Landing your first role in campaign politics might seem like a big step, but it’s the first in an exciting career field with many growth opportunities.

Many professional politicos started working as organizers or staffers dedicated to recruiting volunteers and maximizing voter turnout. These positions might also be called “Field Organizers” or “Canvassers.” These roles aren’t just for campaigns; many nonprofits and unions need organizers.

How to land an organizing role on a campaign or advocacy organization

How can you find your first organizer role? With Arena Careers, it’s never been easier.

• Go to Arena Careers
• Search for any of the aforementioned job titles
• Input your location
• Click “Create a job alert” so Arena Careers will notify you when any posted jobs match your search criteria. 
• Bonus: Here are a couple of searches “on the house”
  • Organizer
  • Field Organizer
  • Canvasser
• Don’t forget to check out our full list of political jobs boards.

What’s great about organizing roles is that if you’ve worked with people, whether in food service or banking, you already have the required skills to get started. 

As you find different organizer roles, make sure you use these Arena Tools to power your job search:

• Build your resume with the Political Resume Guide
• Prep for your interview with the Crush Your Interview Tool
• Track your applications with the Job Search Landing Hub 
• Negotiate for an offer that works for you with the Offer Negotiation Guide

If you’re having trouble getting interviews or landing a role, volunteering can be a great gateway to a paid role. Just make sure you’re clear with the campaign or organization that while you’re happy to volunteer, if a paid role opens up, you would love to be considered.

How to Land Your First Political Job in Communications, data, research, and more!

Are you looking to find a first role outside of organizing? You’ll want to establish your credibility in your application for this approach. That means you need to demonstrate that whatever department you want to work in (fundraising, digital, operations, etc.) is related to work that you’ve done before. One of the best Arena tools for this is the Translating Your Experience Tool. This video guide and worksheet will help you translate your experience to show that you understand the connections between your previous work and the work you want to do.

If you’re having trouble getting interviews or landing a role in one of these fields, remember networking is key in politics. If you’re new to networking, check out our Networking Your Resume tool and our How to Network blog. 

Here are some non-Organizer job titles in other departments:

Communications	Communications Associate Press Assistant Communications Specialist
Data	Junior Analyst Data Associate Analyst Fellow Survey Manager Data Coordinator
Digital	Digital Associate Digital Community Lead Engagement Associate Graphic Designer Production Associate Marketing Associate Marketing Assistant Digital Organizer
Fundraising	Development Associate Finance Associate Events Associate
Operations	Operations Associate Account Associate Compliance Associate Human Resources Associate Training Associate Assistant to XYZ
Research	Researcher Research Associate Tracker
Political	Political Associate XYZ Constituency Organizer

Once you’ve translated your experience, use the tools we’ve listed above to power your job search and start applying! 

Working in politics is unlike other fields because the work is cycle-based, meaning you can find an upswell of roles when an election occurs. Typically, the cycle alternates between midterm and presidential elections, although there are municipal or local races and states like Virginia where an election happens yearly. This cyclical nature means that sometimes you might need to find “in-between” jobs that can pay the bills as you find your next political role. You might have to do that beyond cyclical employment, and many professionals have experience finding work outside of politics as they secure their next role. 

Remember: doing this work is often a numbers game. Landing your first job in politics requires applying to many jobs and having many informational interviews until hard work and luck strike and you secure a job. But no matter the cycle, there is work to be done. Get started with Arena Careers and start applying for your first role in politics today >>>