About this guide

Working in Congress can help you to understand and meaningfully contribute to the legislative process. This guide explains how Congress works and how you can get a job there. The goal is to allow you to make informed decisions about (a) whether Congress is a good place for you to work, (b) which specific Congressional jobs you could/should target and why, and (c) how to find and pursue specific opportunities.

This guide consists of four main articles relevant to anyone interested in congressional work regardless of experience level:¹

1. Why (not) work in Congress? (this article) discusses the motivation for working on the Hill and how you can assess your fit for congressional work.
2. Where to work in Congress? explains how to think about whether to work in the House or the Senate, in a personal office or on a committee, and for the majority or minority party. It also discusses office culture and political affiliations. 
3. How to assess office and committee relevance? discusses how to identify the offices and committees working on your policy areas of interest, particularly those in emerging technology and security policy. 
4. How to apply and land a job in Congress? explains the different roles available in Congress, provides networking advice, and explains how to search and apply for jobs. 

We encourage you to read the articles that seem most useful to you, skipping material you’re already familiar with.

This general four-part guide is complemented by our role-specific guides on Full-time roles in Congress, Congressional fellowships, and Congressional internships.

Why (not) work in Congress? 

There are two main reasons that you could consider working in Congress: (1) your ability to contribute to meaningful policy change and (2) for professional development. However, working in Congress isn’t for everyone. As a backdrop for the remainder of this guide, this section outlines the questions you’ll want to keep in mind as you assess whether and where you might want to work in Congress. 

Opportunities for meaningful policy change

Most important social issues are influenced in significant ways, both positive and negative, by the US government and, by extension, Congress. By working in Congress, you can help ensure that policy is smart, thoughtful, and beneficial for the people and communities it affects.

What could you actually work on, in concrete terms? Most policy activity in Congress falls into one of four buckets²:  

1. Legislation. Congress writes legislation that, if passed and enacted, serves as the law of the land. Memorialized in Schoolhouse Rock videos, the legislative process is perhaps the most famous of congressional functions; many important things the US government does are due to legislative initiatives. For example, the 1991 Nunn-Lugar Act is an example of historically significant technology governance, creating a highly successful program to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in post-Soviet states.  
2. Appropriations.³ Congress also “appropriates” funds, which is a fancy way of saying that it determines—at least at a high level—what the government spends money on. While the President proposes a budget, the final package that Congress passes is often quite different from this proposal. As we discuss in more detail in Part 3, “appropriation” is separate from “authorization”: while an authorization bill can allow the NSF to spend $500 million on AI research, for instance, a separate appropriations bill is required to actually spend it. 
3. Oversight. Congress also oversees whether executive agencies faithfully implement the law and spend their money correctly, using oversight tools including hearings, Member letters, reporting requirements, or subpoenas. For example, if Congress directed NSF to fund AI research and appropriated $500 million for this purpose, the relevant committee(s) can hold hearings or request documentation to check in on the program’s impact and verify that the money is actually spent according to congressional intent.     
4. Amplification. Last but not necessarily least, Congress makes news. Some of this is politics. But not everything is. If companies endanger the public good, for example, the glare of the spotlight is one of the best tools available for changing their behavior. Members can also use their profile or congressional tools such as hearings to put neglected issues on the agenda, generate momentum for policy ideas, or change the Overton window. Much of this involves shaping media coverage and public debate.

As an institution, Congress is easy to underestimate. Policy influence in the US government has steadily shifted to the executive branch in recent decades, and lots of Hill activity is designed to advance someone’s electoral interests. But much of the activity that gets media attention is not representative of what happens in Congress—there is lots of selection bias in what gets covered (generally speaking: the more polarized and theatrical, the more coverage). Things that work often do so precisely because, and only if, they happen outside of public view. Lots of important issues are unsexy or nonpartisan. Many aspects of Congress are genuinely dysfunctional or confusing, but some of the ways in which it works are visible only once you get to know the institution better. The legislative branch can still make very significant policy changes, especially when it comes to spending and budgets.

As a staffer on the Hill, you will have many opportunities to contribute to congressional action, even—for better or worse—if you are relatively young and inexperienced: there aren’t many other places where 25-year-olds or recent hires can get as much responsibility. Members themselves are incredibly busy, and only spend about a quarter of their time on policy work.⁴ Many lack the time and background necessary to personally weigh in on complicated debates, and/or don’t have institutional power to push through changes. By choice or necessity, Members delegate a large portion of their work. As the journalist Robert Kaiser notes in Act of Congress, his history of regulatory reform in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, committee staffers in particular can have more influence on the substance of legislation than committee Members themselves.⁵ At the same time, you should always remember that staffers are there to work on behalf of their Member and the constituents they represent.

