The Types of Work You Could Do for Political Campaigns
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
Political work is a continually shifting landscape. Due to the transient nature of elected positions, people who choose to work in politics should feel comfortable switching from one office and job position to the next as the political climate changes. It’s also necessary to have a thick skin, an open mind, rock-solid ethics and excellent communication skills.
This is why students who graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications do well in this career path. While you complete your studies, consider looking for volunteer or intern opportunities on political campaigns in the area.
A great deal of the work on political campaigns is done by volunteers and unpaid interns. When you graduate with your communications degree, you could start out as a volunteer coordinator on a local, state, or national campaign. Your primary job will be to recruit new volunteers and manage, direct and supervise existing volunteers. This is a great job for people who are capable of multitasking, delegating responsibilities and inspiring people.
Political pollsters are behind-the-scenes workers whose primary responsibility is to assess the effectiveness of campaign strategies. To do this, they evaluate how voters respond to the candidate’s stance on the issues and how voters like or dislike the candidate him- or herself. If you love working with raw data and have a mind for numbers, then this job could be a great fit for you. As a political pollster, you could work on a contract or freelance basis, or you might work directly for a candidate or elected official.
The campaign manager is the top job in a political campaign, aside from the actual political candidate. Campaign managers excel at organization and multitasking. They have strong interpersonal skills and they don’t get flustered easily. As a campaign manager, you would be responsible for supervising every aspect of the campaign, including hiring, staff management, fundraising operations, day-to-day operations and campaign budgeting. This position isn’t typically an entry level job, but after putting in a few years working in other capacities, you could put your skills and experience to work as a campaign manager.
Start your journey to a rewarding career with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Grand Canyon University offers a modern, rigorous curriculum delivered by dedicated educators. To get started, click on the Request More Information button at the top of the page.
Communications coordinators, also called communications directors or press secretaries, serve as the primary liaison between the campaign and the media. A central responsibility for communications coordinators is to build strong, working relationships with the media.
Communications coordinators set up interviews with the political candidate. They can also write campaign literature for distribution, create press kits and write copy for the campaign website. On some campaigns, the communications coordinator may be responsible for writing speeches for the candidate. Other campaigns may have a designated speech writer. This job is a perfect fit for strategic thinkers who know how to connect with people.
