CAREERS IN POLITICS

Careers Advisory ServiceUniversity of Kent at

CanterburyThe slides from this talk are at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

WHAT CAREERS ARE THERE IN POLITICS?

Civil Service?

MP???

Spin doctor??

Er … ???

KENT GRADUATESWORKING IN POLITICS

A diplomat working on British/EU

legislative issues in BrusselsAssistant Democratic Services

Officer, District Council

Director of Policy & CommunicationsWestminster City Council

GMB National Officer

Assistant Director (partnerships)

Surrey County Council

Organisational development officer, Manchester City Council

ScottishExecutive

DevelopmentDepartment

WHAT ELSE DO POLITICS GRADUATES DO?

• Oil trader• Film Editor• Freight

Operations Manager

• Librarian• Personnel

Director• Solicitor• Housing Officer

• Marketing Manager• Hotel Manager• Public Relations

Executive• Bookseller• Prison Governor• Crime Analyst• Potter• Journalist

Why do employers recruit graduates?

• Demonstrated ability to learn• Academically able• Self-motivated• Good all-rounders• Maturity• Achievers• Personal transferable skills• and perhaps - knowledge of their subject

WHAT SKILLS HAVE YOU GAINED ON

YOUR COURSE?

• Communication skills• Gathering, investigating and assessing

info• Organising material in a logical way• Condensing facts, ideas and arguments• Understanding of current affairs and

issues

TYPES OF WORK INVOLVING POLITICS

Usually involve one or (often) more of the following:

• Administration• Research• Communication and persuasion

TYPES OF WORK INVOLVING POLITICS

• AdministrativeCivil Service:- Fast Stream;

Mainstream

House of Commons/Lords ClerkLocal Government

administratorPolitical party organiser

TYPES OF WORK INVOLVING POLITICS

• ResearchCivil Service research postsHouse of Commons Library ClerkAcademic teaching and researchMP’s researcherParty research departmentsTrades unionsThink-tanks

TYPES OF WORK INVOLVING POLITICS

• Communication and persuasionCivil Service: Government Communication

Network

Political party agentLobbyistJournalist

OTHER TYPES OF WORK THAT MAY INVOLVE POLITICS

• Event organising• Publishing• Market research• Web design• IT support• Charities/pressure groups

THE CIVIL SERVICE FAST STREAM

The Work:

Assisting senior civil servants and Ministers to formulate and implement policyResearching issuesDrafting memos and reportsPreparing replies to Parliamentary questionsProviding administrative support toworking parties and committees

HOUSE OF COMMONS/LORDS CLERKS

The Work: Giving advice on the practice and

procedure of the House to Members, Chairs of Committees and the Speaker

Taking divisions Servicing Select Committees:

organising their enquiries; travel with the Committee in the UK and abroad; helping prepare draft reports

FAST-STREAM ENTRY

Entry requirements:• UK national • 2.2 minimum (most

entrants have 2.1) in any subject

Application and selection procedure:

• Closing date early November 2009 for entry in Sept 2010

• Applicants work through self-assessment exercises before they can access the online form

• Online application and more tests

• In-tray exercise at test centre

• Fast-Stream Assessment Centre

Full details at www.faststream.gov.uk

OTHER CIVIL SERVICE POSTS

• Junior Managers (a.k.a. Executive Officers)

• Involved chiefly with applying policy in practice

• Middle-management role• Opportunities to move into Fast Stream• Departments and agencies recruit

individually - vacancies on sites such as www.jobsgopublic.com and the Civil Service Recruitment Gateway

• http://careers.civil-service.gov.uk

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

• “ngdp” graduate programme • Training schemes run by individual

local authorities (including KCC)• Many graduates enter local

government at more junior grades to gain a foothold

• Councils recruit individually, generally through local press/their own websites

