Campaign Work Can Transfer To Valuable Skills in Other Jobs

Emmett Beliveau, a third-year law student at Georgetown University Law Center, has garnered extensive experience in the criminal-justice field. But that’s not the only thing that impressed employers when he went looking for a job this year. Interviewers were particularly interested in the work he did for Al Gore as a field staffer during the 2000 election.

By KEMBA J. DUNHAM
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

http://www.wsj.com

"I didn’t even have to bring it up because employers always wanted to talk about it," says Mr. Beliveau, who will start work as an associate at a Washington law firm after he finishes working on this year’s presidential election. "The skills you gain while working on a campaign are usually transferable."

Many people, both students and otherwise, have been or will be working in some capacity on the current presidential election. While some hope to get a job in politics, others will seek new jobs and try to use their campaign experience to help them.

"I think the campaign experience can be a very good thing, though of course, the transferability of the experience to other job settings depends significantly on their level of involvement in the campaign," says Gihan Fernando, assistant dean of career services at Georgetown’s Law Center.

He points out that particularly in the field of law, some job seekers may have to consider that employers could possibly be partisan. But that’s not typically a huge concern. In general, employers look at those who have campaign experience favorably.

Applicants who have endured the high-pressure, around-the-clock environment can mention several things to an employer. They can boast about the organizational, time-management and interpersonal-relationship skills that were acquired. "Working on a political campaign is not much different from a sales and marketing job," says Don Sutaria of CareerQuest, a Union, N.J., employment-coaching firm.

Those who have worked on a campaign in a metropolitan area can also talk about coming in contact with a culturally diverse group of people, adds Mr. Sutaria. This might be particularly useful when interviewing at a global organization.

Students who work on campaigns get experience that others might not. Sylvia Robinson, executive director of Georgetown University’s MBNA career-education center, says students who work on campaigns get a "very vivid snapshot" of the world at work that someone with a more traditional summer job might not get.

People who work on campaigns can also illustrate passion for something. Ian Millhiser, a first-year law student at Duke University’s School of Law was an intern with the Howard Dean campaign this past winter and plans on volunteering for John Kerry this year. Although he’s participating because of fundamental beliefs, not in order to get a job in the future, he can see how his purpose for choosing this type of work can be attractive to an employer.

"Given the choice, I’d rather have passion than skill and experience," says Mr. Millhiser. "Passion shows that you are willing to go out and work for what you believe in, which is important from an employer perspective. You can always train someone who is enthusiastic, but you can’t do anything about apathy."

"The ability to tell future employers that as a first-year law student I rose to a leadership position during the summer on a campaign — working 14-hour days for four months in a row, solving problems, developing both management and customer-service skills — and now have a broad base of contacts would certainly be impressive to a future employer," says Bruce Elvin, assistant dean of career Services at Duke University School of Law.

Elie Jacobs, a 25-year-old junior account executive at MacMillan Communications, a New York public-relations firm, believes his campaign experience has made an impression on employers. Mr. Jacobs was heavily involved as a volunteer in local efforts of the Wesley Clark campaign this winter and was part of a leadership group that helped raise around $200,000 — all while holding down a day job.

Recently, Mr. Jacobs went on an interview for another public-relations company. Although he was initially given only 10 minutes, the conversation went over as the three interviewers asked a host of questions about his campaign activities and beliefs. He was subsequently offered the job.

"I think that employers like the fact that there is an involvement outside of work," he says. "They want to see that someone has a personality and are thinking on his own. There are so few jobs out there and this kind of experience differentiates you from someone else."

Write to Kemba J. Dunham at [email protected]

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