Land A Job

Build your Network

Check out LEE’s networking tip sheets: Networking Tips, Tricks, and Words of Caution and Networking Follow-Up.

Top tips:

• Attend conferences or think tank presentations for policy areas that interest you, and attend advocacy/organizing trainings led by local or national organizations.
• Practice appropriate business card etiquette by looking at the card when it’s given and taking notes on it about the conversation as needed.

Learn from Informational Interviews

• Set up informational interviews with policy, advocacy, or organizing leaders to learn more about their position and potentially make a connection that leads to a policy or advocacy internship or job.
• Approach each informational interview with a goal, such as getting a few new contacts or learning about a particular sector.
• Tap into your various alumni and community networks to find people working in the sector to interview.
• Research the individual and their organization prior to the interview. 
• Recognize the generosity of the person you’re interviewing. Be flexible with scheduling and always send a thank you note.
• Stay in touch with contacts from informational interviews. Let them know when/where you land a job. Send research publications or news articles that may relate to their work.

Develop Effective Resumes and Cover Letters

Resumes

Check out LEE’s Policy & Advocacy Resume Checklist, this sample policy/advocacy resume, and Teach For America’s Résumé Toolkit, above. Top tips:

• Keep a resume to no more than two pages; one page is preferred.
• Use key words similar to those in the posting to show alignment between your experience and the role’s requirements.
• If transitioning into policy, advocacy, or organizing, consider creating a “[Policy/Advocacy/Organizing] Experience” section, highlighting previous campaign work, relevant internships and fellowships, and relevant undergraduate and graduate activities. 

Cover Letters

Check out LEE’s Policy & Advocacy Cover Letter Checklist and this sample policy/advocacy cover letter. Top tips:

• Tailor your letter to the opportunity. Look through the organization’s website and draw connections between your experiences and skills and the organization’s mission and work.
• If applying for a political or partisan position (campaign, advocacy, some think tanks), be sure to ensure that your letter aligns with the political focus of the organization. 
• If you’re shifting careers into policy, advocacy, or organizing, highlight transferable skills. For example, if you are applying for a Legislative Correspondent role on Capitol Hill, experience managing student data can translate to tracking and analyzing constituent letters. Or, if you are applying for an organizing position, experience building strong relationships and trust with your students’ families can translate into building strong relationships and trust in the communities with whom you’d be organzing.

Conduct a Successful Job Interviews

• Prepare an outline of how you will answer common interview questions. If you know who will be interviewing you, research their previous experience. Anticipate likely questions given their background and areas of expertise. 
• Bring a copy of your resume to interviews. 
• Show that you have researched the organization well and demonstrate that your experience matches the job description. 
• Be prepared to ask questions to learn about the work. 
• Share successes you have had in previous work and be comfortable discussing failure and what you learned. 
• Send a thank you note via email within one day of the interview