Career Services 2

Last Friday I attended a cover letter and interviewing training class, which was an extremely important lecture for me to attend because my resume can always benefit from help.  I learned several things from this training during the cover letter portion I learned that you should include language in your cover letter that is listed in expected skills in the job posting. You should always use very specific examples and highlight past jobs that relate to the job you are applying for. I learned my cover letters always needs to be tailored to each specific job I am applying to. My last paragraph in my letter should always include my goals and passions as well. Lastly, I learned that generally anything I send should be saved as a PDF so that my documents don’t format weirdly on another person’s computer. For an interview, I learned I needed to research the company that I applying too and specifically people in the company that could be interviewing me. They said I should always develop some questions before I go to the interview and have them ready to ask in order to show that I am interested. Practicing seems to be the best way to prepare for interviews and preparing answers to common questions is incredibly important. During the interview, I learned how important it is to discuss your past experiences and to be extremely specific throughout every example you are explaining. It was incredibly informational and I am happy to have gone to it.

Last Days

My last days working on Capitol Hill has been extremely tough because of how invested I was in my office. I have grown to really enjoy working a typical workday and I feel like my work has real importance. I went to my last briefing this last week and I realized how fortunate I was to be able to go to so many different hour-long lectures on such various topics. I have realized that this job is really what I want to do when I graduate which has been amazing feeling. I truly love public policy and see it in action. My office has done a wonderful job at including me in the work, which has contributed to my strong connection with my office. Even though it was my last week, I have been assigned some major projects. My favorite project this week was figuring out which office we should move to and which our strategy to getting a better office lottery number. I helped get our lottery number for the lottery and then when our number came up for the lottery I had to run to each different office we were considering and take pictures for my supervisor. I was incredibly happy to help with this project because it was a chance to run around the capitol grounds to many offices and since it was timed it gave me a bit of an adrenaline rush. Overall this week has been busy which has kept me from being overly sad about this experiences end.

CNN Headquarters

I got the opportunity to go to CNN headquarters and watch several broadcasts of their nightly news. My mentor is currently a producer for The Lead and invited me to watch not only his broadcast live but also Wolf Blitzer’s show and Candi Crowley’s show. When I got to the studios I was immediately overtaken by presence of the studios. The space is massive and completely high-tech. The office spaces are all lowly lit because the studios need to be the only area that has bright light in the area. I was immediately brought to the studios of The Lead, which was already broadcasting. Jake Tapper was giving an interview with the man who shot Osama Bin Laden. I was shocked that I was able to witness this live and first-hand. I then was moved to the back studios where at least 30 people were all doing very specific jobs for the show. I spoke to the person who changed the graphics throughout the program and she told me how important and detail-oriented her job was, I also spoke to executive producer who seemed very relaxed but at any given moment immediately would shout that something was wrong. After the broadcasts were done I sat down with two different producers and asked all the questions that I had for them in regard to having a career in broadcast news. It was an extremely exciting and eye-opening experience.

Strengths in my Organization

Working as an intern in the House of Representatives has its benefits. The House of Representatives is a incredibly powerful force in our county because it creates and enacts policy that effects everybody in the country, and even the world. The house can advocate and vote for war or peace, create programs that benefit many people, and work for the constituents that they represent. I would argue that the House of Representatives have some of my most powerful responsibilities in our country. Currently, the house does not have a strong ability to create much change due to political gridlock and partisanship. The house’s best strengths are their ability to advocate for specific constituents. I feel as though my work really helped many people in the office I worked for. My office was dedicated to serving others, which I found to be incredibly powerful because many don’t feel the House does an adequate job. If I were to ever be a member in the House, I would make sure to continue to work for my constituents. I would try to get more legislation passed as well but I understand why the house is so divided now. My boss (the representative) works hard to listen to his constituents and consistently works to benefit the people in his district. I really value how much attention he gives his interns as well because it makes my experience so much better. This experience has taught me the importance of valuing your employees and specifically interns. I know that if I ever have interns in my office I will give them the most respect I possibly can.

Briefings on the Hill

Sometimes my internship requires me to go briefings that happen around the capitol grounds that one of the legislative assistants or directors need me to go too. I really love to go these events around the capitol grounds because it provides an opportunity to learn about something new and exciting. Over the course of my internship I have been given so many lectures on so many diverse topics. These topics range from childhood eating disorders to the benefits of soy products to the hearings on the secret service. So many briefings happen daily on the hill. It is actually amazing because these briefings require outside funding and outside support in order to be given in the capitol and to have such range of diverse topics really is an ode to the diversity on capitol hill among the representatives and senators that invite the briefings to happen.

           

Often the best part of a briefing is the food options. They seem to always have so many different types of food at each briefing. Much like college, lobbyists know that food is one of the only ways to get employees to attend briefings. They feed the employees while also giving the employees information on the topic. Sometimes it is sad though because people will often only come to get food, which is disrespectful to the lobbyist that has put a lot of effort into the presentation. I try to always be as professional as possible during briefings. They are probably one of the most interesting parts of my day.

How does your organization demonstrate public service and/ or urban governance?

My organization is the one of the most powerful aspects in government. Since I work for a branch of the government that represents the people much of my work centers on public policy and public service. Everything that I do really is in service to the constituents. My boss or the congressman believes that everything that he does should be for the people that he represents. I really value his opinion and I believe that that is how a government should be run. Many politicians don’t have that mindset which limits their capabilities and also destroys the relationship between the constituent and the politician.

The politicians act as the person that represents the citizen to the executive branch and corporations. In this sense, they are governing over the area they represent. By representing the constituent, the constituent is giving permission to the politician to be their leader. This has become incredibly important for me to consider when working in the politicians office. I need to understand that people my boss is representing haven given my boss and in turn his employees permission to decide how best their district should be run.  This empowers me because I would hope my government office employees would represent me efficiently, and honesty. It inspires me to work better in my office.

Writing a Letter to a Constituent

In my office I write letters to constituents pretty regularly.  I try to get 5-6 letters done a day, which is nothing to the amount of letters and emails that we receive, everyday. To write a letter to a constituent you must be very broad yet you need to answer some of their questions. This requires careful language and a form letter that includes the representative’s opinion on the matter.

In the first paragraph, I usually tell the person that their opinion matters to the congressman and thank them for writing to the congressman. I also re-introduce the topic to the person just in case they forgot about what they had written into about. In the second paragraph, I usually include the basics of the bill or topic that the person mentioned. I try to explain or summarize the topic. I also try to give some type of background knowledge on the bill or topic in case the reader didn’t already know. In the third paragraph, I give the congressman’s opinion and try to reason with the constituent. I usually write that I understand their issue or problem and that the congressman is trying to help through certain avenues.

            In the fourth paragraph, I explain where the topic or bill stands currently. I also tell the reader that the congressman votes transparently.  I give the ways he explains his vote. I then write a thank you for writing into the letter. After writing the letter, I proof it and send it through an online grammar check. Then I send it off to my supervisor that will edit it to perfection

The Struggles of Networking

            Meeting and networking has become one of my biggest struggles while working at this internship. I feel that with my small amount of time in D.C. I should take advantage of as many networking opportunities as I can. This sounds great in theory but in practice networking has caused me a lot of stress. Whenever I network, it feels incredibly fake especially since the people I am meeting with are only interested in using me for my skills. It seems that most people are only interested in you if you have a high status in DC society or job market.

            I feel like people should value more than just your job. Granted that your job can often mean you have a good personality with strong people skills, that isn’t always the case. I hope that as I continue to network, I will become more comfortable with networking because everybody I talk with says that it is the most important part of being an intern in DC.