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Two views on working in politics
For some, the traditional path to power still works. Growing up in the
capital of Florida, Clarke knew early on that he wanted to run for
office. After serving as the president of his fraternity and as
president of his senior class at Florida State University, he graduated
in 1994 and moved to DC to begin an unpaid internship with
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R - FL). Five months later, at
the recommendation of the representative, Clarke was hired as the
Director of Governmental Affairs for the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians.
As an employee of the federally recognized tribal government, Clarke was
charged with opening a DC office to lobby Florida delegates
on issues such as environmental regulations, anti-Indian sentiment, and
gambling laws. At 26, he has held his position for three years and
finds it very fulfilling. "I can see tangible, physical results. I think that very few of my peers are able to say that." He hopes
to eventually return to Tallahassee for work or school, and then to run
for office.
Clarke advises potential DC job seekers to establish a network of contacts
before they move and to volunteer for civic and political
organizations: "A lot of what I've learned here is that it's who you
know rather than what you know."
Joel* couldn't disagree more. He dismisses networking as useless for his
job hunt and described his short unpaid internship in a senator's office
as "typical — very frustrating, uninteresting work."
"I learned that if you aspire to advise a public servant on problems in public policy, you're expected to have expertise which is usually demonstrated in published articles."
Currently, Joel is a special assistant to an ambassador. He had hoped to learn more about the mechanics of statecraft in his job, yet is disappointed with his duties. He is considering Ph.D. programs,
but is not sure whether he should continue to study politics as he did for his two previous degrees. CONTINUE ->
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