March 3, 2010 – Washington, DC

Recently we caught up with Founder and CEO of PoliTemp, Chris Jones, who had some great insight on how to get jobs in the political field.  Check out the interview below!

Chris Jones — PoliTemps from GSPM on Vimeo.

Here are some of the Highlights of the interview:

What is PoliTemps?

PoliTemps is a temporary and permanent staffing company located here in Washington, D.C. It’s a public affairs staffing agency, and what we do is provide to clients (the employers) quality, temporary staff that have public affairs, public relations, campaign, legislative, and solid administrative experience.

What are political organizations looking for when hiring?

That’s a good question. A lot of organizations look for administrative and basic computer skills. They want to make sure that you can come into the office and operate a computer, that you understand how an office in a professional setting works. And also, they want to know and find out a little about your background, your work history: Have you ever worked on Capitol Hill? Have you worked on a campaign? Are you familiar with their issues?

What is more important: education or experience?

I think it depends. That’s a tough question, it’s a good question and a tough question. For me, what we look at before we bring someone in is: Have they worked on a campaign? Have they worked on Capitol Hill? Have they at least gotten a political science degree or done some sort of volunteering in some sort of political capacity. We do look at academics, we do look at their degree. Do they have a masters degree? But we also look to see what they’ve done in those blocks between academic study.

Should a young politico try to lock into a career, or experience a range of political positions?

You have to admire individuals that are focused, disciplined, know what they want at an early age, and stay on that path. There is something to be said for both approaches. My approach was ‘I did a little bit of this and a little bit of that.’ I spent four years in the NAVY, finished up my college degree, and then came to Capitol Hill. But often I felt that I was a day behind individuals that came here a a young age, like someone who was interning on the Hill when they were 21..I was interning when I was 28.

In political careers, what are some of the rules of the game?

I think there are some golden rules that you want to pass onto people. Number one: Always treat everyone with respect and courtesy. One thing that I learned in the military is that disrespect goes up and down in the chain of command. And you never know where you’re going to find that person that you dissed down the line. Someone that you kicked and thought they weren’t particularly worthy of your time, years later they might be responsible for getting you in the door to a client, they might be the gatekeeper to an important person, or they might be the important person. So you always have to try to treat everyone with respect and courtesy, because you’ll see them around the backside. Do the best job you can, be reliable. It’s important to not get into a gossipy mentality in this town. A lot of people like to talk with blogs and the internet, and people saying all kinds of things about other individuals. You have to remember that e-mail is forever.

How does a job seeker successfully land a job in politics?

I have an expression which is: run your job search like a political campaign. And that means a couple of things. Number one, a lot of people look at their job search now as just something that can be done from behind the computer.

And like a campaign, you have to get out there and expend shoe leather. You’ve got to talk to people, you’ve got to go to a fundraiser, you’ve got to find out where people are volunteering, you have to find out where your peers and colleagues and the people that you want to meet are working. And it’s not just their workplace, it’s where they socialize, it’s where they go to do fundraisers. You also have to have a consistent message and it should be reflected in your resume…Try to have your elevator speech down in 15 seconds: What you can do. Your experience. And how you’re going to make that employer’s life easier. Get your grassroots network out there, your friends and your contacts. You have to meet people and talk to people, networking at a reception. And also, like a campaign, use the internet. The flip-side of getting out from behind the computer is using the internet: creating a Linkedin profile, making sure your facebook is networking with friends, talk to people and figure out what you can do electronically to reach out to people.

Go to their website by clicking here make sure that you’re a good match and that you’re available to do temporary work.