You probably fit in right where we all started when we wanted to work on Capitol Hill. Whether it was for the experience or the chance to help make a difference in the world, you wanted to a job on Capitol Hill. For some it may be easy. In other cases it can be quite frustrating just getting an entry level job you feel you’re overqualified for.
Your best bet to find a job on Capitol Hill is to contact the representative from your home district. You should contact the Chief of Staff in that office and ask for an informational interview. Have your resume up to date, a few writing samples ready, and come up with a good reason why you want to work on the Hill. Sometimes a job may be available and sometimes you might be able to meet the representative face-to-face for a meeting since you are a constituent or you are from there. If a job is not available, ask the Chief of Staff for other people you can meet with representing the state you are from. Ask for additional contacts in other offices until you begin to develop contacts in these offices.
You should also meet with the Chief of Staff of the senators from your state. Meet with them in the same way you did with your representative’s Chief of Staff.
This makes much more sense when you are of the same partisanship as these Members of Congress whose offices you have been contacting. You may be from a state where there is only one party in power and your views are representative of the opposite party. In this case you can still meet with the Chief of Staff from your district and ask for people to contact they may know who will be glad to meet with you and attempt to help you find employment on Capitol Hill.
Capitol Hill jobs are extremely competitive. A Staff Assistant job is often hard to secure when so many recent graduates come to the Hill with the same job aspirations as you have. If you are serious you will figure out how to get a job on the Hill. Of course you still need to eat and have a roof over your head, so you may have to find other employment while you continue to contact the people you have met with during your pursuit of Capitol Hill jobs. Just don’t give up if you really want to work there.
