http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2008/10/23/7-best-nonpolitical-jobs-for-political-junkies.html
7 Best Nonpolitical Jobs for Political Junkies
If you want to sate your political appetite with a full-time job, here are some cool ideas
Ah, election season. There's nothing like a good battle between the Democrats and the Republicans (and Ralph Nader and Ron Paul) to whet the appetite of a political junkie. But if you're looking for something less temporal—the kind of work that will let you feed your addiction year-round—you don't have to become a legislator. Consider one of these (mostly) nonpolitical jobs where you may find a way to keep the spirit of the election alive every day.
Librarian: Not just any librarian—a special librarian. Special librarians work for companies, government agencies, nonprofits, universities, or museums, rather than for the general public. There are plenty of opportunities for people to focus on specialties. Janice Lachance, chief executive of the Special Libraries Association, says "it's absolutely a perfect fit" for people who are politically inclined, as leaders at nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, or government agencies rely on well-sourced, "top level information." Librarians can follow specific passions for policy or politics into jobs at places like AARP, which employs 13 association members. Most have a master's in library or information science, but the jobs pay: A 2008 association survey found the average salary of its members was $71,812.
Lobbyist: The word is practically an obscenity during election cycles, but the job and qualifications of a "lobbyist" are largely a mystery to Americans. While many think of lobbyists as Washington fat cats with standing reservations at the Capital Grille and closets full of suede loafers—that's only half the story. Lobbyists advocate for issues and petition government on behalf of organizations—farm bureaus and oil companies alike. They need to understand policy, and they need to know the ins and outs of politics. Most are college grads, and many have advanced degrees in law, communications, education, public relations, or journalism, according to the American League of Lobbyists. How to get in? A congressional staff position is one of the best ways to learn the legislative process.
Tour guide: Believe it or not, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports this occupation is growing much faster than average. It's a good pick for retirees and students, but full-timers and part-timers alike make political history or current events come alive as tour guides. "Politics is a sport in DC," says Adam Plescia, 35, who works as a tour guide in Washington while also writing his dissertation. Plescia stays up on political news and events with a regular diet of the Washington Post, New York Times, New Yorker, and NPR. The tours aren't, however, for sharing his political opinions. Instead, he gets to quiz and to teach. He takes visitors to the front of the Treasury building and asks, "Who's the secretary of the Treasury?" The good news: "More people know now," Plescia says. "Before the [financial] crisis, the majority of the people on the tour wouldn't know his name."
Radio announcer: Two words: Rush Limbaugh. The longtime radio announcer has made a major mark on the American conservative political scene through his top-rated radio show. This is a highly competitive industry with a median hourly wage of less than $12, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There may, however, be better opportunities for hosts or disk jockeys with specialized knowledge of subjects like politics. But if, like Limbaugh, you prove successful in smaller markets, you can test your mettle and opinionating on a much larger audience.
Pollster: This is a good fit for political junkies with a love of statistics, as well as a solid understanding of the larger political picture. Tom Jensen, communications director at Public Policy Polling, says polling firms look for people who are especially knowledgeable about politics, particularly those who understand the way voters think about elections. "It's a great job for someone who's very knowledgeable about politics but can also detach themselves from the process enough to keep a perspective about things and not get too swept up in the emotions of an election," Jensen says. Advanced degrees are pretty common.
Translator/interpreter: This probably isn't a great path if you have strong opinions, but it's got plenty of growth potential if you merely have a serious interest in being part of the political process. The Labor Department expects job opportunities to grow by 24 percent between 2006 and 2016. Thanks to globalization and increased security threats, there's been a greater need for translators (who work with written words) and interpreters (who work with spoken words), according to the American Translators Association. While many translators work for themselves, those who are employed by the government make an average of nearly $60,000 a year, the association reports.