Acquiring policy knowledge, skills, and connections

The second reason to consider working in Congress is that you will acquire policy knowledge, skills, and connections that further your professional development. These include (mainly assuming non-entry level roles, though some of this is true across the board):   

1. Knowledge: On policy issues, you will learn a little about a lot, as the job requires you to know about a large portfolio of issues. Congressional staffers are generalists, though if you get to (co-)lead on legislation or other projects you might also specialize a little. You’ll also build expertise in congressional process and politics. More broadly, you will get to know how the US government functions (what agencies exist, what their jurisdictions and authorities are, how budgets are shaped, etc.), and when and how societal groups can influence US government behavior.  
2. Skills: You will be required to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment, to make complex decisions under significant uncertainty, and to weigh different interests and build coalitions. You will practice working with colleagues with whom you often disagree, and for bosses with different management skills and styles. Frequent tasks include writing (memos, statements, etc.), background research, constituent service, and participating in or running policy briefings and meetings. 
3. Connections: You will build a deep network on the Hill. Moreover, since turnover is high, most of your congressional colleagues will eventually move into other policy positions; chances are that the friends you make on the Hill will be working all over DC a few years after meeting them. Staffers also frequently interact with a large number of external stakeholders, including academics and experts, industry representatives, civil society advocates, and federal agency personnel. All of these connections could be useful in expanding your network, and in some cases they lead to jobs down the line.

The above skills are “transferrable,” but much of the knowledge and many of the networks you build while working in Congress are relevant mainly to other government or policy jobs. If you think there is a high likelihood that you’d want to go into (non-lobbying-related) private sector roles afterward, a congressional staff job may not be your best springboard. Congressional staff are supposed to be invisible; your name will not be listed on any public writing, and the nature and difficulty of your work may not be legible to people unfamiliar with Congress. While you can usually find ways to frame your staff work as relevant to follow-on jobs, on average, congressional work will give you much less of a career boost outside of DC than inside of it.

Both of these two channels—direct impact and career considerations—are important reasons to consider working in Congress.⁶  On the one hand, Congress can be slow-moving. You might be pessimistic about your ability to contribute to meaningful change as a staffer, in which case the potential career impacts may loom larger in your decision. On the other hand, Congress does really matter, and there are times when staffers can affect big decisions like where to spend many millions of dollars or how to regulate a particular technology or market. Opportunities for that sort of change may not come up every day, but when they do, your work as a staffer can materially improve the lives of millions of people.

Assessing your fit for Congress 

As outlined above, working in Congress can be highly impactful and advance your professional development. Still, Congress is not for everyone. The fact that working in Congress could help you make an impact doesn’t, by itself, mean you should work there. Many social impact motivated people choose to work in Congress hoping to make a difference; while some like it and stay, others choose to leave. For example, one former Hill staffer who we interviewed ended up having a negative experience, and he reports:

The Hill has a very specific culture and I wish someone had warned me about it before I started working there. At best, staffers are idealistic, passionate, hard-working, and professional. At worst, they are uptight, cutthroat, not that smart, and narcissistic. Ultimately, I found it too unpleasant to work with Hill staffers and had to leave the Hill—although I did learn a lot and left for a great job, so it wasn’t all the Hill’s fault.

Many people—even those interested in and suited to policy work more broadly—are going to be a bad cultural or professional fit for the Hill. Many people who have happily worked in DC or the US government for years will laugh when you ask them if they’ve ever considered working on Capitol Hill.

So, you should seriously consider your “fit” for congressional work. If you hate your job or your colleagues, you are unlikely to be an effective staffer—success on the Hill relies heavily on taking initiative and building coalitions, things that are hard to do effectively if you are miserable. Also, your mental health is important! You shouldn’t invest in a congressional career if you expect you will hate being there and risk burning out.

