Hi CC!
I have been offered two internship positions, one in the senate one in the house. Both (like almost all internships on the hill) are unpaid, and I would have to cover the relatively expensive costs of living in DC myself. So take make it worth it I have to be sure that its worth the investment. Are these prestigious, selective positions? Is interning in the senate more impressive than interning in the house (the house internship works better with my schedule but maybe thats a smaller factor than working for the more active/prestigious congressional body)? Do these options significantly boost my career prospects in the future?
A little about me. I am currently a rising senior at a liberal arts college in new york. I am generally interested in public policy and law but don’t want to commit to life of politics just yet.
Thanks so much for the guidance! Please post any questions if you have them and I will be sure to respond.
yeah go for the senate
it’s more easier to intern for the house cuz a) there’s way more of them and b) they tend to be more local so it’s not as uncommon… ive heard of many people on here say they’ve interned with their representative and stuff like that, but honestly who knows of any representatives other than our own? it doesn’t seem as prestigious (to me, who is just a pleb and in no way has any knowledge of the industry, but as a citizen i think senators have more power/prestige)
senate, there’s only 2 in each state, so that to me seems more competitive. plus they seem more crucial to me with respect to their role in government. i would def go for the senate internship. also, senators stay on for longer terms, so they’ll probably have more experience/contacts to help you stay on for a longer time and have more important roles. since representatives are only for 2 years, you’d have to be more focused on their campaign all of the time and run the risk of them getting voted out. plus they might not know other people as well as a senator would because of that short time. i feel like a senator would have more focus on policy and politics than a representative who will probably just want you to be their PR kid to make them look good on instagram for their next election (not to say senators don’t do this either but it’s probably not as prominent)
if you don’t mind, may i ask how you got that internship though? is it difficult to land it? im kinda interested in interning w/ a congressperson but not sure how to go about it.
As a general rule, the Senate side is considered to be more “prestigious,” mostly because the Senators themselves are (on average) higher profile then members of the House (all else equal).
With that being said, at the intern level, the difference is pretty irrelevant. No one in DC will be impressed that you did an internship with a Senator vs. a member of the House (outside of DC might be different, not sure). Actually, as a general rule, hillternships are pretty much a dime a dozen in DC, so I’d focus more on the actual experience you’ll get.
With that in mind, it’s worth noting that Senate staffs (and intern classes) are almost always larger (more constituents, more funding), so you might get a bit more intimate/hands-on experience on the House side, which could help in terms of getting actually valuable experience or making connections. That being said, the quality of the internship program depends heavily on the individual office/staff, so there’s no magic formula for picking the right one.
Also, just to make sure–both of these offers are from members of your party, correct? This is an extremely important, but for some reason often overlooked detail. Do not work for someone from a different political party.
Good luck and have fun!
Source: I go to school in DC and interned on the Senate side