Unlocking Your Potential: Nurturing Skills and Embracing Policy Passions
Can you tell me about your career path that you’ve taken that’s led you to where you are now?
I was fortunate enough to intern for Congressman Jared Golden in his Lewiston, Maine district office for the entirety of my senior year of college (which ended up being 7 months of experience). After graduating college in May of 2022, I quickly moved to another one of Congressman Golden’s district offices as a Staff Assistant – where I expanded on my responsibilities and skills. Following an 8-month stint in the district as an SA, our office opened hiring the SA position in D.C. and that is how I ended up here! Since being in D.C. I have become the Health Care policy staffer for the Congressman, among other things.
What policy issues are you most interested/passionate about?
Being from Maine, heritage industries (lobstering, fisheries, etc.) are very important to me. I am very passionate about the Health Care sphere and feel lucky to be covering the issue area for the Congressman. Defense and Intelligence are also of interest.
Be genuinely interested in who you are speaking with, trying to get an understanding of where they’re from and the interests they have.
Professional development is essential at all levels. How do you balance your responsibilities at work and expand your skill set?
Balancing responsibilities can be one of the hardest parts of working on the Hill. Staff Assistants need to deal with competing priorities on a constant basis, whether it’s your interns, tour coordinating, policy, or other tasks. For me, I found a sure-fire way to track and manage all my responsibilities which allows me to have the bandwidth to take more. For example, by finding an efficient way to organize and complete tasks, I was able to begin covering Health Care meetings for our LA, which snowballed into taking over the entire policy area.
How do you stand out when networking with colleagues on the Hill?
There are so many people you could meet that it can be overwhelming. Trying to stay in the moment in conversations can go a long way.
To be featured or learn more, reach out to Gabi Thomas, and spread the word to any colleagues who would be interested.
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