How, though, do you assess your fit? The first step, of course, is to learn about Congress. This guide aims to help you do that by collecting lots of the relevant information into a single place. Second, you can read day-in-the-life stories from congressional staffers. But it’s important to realize that your experience will vary greatly depending on your job; in some jobs, you will be answering lots of constituent mail every day, whereas in others, your work will not involve any constituent mail at all. Part 4 outlines what categories of jobs exist, and links to resources and narratives that are specific to each of those jobs. (For a birds-eye view, this post nicely describes a day in a personal office, and the Congressional Management Foundation has survey data from 1,400+ congressional staffers on their professional experiences: “Aligning Work and Life in the US House and Senate” and “Job Satisfaction and Engagement of House and Senate Staff”).

Even though everyone’s personal experience can vary greatly depending on their specific circumstances, some broad points on fit and life on the Hill include⁷:

1. Workdays are often hectic and unpredictable, and you might be juggling 3-4 important tasks at once. An energizing environment for some, but if you like working in structured and focused blocks, working on the Hill might be a struggle.
2. Hours can be long and unpredictable. When Congress is in session, staffers’ workweeks can easily run into the 50-60 hour range. Sometimes, if there is an imminent deadline or important committee/floor action, you may be working deep into the night. Work pressure can vary a lot by office, however.
3. Legislative staffers own a large portfolio of issues, almost none of which they are true experts on. This can be really exciting for generalists, but it may be frustrating if you want to build specific expertise. 
4. Both because you’ll be a generalist and because policy is very complex and life on the Hill moves quickly, you need to be comfortable making judgment calls and decisions under high levels of uncertainty.
5. More than most other DC institutions, Congress is often permeated by politics, of both the office and ideological varieties. Hill staffers are motivated by a combination of public service, proximity to power, and political gamesmanship. Congress is a very mission-oriented place, which can be really motivating—as long as you are not repelled by the mission.
6. Relatedly, much of your success as a staffer depends on being able to work well with people you disagree with or even dislike. While Congress attracts many hard-working and idealistic people, they vary drastically. If you cannot build coalitions or handle interpersonal tension well, Congress will be a very tough work environment.
7. Workplace culture is relatively formal and hierarchical, with junior staffers having little autonomy or “voice.” If you hate wearing a suit to work most days, be warned (though culture does vary by office).
8. Pay is relatively low and you do not have long-term job security. The Congressional Research Service reports the 2021 median annual pay for personal office staff as follows (Committee staff earn more, both in the House and Senate, but their roles are also more competitive and have higher professional requirements): 

	House personal office	Senate personal office
Staff Assistant	~$47,000	~$48,000
Legislative Correspondent	~$54,000	~$52,000
Legislative Assistant	~$63,000	~$87,000
Legislative Director	~$101,000	~$151,000

Some of these workplace features are unique to Congress, whereas others are common across government. For example, federal agency staff often have a much narrower issue portfolio, highly expert colleagues, decent pay and long-term security, and more reasonable and predictable hours. These are some of the reasons many in DC prefer working in federal agencies over Congress. But, like Hill staffers, they also need to be good at building coalitions and quickly understanding the politics of an issue, and they (probably) still have to wear formal attire most days. Doing policy-related research at think tanks is also different from Congressional work.⁸ If you fear you are a bad fit for Congress, do not confuse that with being a bad fit for “policy” in general—there are lots of ways and places to do valuable policy work. 

Ultimately, you won’t know whether you’re a good fit for the Hill unless you try working there. Ideally, you could do a low-cost trial. Students or recent graduates can obviously intern, but there are trial options at the mid-career level as well, including relevant fellowship programs (most of which require a graduate degree and/or several years of work experience). These fellowships are great ways to try life on the Hill without totally abandoning your current career or sacrificing optionality.

Considerations for working in Congress

To summarize, when you’re thinking about whether and where to work in Congress, three sets of questions that should be on your radar are:

1. From a direct impact perspective, you’ll want to consider (among other things) where in Congress you can work on issues that you care about, and whether the policy goals you want to pursue are within the purview of Congress and politically feasible. 
2. From a career perspective, you’ll want to consider (among other things) what responsibilities you would get in different types of roles, and who you would get to interact with. If you are in it mostly to gain skills and experience, you may not need to worry as much about getting to work directly on your preferred policy issues.
3. From a fit perspective, you’ll want to consider (among other things) what your day-to-day experience would be like, what tasks you would focus on, and what your direct colleagues might be like.

The later posts in this guide will help you think through these and other questions and—if you decide Congress may actually be a good place for you—to help you get a job. 

Footnotes