Day 8 Reflection

Barry Lawrence

5-13-10

Day 8 Reflection

What a way to end part one of our trip. Today Kathryn Buechel spoke on the down to earth details of how to get a job and be successful in Washington. Buechel has had quite a successful career of her own in Washington, starting as a recipient of the Tinker Scholarship and interning with a congressman, where she cought the ever-present “Washington Bug”. After graduating in the fall (good move) of 2004, Buechel moved straight to Washington looking for work. After three weeks she found a position as a staff assistant for Congressman Nunez. While working for different members over the past few years, Buechel went to grad school part time at John Hopkins and received her masters degree. She stressed the importance of education and especially continuing one’s education after the bachelors level. In this day and age, especially in Washington, we all have to be on the cutting edge and do anything and everything to set yourself apart from the crowd. Currently, Buechel is working for the California State University system here in Washington as a lobbyist (basically, I do not remember her official title).

As far as pointing us in the right direction for a sustainable and enjoyable career in Washington, Buechel had many helpful tips and tricks. Primarily, especially if one is looking for a job on the hill, one has to know how the system works and is structured. This ranges from knowing how a senate office should be structured and how it is actually structured, as well as how the job market works in Washington. Much to my surprise, there is no “monster.com” for jobs on the hill; openings are reveled only to people who are already in the “in crowd” on the hill and positions are filled rather quickly through personal networks and contacts. Another surprising fact is the lack of regulation for discrimination and employment rights for Capitol Hill jobs. There is no oversight mechanism, jobs pay very poorly for the amount of work and are often relatively temporary compared to most career jobs. All things considered, there are still people lined up outside the building to get a chance to work hands on with policy and the policy makers.