This is the last entry of a three-part series on lessons from interning on Capitol Hill. The views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the office for which I worked. So, you want to work in government. Below, I will be discussing the necessary skills for positions on The Hill or government agencies, and some of my tips on how to land these positions from my personal experience. I recently made the move from the legislative branch to an executive agency (federal government). Currently, I serve as a Harold W. Rosenthal Fellow of International Relations at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB), Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (whew, that’s a mouthful!). I support the Research & Policy Division with researching and editing the 2018 edition of one of ILAB’s flagship reports, Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which is prepared in accordance with the Trade & Development Act of 2000. I also assist with creating the graphics for the …

This is the second entry of a three-part series on lessons from interning on Capitol Hill. The views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the office for which I worked. In this post, I want to share some life skills that I’ve learned from working on the Hill. I call them “life skills” because I think these are skills that would benefit anyone in any phase of their life, whether you’re a student, looking for a job, working right now, or in the middle of your career. But I think they’re especially helpful for anyone in my position right now: a student who moved to a big city in pursuit of a career in government or politics. I grew up in a suburban town of Greenville, South Carolina. I was schooled there from elementary school all the way to college. I had little experience elsewhere then—a short summer stint in my birthplace of Jakarta, Indonesia, and a fall semester in Brussels, Belgium, but nowhere else in the U.S. I loved …

This is the first entry of a three-part series on lessons from interning on Capitol Hill. The views expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of the office for which I worked. This semester, I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to work for a Member of Congress. I’ve learned so much from this experience—from the depth and breadth of the legislative branch to interview skills for jobs within the government—and I thought that it would be a disservice if I don’t share these lessons with others. In this post, I want to share the ways in which I’ve learned how to maximize our voice and participation in our democratic government. We all know that democracy isn’t a spectator sport, but our participation doesn’t–and shouldn’t–stop at the voting booths or getting people there. There are so many resources out there that are free and available, but for some reason, aren’t public knowledge. And the fact that we don’t know or use these resources, and instead rely on headlines and/or posts on social …