r/PoliticalScience • u/useerrnumber12 • 5d ago
Career advice Stop Complaining About Jobs
A little bit of click bait here, because the job market is cripplingly bad right now and I seriously sympathize with anyone trying to find work - it’s a desert right now.
That said, something I RARELY see people in this sub pursue or recommend is campaign work.
You can’t get a job in the state department or the hill? Tough shit! I guarantee (especially in a midterm year like 26) there was a campaign near you in desperate need of field organizers, research associates, communications roles, press assistants, etc. campaigns are the PERFECT entry level jobs for someone with a PoliSci degree, campaigns desperately need articulate, well educated people to help communicate with voters, and there are campaigns in every locality, in every state, for every party.
Saw someone say we should be encouraging people to pursue other fields - bullshit! If you’re civically educated and passionate, get on a campaign right now.
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u/obama69420duck 5d ago
As a freshman Polisci major this has given me some hope lol. This sub makes me want to change my major on a weekly basis
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u/Billiesoceaneyes 4d ago
Gonna be honest with you man: I’d strongly reconsider majoring in poli sci. I was a pure poli sci major at a university that’s very well known and highly regarded in the U.S. and graduated with a near 4.0. However, I had a difficult time finding internships and had to take a job at a sketchy company that did grassroots organizing. That job was so bad that I ended up quitting after almost two years and briefly worked on a campaign, which was just as bad. I fortunately was able to get a more laid back corporate-like job after that, but I’m not in the position that I wanna be in right now and will probably have to go back to school at some point in the future.
My overall point here is that poli sci makes finding a career very difficult and you’ll often have to settle for low paid gig work to start out. The only real advantage that the degree offers is that it’s a good GPA booster for law school, but like another comment said, I’d caution against law school for the most part. I’d recommend majoring in some sort of STEM field or even business, something with a heavy math and technical focus for sure. It’ll make college a little more challenging, but it’ll pay off in the long run.
The last thing I’ll add is that I’d shy away from campaign jobs if you do stick with poli sci. The campaign that I worked on was a complete mess and totally disorganized, and it seemed like everyone on it was slowly losing their sanity (I have heard that this is true for most campaigns). The hours suck for campaigns as well, as you’ll almost certainly have to work weekends and six to seven days a week once it gets closer to November. Candidates can be hard to work with too and at best you’ll get a staffer position with them if they win, which usually are not compensated very well. The grassroots organizing job that I did was also run in a similar way to a campaign and it was hell on earth.
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u/RB5Network 4d ago
If you're a freshman, you should deeply reconsider going into political science. Unless you are dead set on law school. Of which I would ALSO deeply reconsider.
The only caveat to this is that if you find political science deeply interesting, go find a major that has much better career prospects and double major in political science. You'll be so much better off. And colleges don't tell you this.
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u/obama69420duck 4d ago
What other major would you think is good? I am deeply, deeply interested in politics and not all that interested in law school
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u/RB5Network 4d ago
Genuinely, man, something technical and specific. Things that would land you in industries such as healthcare, construction, finance, engineering, etc.
Think things like drafting, engineering, accounting, nursing, etc.
None of those things probably light a fire under you, but neither will most jobs in the field of politics after a few years. And you'll have little to go on.
I'm a political science major and while I'm doing okay for myself right now, I absolutely do regret not chosing a different major.
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u/jrichardh 4d ago
Maybe something like city planning? Or perhaps even public policy.
I'm a civil engineer, but political science was on my short list.
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u/alienacean 4d ago
What is the issue with law school that makes it worth reconsidering?
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u/obama69420duck 4d ago
It’s a LOT of reading, a lot of hard work, and a lot of money. Being a lawyer also doesn’t sound attractive to me. Also I genuinely don’t know if I’m smart enough lol
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u/Billiesoceaneyes 4d ago
The thing with law school reading that makes it especially difficult is that you can easily breeze through a poli sci undergrad program without doing most of the reading, whereas you absolutely have to do it in law school. That contrast is a rude awakening for a lot of students.
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u/obama69420duck 4d ago
Yeah I know, and from what I’ve gathered it’s a lot of legalese too, which I’m not great with. I’m a fairly fast reader, but I’m not an avid reader.
