<p>So basically, I suck at my internship. I work at a congressional office and we have to answer phones, either to transfer the caller to someone else, give information, or help with problems. </p>
<ol>
<li>When I tried to transfer the caller, I accidentally hung up on them. This happened twice.<br></li>
<li>I got a phone call about benefits and I had no idea what to do so I called my supervisor over and she got really mad at me.<br></li>
<li>Someone called with a problem and I had no idea what to do so I tried to help but they hung up the phone angrily since I wasn't helping.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>I'm just so awkward on the phone and most times don't know what to do! This was my 2nd day. </p>
<p>It takes practice. Make sure you take a notebook with you to write notes in so you can refer back to them when you get repeat calls. You will probably find that you get a certian type of call frequently.
Stick with it, being able to help someone on the phone is a good skill. And it is OK to say…“I am sorry, I am new at this and it may take me a minute, please bear with me”. Before you transfer someone, give them a direct number to call in case you get disconnected (if you are allowed to). People get hung up on all the time during a transfer, just the nature of the beast.</p>
<p>I just finished working at the congressional office this past summer</p>
<p>1.I never did that lol. I would suggest practicing what to do when someone answers in your free time. Make sure you know where all the buttons are before answering. After a while you should will improve </p>
<ol>
<li>I’m sorry your staffers are jerks. I hear DC is pretty cutthroat, but the local offices (which I assume you’re doing) are more laid back. My co-workers were so nice and cool. They were all under 30 too so I could relate with them pretty well. On the 3 or 4th day one of the staffers showed me a tutorial of what to do when answering the phone. </li>
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<p>vlines also brought up a good point. Everyday I got at least one VA issue, Social Security issue, and someone asking how Congressman ________ voted/is going to vote on (insert issue). take some initiative and learn these, so that you’ll know what to do the next time</p>
<ol>
<li>Don’t take it personally. My first week on the job was in the thick of the “Ryancare” medicare debate, and i got some pretty nasty remarks from constituents (and with big issues like that, yo often get calls from all over the country). If they want to get frustrated with you while you’re trying to help them, they can go ahead. The important thing is to keep your composure throughout the entire call. Sometimes I had to tell them “I don’t know”, or "there’s nothing we can do"and while most people understood, there were always jerks who accused me of giving them the typical government runaround. Let them hang up and move on. I know in the beginning you feel like you have to save the entire world, but it’s impossible. </li>
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<p>This is a good opportunity to not only get your foot in the door of politics, but to improve people skills. In the coming weeks you will talk to countless people on the phone and in person. The ability to communicate with people clearly and efficiently is a rare one, and though you aren’t getting paid in the short term like your friends at Taco Bell, it’ll all pan out in the end (but you already know that, otherwise you wouldn’t have applied).</p>
<p>I hope my advice helped!! Feel free to PM if you feel it’s necesarry</p>
<p>I’m just socially awkward in general and I thought a congressional internship would just be typing things, archiving, filing… stuff I’m actually good at. I also stutter when I’m nervous and have a naturally soft voice. </p>
<p>Answering phones is actually the primary duty on an intern. If you’re at the desk, they expect you to answer it EVERY TIME, so there’s no escaping it.I actually used to let it ring 2 or 3 times, just to check if anyone else would answer (they didn’t lol). Like I said, practice at home if you have to. </p>
<p>When I met my Congressman for the first time, (s)he explained to me the importance of interns, mostly about how we are the first voice people hear when looking to contact him/her, so we are in fact the voice of the administration. I actually preferred filing and typing up Excel spreadsheets over answering the phone (you never know what to expect), but i knew I had to learn it and do it well every time.</p>
<p>If you don’t know how to do something just try googling it. Besides, doing those things are like busy tasks. At least they could be nicer to you since you’re doing their boring work for them. Answering phones might be more challenging at first though.</p>
<p>Seahawks506- you’d be surprised how impatient some people are lol. And when it’s your first or second day it can be alitle nerve-racking.</p>
<p>Which reminds me of something else. Keep a set of tabs open that you know you’ll need:</p>
<ol>
<li>USPS Zip Code (for state issues, you would refer people to their state representative/senator, and you’ll need to type their address to find their full 9 digit zip code)</li>
<li>Congress.org (type in the zip code and the address to find all their federal/state reps. And if you’re near the border line of a congressional district, you need to make sure the caller lives in your district and not the neighboring one). </li>
<li>House.gov (to check on recent votes)</li>
<li>Your congressman’s website</li>
<li>Google (for random stuff. For example, during my time, Michelle Bachmann was the flavor of the moment, and a lot of supporters called in to ask for her office numbers. Why they don’t’ Google it themselves, I have no idea).</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m so glad someone else knows how I feel! On one of the days, I’m the only intern in the office so everything gets dumped on me. And I also let the phone ring hoping someone else will pick it up. And why didn’t I think of the tabs trick? That would be so much easier! </p>
<p>I also did a Congressional Internship and I was not a fan of the phone either; a lot of it has to do with not knowing what to do. Once you know the protocol, then it should be fine. I remember my first few days sucked, but after sometime you know what to do and won’t feel as shaky. At least for our district, if it was a task that we could do like a simple search, but if it was an opinion or case, we would write down the details and give it to the caseworker for type of case (who would then distribute the work to his/her interns) or document it in IQ. We would transfer follow-ups to the caseworker. I’m not sure if this is standard protocol for your office, but that’s what it was ours.</p>