Reporter: Some journalists today still labor under a kind of Woodward and Bernstein nostalgia, but many just love politics. Reporters at small-town newspapers continue to uncover local political transgressions, and major metro papers vie with bloggers for a piece of the national political pie. Beat reporters may also work long and hard enough to earn the right to state their pithy opinions as columnists, in blogs, or as TV pundits. In one example, New York Times columnist David Brooks started out working the cops beat for City News Service in Chicago and held various roles at the Wall Street Journal, even spending five months as its movie critic.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-careers/2008/12/11/best-careers-2009-mediator.html
Best Careers 2009: Mediator
Overview. If we can't solve a conflict, we tend to give up or hire a lawyer. There can be a better way: A mediator can often help resolve a dispute less expensively and with less conflict, whether it's a divorce, a discrimination claim, or the parent of a special-education student seeking more services from a school.
Mediators don't decide who's right. They guide a discussion so the disputants can more wisely reach agreement and move on with their lives. Most mediators love their work, helping people beat their swords into plowshares.
The problem is that there are more mediators than there are mediation jobs. In part, this is because the barriers to entry are so low—most mediators are required only to complete a 30-to-40-hour training course.
The oversupply means that most mediators do not earn a middle-class income for one to five years. And even to do that, a mediator must embrace marketing by establishing a niche—disputes among postal workers, people of different races, parents and teens, or even participants in the online world "Second Life." Until mediators develop a reputation, they must schmooze with potential referral sources, write articles or give talks on mediation, perhaps blog or create a YouTube video, and certainly find well-connected champions willing to recommend them. Ironically, success may be more likely in a slow economy as people and businesses seek lower-cost alternatives to attorneys to solve their disputes.
If you have the gift for establishing trust, generating creative solutions, calming angry disputants, and staying calm amid ambiguity and dissembling, and are willing and able to market yourself, mediation can be a win-win career for both you and your clients.
A Day in the Life. Normally, mediators are wise to specialize and mediate no more than one dispute per day. But here, for illustrative purposes, are three varied cases:
Your specialty is employment mediation. The week before Thanksgiving, Susan had been downsized after 10 years with her company, and she is suing for wrongful termination. In the mediation, her emotions pour out. Not only is she angry that she was let go merely so the company could hire someone cheaper in India, but she has no relatives and has always spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with coworkers. This year, she will be alone. Everyone is moved by Susan's story, and the company offers her a more generous severance package and a permanent invitation to all company social events. Not thrilled but mollified, she agrees.
In your next mediation, a Muslim employee suffers from depression and has been fired from the small architecture firm for which he worked. The employee claims both that he was a victim of religious discrimination and that the employer failed to provide reasonable accommodations to his depression. The employer vehemently denies that religion or ethnicity was a factor in the firing and maintains that the accommodations would devastate his business. After listening patiently and asking lots of questions, you ask if telecommuting might sufficiently reduce the problem. The disputants agree to a two-week trial, after which you'll meet again.
Like most mediators, you do pro bono work. In this next case, the police department asks you to mediate a dispute involving a neighbor complaining of frequent parties that last into the wee hours: "My bed shakes with every bass note, and it doesn't stop until 5 a.m." The partier agrees to tone down the music and the neighbor agrees to be more tolerant, but you won't bet your life that this dispute is permanently settled.
Smart Specialty
Mortgage renegotiation. In a weak economy, the market for divorce mediators may decline because fewer couples can afford to break up and thus live on one income. In contrast, with so many homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments, mortgage renegotiation could be a strong niche for mediators. Get clients by explaining to the branch managers of locally owned banks that mediation can reduce the chances of a borrower defaulting.
Salary Data
Median (with eight years in the field): $59,700
25th to 75th percentile (with eight or more years of experience): $42,700-$116,000
(Data provided by PayScale.com)
Training
There are many styles of mediation, each of which will be valuable in a particular situation. You'll want significant exposure to as many as possible. So take two or more of the 30-to-40-hour comprehensive mediation training courses. A list can be found here.
Family and divorce mediators will want to take training approved by the Association for Conflict Resolution.
