how to get a job on capitol hill

my former boss is featured in a politico story on new email lists that advertise job openings.

basically, instead of just doing print ads, they now have semi-exclusive "listserves" that post jobs.

one high-ranking republican thinks of getting on the list as the test itself:

“To get a job on the Hill, you have to be a good networker, have a little
savvy,” said Paul Teller, a Republican Study Committee deputy director who runs
a jobs list. “The job search is kind of that first hurdle and test to doing
that. It provides a good weeding-out of people. If you can’t do a basic
networking-type thing” — like discovering these e-mail lists — “then maybe
you’re not Capitol Hill material.”

yowza. a little harsh, but true. all someone has to do is go to their congressman's office and at least one staff member is willing to help you find a job, because they all remember what it was like to new in washington dc and be desperate to find some poorly paid unglamorous job like being a legislative correspondent (basically, a nice title for “mail opener).

I think a few things will happen:
a) staffers will get sick of managing lists, a chief of staff has better things to do than keep sending out job advertisements. On the other hand, they also have better things to do than personally refer each constituent that comes to their office, so maintaining a listserv might actually save them time.
b) the listserves will balloon and then become like the new “roll call” with hundreds of people replying to one job advertisement.
c) “which list” you are on will matter a lot, and I can see differentiated listserves emerging (similar to web 2.0’s concept of a “long tail,” sort of an online sub community with websites that cater only to them.
d) so many people will use these lists that the standard having 200 copies of your resume and going around door to door will become the fashion again. Old school methods + e-methods will matter.

And the article also had some nice commentary on our generation:
The lists’ semi-exclusivity can weed out Hill neophytes. “A lot of times you see people applying for legislative assistant positions right out of college,” said Lelaine Bigelow, who until recently was a legislative assistant with Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.). “They think they’re way too qualified to be staff assistant, when that’s exactly what they’re qualified for.”

Despite what the business school-bound crowd will tell you, paying your dues is still important in washington dc. All my former employers would constantly complain about how entitled “kids today” are, and how college graduates are qualified for entry-level work, and nothing else.
But as someone who is of this generation, I think they fail to take into account that our generation does more than they did at our age. Our generation uses our free time more constructively: start clubs, organize events, publish research, intern places, etc.
The issue here isn’t entry level versus experienced – nobody reasonable is going to dispute that organizing a book reading or something is the same as on job experience. The issue is how much your company is going to let you grow, and more importantly, how quickly.

Still though, it depends on what you apply for. In domestic politics you can absolutely start at the bottom and not “lose time” (in fact, you HAVE to start at the bottom, no exceptions unless you have family connections). The issue of “entitled” comes into play for private sector and think tanks. nobody wants to slave as a research assistant when someone in a neighboring think tank who graduated with you is getting published already, especially if you both have phd ambitions. I’m not too sure about the nonprofit world, but I think theyre changing to meet incoming students qualifications (or, “qualifications”) and expectations. Definitely not at very “traditional” nonprofits like the red cross, but certainly at a smaller more upstart one…