<p>Anyone know what the job market is like to become a lobbyist on Capital Hill? Is a Poli Sci degree sufficient?</p>
<p>I am interested in a similar career and have been advised to consider getting a masters. I am studying political science for my undergraduate education and my school offers an excellent opportunity to do an internship for a semester in washington DC.</p>
<p>do you mean a job as a new grad WITH a lobby firm? I wouldn’t normally call someone like that a lobbyist, the folks they work for (typically ex-congressmen or high level exec branch, or influential lawyers) are lobbyists.</p>
<p>And do you mean the professional lawyer-lobbyist firms, the pure hired guns, or the vast world of trade associations, NGOs, etc that do lots of lobbying, though also other things, and have generally a narrower agenda?</p>
<p>My sense is this is the area where networking/connections/peopleskills is as important as any field in america. I would think there would be some flexibility in major - poli sci, econ, other social sci. At some levels, a law degree. In many NGOs, a science degree. </p>
<p>Note well - if, as expected, one or both houses of congress changes hands in November, the job markets at the Dem oriented lawyer lobby firms, and the liberal oriented trades and NGO’s will be flooded with applicants. Ex-congressmen at the highest level, ex-congressional staffers the lower levels. The reverse will happen (though not as strongly) in the other direction, as GOP lobby types take staff jobs on the hill. When the party in power changes in either house, that means the number of staff jobs on congressional committees allocated to each party changes dramatically.</p>
<p>Also, when the party in power changes from Dems to GOP, corporations are more likely to want to hire GOP connected lobbyists.</p>
<p>Your major won’t matter. Your connections will.</p>
<p>Also, you won’t start as a lobbyist.</p>
<p>During college (back in the day), I worked for a large corporation in their “Government Relations” department (ie. corporate lobbying). I had poli sci and econ degree, but the guys who ran the dept were lawyers (with major connections). I was expected to go to law school, but thought better of it and went to a government agency which led me into corporate banking.</p>