Office life as a congressional Intern can be tedious if you let it be. In my experience offices don’t tend to expect too much out of their interns and it is your job to make them reevaluate that line of thinking. A few things to expect:
1. Be ready to answer the phones – as an intern you are expected to act as a filter to the more senior members of your member’s staff. Answering phones is something these staffers do not like to do – thus, it is for you to do.
2. Answering phones is not fun – you will be confronted with lunatics, conspiracy theorists, and generally people with no clue how government works. They will yell at you sometimes. Expect call volume and frequency to increase when something important is happening. It is perhaps the worst aspect of this gig in my opinion.
After this, the duties of an intern are subject to your coordinator and your office.
I would highly recommend the following:
1. Work hard – this would seem to go without saying, but after a few days of doing nothing but answering horrible phone calls you might find your work ethic waning. Power through this. Staffers notice who cares and who does not. Staffers also talk to one another. You don’t want to gain the reputation as the “bad intern” in their office. It will get around.
2. Make your interests known – Your intern coordinator should know what you are interested in with regards to policy. Transportation, defense, environmental, whatever it is, try to go to briefings and hearings that pertain to it (this will also get you away from the phones for a while).
3. Work hard – in my opinion people make too much out of the whole “networking” thing on the Hill. Yes, carry business cards with you. Yes, hand them out when you can. Yes, make friends in other offices. All of these are nice touches and great ways to (maybe) be remembered. A better touch and a guaranteed way to be remembered: to be invaluable to the staffers in your office. You should strive to be the name they call when they need something.
4. The BBQ station in the Longworth cafeteria – it’s really good.
1. Be ready to answer the phones – as an intern you are expected to act as a filter to the more senior members of your member’s staff. Answering phones is something these staffers do not like to do – thus, it is for you to do.
2. Answering phones is not fun – you will be confronted with lunatics, conspiracy theorists, and generally people with no clue how government works. They will yell at you sometimes. Expect call volume and frequency to increase when something important is happening. It is perhaps the worst aspect of this gig in my opinion.
After this, the duties of an intern are subject to your coordinator and your office.
I would highly recommend the following:
1. Work hard – this would seem to go without saying, but after a few days of doing nothing but answering horrible phone calls you might find your work ethic waning. Power through this. Staffers notice who cares and who does not. Staffers also talk to one another. You don’t want to gain the reputation as the “bad intern” in their office. It will get around.
2. Make your interests known – Your intern coordinator should know what you are interested in with regards to policy. Transportation, defense, environmental, whatever it is, try to go to briefings and hearings that pertain to it (this will also get you away from the phones for a while).
3. Work hard – in my opinion people make too much out of the whole “networking” thing on the Hill. Yes, carry business cards with you. Yes, hand them out when you can. Yes, make friends in other offices. All of these are nice touches and great ways to (maybe) be remembered. A better touch and a guaranteed way to be remembered: to be invaluable to the staffers in your office. You should strive to be the name they call when they need something.
4. The BBQ station in the Longworth cafeteria – it’s really good.
-Ryan
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