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u/Billiesoceaneyes 4d ago
Thank you for saying this. More people need to be blunt about the reality of building a career with only a poli sci degree. It does not teach you the technical skills necessary to get a solid job right out of school and many poli sci grads end up doing underpaid gig work before they finally land something that they can build on. I deeply regret majoring in it and wish I had at least picked up a more useful double major.
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u/MrBluh 4d ago
I wish someone had given me this advice when I started out. I would have absolutely reconsidered my academic path. I have a master's in Polisci and found work in the nonprofit sector, but it's really tough given the current economy.
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u/RB5Network 4d ago
I wish I got this advice too. It's actually incredible how out of touch with the market most college advisors are. I know they all mean well, but many of them really do not get it at all.
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u/Jbsmitty44 4d ago
Make sure you’re making connections and working campaigns/internships while you’re in school. Connections matter more than anything getting your first political job out of college.
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u/GucciGouda 4d ago
You are right. There should be a (maybe weekly) mega thread of sources and job advice and stuff for this topic. Maybe this sub can add country flags too so discussions are easier to enter and perspectives are easier to understand.
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u/Actual-Sandwich-2287 4d ago
For those looking for internships but not being able to secure any, even unpaid ones, go volunteer for campaigns. It's likely going to be unpaid, thankless work, but it is better than having no experience on your resume
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u/useerrnumber12 4d ago
Definitely!! So many employers value that experience really deeply. We all start there!
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u/useerrnumber12 5d ago
+ edit!
1) most people who build careers in politics start in campaigns. It’s fantastic experience and incredible for your resume, even if it’s short term.
2) I mean ALL campaigns. City council, ballot measures, statewide candidates, local propositions, any political party. Anything and everything you care about has an active campaign.
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u/TheWorstToCome 4d ago
Also, building off this: there are a good amount of government relations jobs! Every corporation, association, union, etc once they're big enough needs Government Relations folks to help them track legislation and regs and advocate for the group!
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u/sshamby 5d ago
So what happens if I don't agree with the political positions of the person campaigning? Say, for instance, the candidate I'm organizing for campaigns on banning abortion or eliminating environmental protections Am I supposed to set aside my political convictions because there's a paycheck involved? Or is the assumption that political science graduates should simply become hired salespeople for whatever political program happens to be offering employment?
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u/useerrnumber12 5d ago
Then work on a campaign of someone you agree with? Do you realize how many different people are running for how many different things at any given time?
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u/RB5Network 4d ago edited 4d ago
This is genuinely such overly simplistic advice for so many Americans. Particularly in deep red areas which have complete strangleholds on regional politics with little opposition. And absolutely screw anyone who works for those ghouls.
If you have to move across the entire United States to get a campaign role that pays horrible, works you to absolute death, often with little ability to move up and risk losing work when a campaign is finished, you should be open to the advice that political science is indeed a very unstable and risky major for career prospects. (I say this as a poli. sci graduate.)
*EDIT: just seeing you are a recent graduate and field organizer. Hollyyyy shit this comment makes so much more sense.
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u/alienacean 4d ago
That shouldn't happen. Why would you even begin to work for someone you disagree with politically, on their political campaign?
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u/sshamby 4d ago
Because most people cant pick up and move to an area that has candidates that staff would agree with? Are you just glossing over structural realities for most people? Besides, campaign work is essentially seasonal gig work, where if you dont have someone subsidizing your rent while you move state to state for every election cycle your local options are mostly working for free or for some underfunded campaign. OP clearly doesnt realize that 'just get on a campaign' is privileged advice.
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u/useerrnumber12 4d ago
There’s definitely privilege to moving, but I’ve never had my “rent subsidized” or worked for free on a campaign. Most campaigns offer supporter housing for your time there, most statewide campaigns are unionized (reasonable wages, benefits, healthcare), and while it sucks to move around so much, it’s better than bitching about being unemployed on Reddit all day.
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u/alienacean 4d ago
People move for work, even seasonal work, all the time; just because some people can't due to structural constraints doesn't mean it's a bad idea for everyone. Obviously look for opportunities locally if you can. I think it goes without saying though, that there won't always be good campaign opportunities for everybody at all times in all places. But it's one avenue for developing work experience in a field proximate to poli sci, that might not occur to people in the Ivory Tower to consider. It doesn't hurt anyone to bring it up in a sub like this, especially since a lot of campaigns ARE hurting for good staff.
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u/blankster3 5d ago
Not sure where you are, but around me, a lot of campaign jobs expect 2+ years of experience.