POLITICAL PARTY ORGANISER

• Chiefly responsible for administration, PR and fundraising

• Membership of the party and previous voluntary experience usually required

RESEARCH POSTS• Civil Service Research Posts

– only arise occasionally; may need PG degree• House of Commons Library Clerks …

– are not librarians!– They provide an information and research

service to MPs– Provide instant answers and prepare briefings

• Academic research– combined with university teaching/admin– need higher degree

RESEARCH POSTS

Political researchers

Work for:

Individual MPs/MEPs etc Party research departments (where they

exist!) Trades unions Think-tanks Political consultancies

RESEARCH POSTSPolitical researchers: The Work

Involves:

Writing briefings, speeches,etc Dealing with the public; press; other

politicians; lobbyists Drafting policy Monitoring the media

“You need to be able to do a bit of everything … the atmosphere in the office is very fast-moving. One minute I’ll be taking a call from a national BBC journalist, the next talking to a single mother who needs help sorting out her benefits.”

RESEARCH POSTS

Political research - getting in and getting on

• Often a first step to careers in other areas, e.g. lobbying or party agent …

• .. but few researchers become MPs• Make speculative applications and gain

work experience (usually voluntary)• Poor pay and limited career structure• Need a thick skin!

INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION

Includes: Public Affairs; Lobbying; Public RelationsEmployers include: Specialised political consultancies Public relations agencies Businesses Voluntary organisations Government Communications Network

INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION

The Work:Maintaining an awareness, and a positive image,

of your client to the public or to decision-makers and people of influence through:

Monitoring the press, Hansard, etc Writing reports, press releases and briefings Organising events and conferences Handling enquiries from clients, the media, etc “Relationship management”

INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION

“My role is quite mixed. Part of my work involves formulating the charity’s public policy positions in response to government initiatives, so I write a lot of consultation responses, submissions to government and briefings for senior staff. I am also involved with making sure the charity's messages are in line with the latest research and views of people with suffering from the health condition our charity focuses on. This means that I carry out opinion research - including large-scale surveys and focus groups - and analyse the responses. I also work on particular projects that have policy implications”

Policy and information officer for a health charity

INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION

Getting in and getting on• Voluntary work and voluntary

organisations are the best source of early experience

• Make speculative applications• Postgraduate degree can be

helpful

Many jobs combine two or more of these elements Common factor is a knowledge of/interest in

politics Most of them recruit from any degree subject

.. .. although an interest in and enthusiasm for

politics will help

But what else do they have in common?

TYPES OF WORK INVOLVING POLITICS

All will need good COMMUNICATION SKILLS -putting over information verbally or in writing - ANALYTICAL SKILLS - the ability to research andassess information from a variety of sources -

DECISION MAKING SKILLS - weighing up evidence and arguments - PEOPLE SKILLS - especially the ability to persuade, negotiate with and listen to other people. You will need to be able to use your own INITIATIVE, to be well ORGANISED, to PLAN your work and meet

deadlines or work under pressure

These are skills which are equally valuable in a wide variety of other careers

MAKING DECISIONS

• “Choosing a Career” booklet and web pages www.kent.ac.uk/careers/Choosing/ChoosingCareer.htm

• Prospects Planner program www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Pplanner

• “I Want to Work in Politics”www.kent.ac.uk/careers/workin.htm

• Look at job adverts and job descriptions• Talk to people about their work and how

they got their jobs

SHOULD I CONSIDER POSTGRADUATE STUDY?

• Important if you want a career in political research or communication …

• Essential if you want a teaching career (in schools or universities)

• May be necessary (or useful) to enter some careers such as law, psychology, human resources, journalism, information work

• It is possible to study Politics at postgraduate level with an undergraduate degree in another (related) subject

FINDING OUT MORE: POSTGRADUATE STUDY

• Use directories and websites such as: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/PGstudy

www.postgrad.hobsons.com• Prospectuses for all UK universities in

Careers Library • Careers Advisory Service website

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/postgradmenu.htm

• Apply ideally in first term of final year• No UCAS system – apply direct

THE END

- of this talk, but not ofyour career planning!

Use the Careers Advisory Service for advice andInformation

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www.kent.ac.uk/careers