You can get brief exposure to top mediators' styles by attending workshops at the Association for Conflict Resolution Conference and the American Bar Association Section for Dispute Resolution Conference. There also is a wide range of state and regional conferences, which you can check at mediate.com/calendar.
Learn More
- Basic Skills for the New Mediator by Allan Goodman
- Mediation Information (Mediate.com)
- Improvisational Negotiation: A Mediator's Stories of Conflict About Love, Money, Anger—and the Strategies That Resolved Them by Jeffrey Krivis
- Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski
- Mediation Career Guide: A Strategic Approach to Building a Successful Practice by Forrest Mosten
Best Careers 2009:
Politician/ Elected Official
Overview. We don't normally think of politicians as the most ethical of people, so it may sound surprising that being a highly principled person is a critical requirement. Political office brings an endless stream of temptations, so it is essential that the politician start out with a strong ethical backbone. Other intangible assets: Be instantly likable, an excellent negotiator and debater, and indefatigable. For many higher-visibility posts, unfortunately, it's practically a full-time job just to get elected—even as state legislator. No sooner do you win an exhausting campaign than you must crank up your fundraising machine all over again.
You also probably need to live a squeaky-clean life. For example, in most jurisdictions, cheating on your spouse jeopardizes your career.
But for many politicians, all the hard work is well worth it. They have the opportunity to make a difference in society. Yes, the wheels of democracy turn slowly (and sometimes backward), but inexorably, those wheels move toward progress. And politicians often feel they get to see their constituents' quality of life improve. Less lofty, you feel a sense of power . . . sometimes an exaggerated sense.
A Day in the Life. Today, the legislature is in session, as it is for half the year. You're a state senator, and on arriving at your office in the capitol, your first appointment is with a lobbyist from a road construction company that donated money to your last campaign. He urges you to vote for a transportation bill that would emphasize roads over mass transit. He shows you some data suggesting that most people hate mass transit and won't use it. After he leaves, you wonder if you've been convinced on the merits or because you feel you owe him.
The debate on the transportation bill continues on the Senate floor. An influential senator taps you on the shoulder and asks you to step outside. He offers a quid pro quo: something you want in exchange for your support on the transportation bill.
After you cast your vote, there's a discussion of the governor's budget. When there's a recess, you and your chief aide plan a speech you'll make tomorrow on the topic.
Your aide hands you a couple of newspaper clippings: an article touting one of your accomplishments and a letter to the editor calling you a fool. Politicians need thick skin.
You leave the capitol to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new school you helped get funded. This part you enjoy—like most politicians, you've never met a microphone you didn't like.
Then, you're off to a spaghetti-feed fundraising dinner, followed by a long drive home; your district, like most, is large, and you're usually far from where you live.
Smart Specialty
County Schools Superintendent. Your day-to-day life in this under-the-radar niche consists of leading the planning for all the school districts in your county, guiding grant writers, lobbying legislators, and solving thorny problems like union negotiations, tax apportionment, or disputes between principals and parents.
Salary Data
Pay is all over the map, ranging from $0 for a town alderman to $400,000 a year for president of the United States. Here are a few data points:
Legislators' pay ranges from $7,200 (Texas) to $116,208 (California) Governors' salaries range from $74,145 (Arkansas) to $212,179 (California) U.S. senators and representatives earn $169,300 generally, with more pay for leadership roles
Training
No formal training is required. Many politicians start as a school board member, city councilperson, prominent attorney, or aide to an elected official. And some make their way through law enforcement channels, becoming a district attorney or judge, which requires a law degree. Typical next steps: mayor, state legislator, and later, perhaps, governor or member of the U.S. Congress. Many elected officials, however, don't aspire to higher office, largely because of the much-increased time spent fundraising and campaigning.
Learn More
- An Insider's Guide to Political Jobs in Washington by William Endicott
- Career Opportunities in Politics, Government, and Activism (2nd edition) by Joan Axelrod-Contrada
- Politicians Are People, Too by Richard Benedetto
