<p>I have some questions about Capitol Hill internships which I hope those who have done them in the past (or who hire people in the political science field) can answer:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How worthwhile is it to do a Capitol Hill internship? I go to school in DC and I'm an incoming Junior. I've already done three internships and I'm in the midst of a fourth (one of the previous ones was at a Congressional District Office and I didn't find it to be very worthwhile.) I'm honestly not super excited about doing Hill internship because many of my friends have ended up just giving tours/answering mail, and I think at this point I have enough experience to get a substantive (and quite possibly paid) internship at a non-profit or other organization instead. That said, I feel like a Hill internship is something I need to do to check off a box, as I think many organizations that hire Political Science graduates (and especially Hill offices if I wanted to work there) see Hill experience as a prerequisite. Do you think that's true?</p></li>
<li><p>House or Senate? I like the idea of working in the Senate because it seems like it would be more prestigious on a resume and because I don't particularly want to work for my Congressman again after my experience in his District Office. On the other hand, I've heard that Senators often have 50 interns or so and Congressional interns get more substantive work. What have people's experiences been working in the House vs. the Senate? Has anyone done both? If you employ former Hill interns, would seeing that an intern worked in the House vs. the Senate make a difference?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>i’m from dc and have friends who intern there now and have interned there in the past. </p>
<p>in my opinion you can get political science experience in other more fun ways. while interning at the hill is prestigious and all, it’s very saturated. we interns flood dc during the summer and there is a culture that kinda looks down at us here. interning at the Hill surrounds you with some very stressed out and mean politicians which may or may not represent the truth of politics, depending on how you look at it.</p>
<p>i am an intern in dc right now but not at the hill. i work for an agency and they LOVE interns. i also interned at the air and space museum, where they too love interns. political science internships are rewarding and dc is the place to do it, but i wouldn’t do it at the hill. try out for a think tank where you do research instead of tours, answering emails, and basically becoming a politician’s assistant. it does however open you up to the potential environment of what political science entails. </p>
<p>my sister interned at the hill last summer and was a page in high school. she said she met mccain and he was a jerk.</p>
<p>I interned in DC a couple years ago and decided against applying to Hill internships because I thought the experience would be generic and unproductive. However, when applying for full-time jobs I found that many DC jobs strongly recommend or even require previous Hill experience, so I’m at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>Also, I believe there are rioght things and wrong things to do on the Hill. If you impress the right people then they will have great connections that can help you later on, not to mention sitting in on hearings and meeting all the other interns (many of whom will pursue careers in DC) can be incredibly fulfilling.</p>
<p>With that said I don’t think I’ve ever heard my friends say they learned too much, but they wouldn’t trade the experience for anything else. One person also interned throughout her senior year and then became a full-time Legislative Correspondent upon graduating. If you really want to save your summer for a worthwhile, paid internship then I’d recommend interning part-time during the school year.</p>
<p>Quakergoats, that’s very helpful to know. If (as I had suspected) many DC jobs recommend/require hill internships I will almost definitely do one in the fall (have applied for one already and I’m planning to send out more applications soon.) I kind of wish I’d done it Freshman or Sophomore year like some of my friends, since at that point the “wow” factor of getting to do certain things like attend hearings is a little higher and it’s less frustrating to be given grunt work, but I may be in a better position to impress the right people now. Out of curiosity, what are the “wrong” things to do on the Hill? (other then the obvious wear inappropriate clothing etc.)</p>
<p>I’ve lived in the DMV my whole life. Went to hs in D.C. and got an internship on the Hill summer before senior year. While you raise valid points about the sometimes mundane jobs of a hill intern, a hill internship will vary depending on the prestige of your congressman/senator. I interned for the majority leader in 09 and the work I did was far from mundane. Additionally, a hill internship is the gateway to other opportunities. Went from the hill internship to volunteering at a government building that has a thread and a lot of posts on this site. Then I became an intern in said government building. The doors keep opening up and I firmly believe none of this would have been possible without a hill internship.</p>
<p>Lots of people in the DC area do Hill internships in HS.</p>
<p>Lots of college kids in DC do them freshmen or sophomore year. Obviously it can’t hurt to have it on your resume, but a lot of them are pretty mundane.</p>
<p>Also you are surrounded by politicians, you know, the people who make $175,000/year and can’t even pass a budget to keep the country running.</p>
<p>fwiw, I have obtained a variety of DC internships in prominent government agencies, and I have never interned on the Hill. I did do think tank research though. Think tanks are another good place to start.</p>
<p>Wearing inappropriate clothing is just the kind of thing I meant. Make a good impression, get your work done, build relationships, take advantage of what is available to you.</p>