaign work.  As you can tell from this blog, my social media presence and the everything about me, I friggin' love campaigns. Not every hiring manager at a non-profit will have a campaign background and fewer will be as enamored of the lifestyle as I am but especially if you are looking to work somewhere politically oriented, they may be. I have had applicants straight up diss campaign life is a misguided effort to I don't know what...bond? I had one candidate (and when I say candidate in this context I mean job candidate not candidate for office) say to me, "The campaign lifestyle is just unsustainable. No one could do it for more than a few cycles unless you're crazy." (Umm hi, hello, me, I did that.) 

2. Know why you want to work here. This sounds like interview 101, right? But if you think about it candidate campaigns are all pretty similar in that the answer, at least in a general election, to "why do you want to work here" is often "Democrats good, Republicans bad. I want to elect Democrats." Even in a primary a simple "I saw the Senator speak and I was really inspired" or "I come from a working class background and it's really important to me that we nominate someone who will focus on income inequality" will do the trick. 

When it comes to non-profits you may not have even been aware of the organization before you saw the job posting, so it is important to do your research and not just superficially. A meh answer is "You work on abortion and I am passionate about abortion rights." A great answer is "Well I am passionate about abortion rights because of X succinct experience/identity/reason and I am specifically drawn to your organization because you are at the forefront of on organizing for rights at the state legislative level." A thoughtful, researched answer demonstrates that you are excited about the job (even if you aren't) and managers want to hire applicants who are excited to work there because they're more fun to be around and do a better job. At worst I have seen applicants answer this question with what amounts to "I care about this issue and I don't want to work on campaigns anymore" and we have already discussed why that is no good.  

3. Spell it out.  I've mentioned the possibility that your interviewer could be a campaign veteran, but the opposite could be true as well. Even in at a politically oriented non-profit you may be interviewing with someone who has never step foot in a field office. Make sure to explain tasks and job-specific terminology. Make the bridge between your past experience and what you'll be doing in your new role. Your interviewer might not realize the amount of responsibility that goes into running a GOTV operation for a whole region, so include details about how many other staff and volunteers you oversaw, what they (and you) were doing and how that contributed to the campaign's overall success. Unless you know your interviewer has a campaign background define terms like staging location, Votebuilder, or caucus captain. If it turns out the person interviewing you does have a campaign background, they should let you know pretty quick in their response. 

4. Demonstrate that you understand the difference between this new role and campaign work. One thing I always ask an applicant who is coming from campaign world is "how do you think working at this organization will be different from working on campaigns?" While it is true that (generally, certainly in my current role) non-profits offer greater stability and better work-life balance, they also lack some of the things I love about campaign work and have their own frustrations. For example, in comparison to campaigns where every moment is of the essence, decisions at non-profits tend to be made slooooooowly and often by committee. Campaigns, while hierarchical, also tend to give a lot of responsibility to relatively junior staff (where else in my first job out of college would I have overseen 200 people across three offices?), non-profits not so much. If you are used to, and have an affinity for, campaign life I want to make sure you're not going to be bored in a role that will be a slower burn. 

In addition, even titles like "organizer" or "manager" can mean wildly different things from campaigns and  even within the progressive non-profit space. Make sure you read the job description and ask  questions about what the role entails so that you give thoughtful, informed answers. 

5. Let's talk about salaries. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be comparing any industry's salaries as unfavorable to campaigns'. However, campaign salaries, especially on federal campaigns, have skyrocketed in the past couple of years. Primarily we can credit a) the ridiculous number of candidates and therefore higher demand for talent during the 2020 primary and b) campaign staff unions. This is great news! But, it does mean you may be taking a pay cut to move over to the world of non-profits. 

That doesn't mean you won't be as well or better compensated when you factor in things like benefits and work-life balance. For example, I've never heard of a campaign with a 401k match and progressive non-profits usually have excellent and highly subsidized healthcare, not to mention accrued vacation. Unless you are applying for a cyclical position, you also won't have to account for a period of unemployment every November and December. 

Your mileage may vary in either direction; I've certainly heard horror stories about toxic and exploitative workplace cultures across the progressive non-profit sector and some non-profits do pay very well, but I say all this to encourage you to do your research and think holistically about an offer and an organization when negotiating your acceptance and deciding where to apply.

That's what I have for you. What else do you want to know about? More career switching? Interview tips? What I wish I had known in X situation? Hit me up! And until next time...

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy

New YouTube Video: I Was Almost A Spy!

Do you have a topic you'd like me to cover? Leave it in the comments!

New Video: Answering Questions from a Frustrated Career Switcher

 

Introducing The CampaignSick YouTube Channel

Y'all I'm very excited to announce that CampaignSick now has a YouTube channel! The first two videos are up and while I am still learning I think I can confidently say I improved between the two. If you like this type of content (and you do if you're reading my blog) please like and subscribe...you don't realize how much it helps until you start YouTubing! 

The first topics are "What to Ask on Informational Interviews" and "My Experience Living With Chronic Illness on Campaigns".  What else do you want to see/hear about? Let me know in video comments or by tweeting @CampaignSick! 

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy 

Two New Trainings! Campaign Staff Management and Finding and Managing Consultants

You all have already heard me wax poetic about how much I love a good training opportunity and how much I loved working with National Democratic Training Committee so you will be unsurprised to hear how grateful I am to be able to teach on two of the topics about which I am most passionate: managing campaign staff and managing consultants.

Please check them out on NDTC's site!

Campaign Love and Mine,

Nancy