Summer is almost here!

This post is going to be short because I am spending this week visiting my parents in Pennsylvania and moving back to Washington, D.C. to start my summer internship in a Press Office on Capitol Hill. I am going to highlight a few things I have been doing to prepare for working.

• First off, I subscribed to my Member's eNewsletter. I have been reading the updates and trying to get familiar with his viewpoints and the people in his office.
  
• Since I secured the internship, I have been stopping by his office every time I am on The Hill to say hi to the other people working in the office. I have found this is a great way to get familiar with the office.
• Lots of Research. I have been researching my Member. I want to go in on my first day and impress my coworkers with my knowledge on the office. I think it is important to know what is going on.
• Lastly, I spent a good portion of a Sunday afternoon making a budget for the summer. Many internships in Public Service offer little or no pay. At first it looked like it was going to be impossible, given the rent prices in the Washington Metro Area. But, I found a second job to work on weekends and it IS only for 3 months. Hopefully the contacts I have made while living in the city, and my education and experience will be sufficient to find a job to start immediately after my internship is ending.
  

I am very excited for the beginning of my internship, and will keep you posted on all the exciting things I am doing on Capitol Hill this summer!

Preparing to Work in the Government

So I've done a lot of talking about how to look for jobs in government. I would like to take a little bit of time to talk about how to prepare yourself while in college for working for government.

I think the number one way to prepare yourself is by studying abroad. I spent a semester in Geneva, Switzerland through the Kent State Geneva Semester. It was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me. While in Geneva we had briefings at important places with important people such as the UN. UNHCR, International Red Cross, ambassadors to the UN from countries such as Iran, Palestine, Russia, China and Israel. I also participated in a week-long trip to Berlin and Dresden where we studied the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was stuff I would not have gotten to do, had I not studied in Switzerland. I could have read all the books about the reunification of Germany, but until I went and saw how Berlin was devastated and Dresden destroyed, I would not have fully understood.

If you're not sure about studying abroad (and it is a BIG decision) I would recommend at least spending a semester in Washington, D.C. interning for some branch of the government or an NGO. And if you're not really sure about leaving your home state, try for an internship with your state's Governor or a district office for youe Member of Congress. You might love it, or decide it's not for you. At least after trying it out you know!

Off peak season internships

I don't presume to be telling you anything you don't know when I say that getting a good internship in government (particularly the House and Senate) is not an easy task. There are a great deal of very competitive internships and there are no sure bets. However, the competition is at the highest during the Summer when colleges are out of session. These jobs still need interns when school is in session, but they have far fewer applicants. If there is a dream internship you really have your eye on, you might want to give some thought to applying for that internship during the Fall or Spring and taking a semester off if you get it. Not only is there far less competition, but since many of these offices are already understaffed, the workload is far more substantial than when they have a great deal of internships during the summer.
At my school, many students are ready to graduate a semester early, or they take a semester off and go abroad. If it fits your schedule, it might be a good idea to give some thought to applying for an internship. It would be a great way to take your semester off and it would be significantly less competitive.

Student Loan Forgiveness...

While looking at numerous government jobs, I have come to the conclusion that government jobs just don't pay a lot. But that's okay. One of the reasons is because of this new student loan forgiveness plan that was just signed into law. All the details have no been ironed out yet because the forgiveness doesn't start until 10 years after you graduate. And you have to have to have started paying on your loans after October 2007, so there won't be any forgiveness until 2017... But, anyway, Here is some information on it:

"On September 7, both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives
overwhelmingly approved a college tuition assistance bill that
establishes a student loan forgiveness program for public service employees,
including people who work at nonprofits for 10 years. The votes came two days
after a Congressional conference committee, which included Sen. Richard Burr and
Rep. Virginia Foxx of N.C., met to work out differences in the House and Senate
versions of a college tuition assistance bill. President Bush signed the
legislation into law on September 27.
This legislation is an important
victory for the nonprofit sector, because it will make nonprofit jobs a more
attractive option for talented young college graduates! It also may provide a
measure of loan forgiveness to some current nonprofit employees.

The N.C. Center for Nonprofits strongly supports the student loan
forgiveness program that the conference committee approved. This summer, the
Center sent letters to Sen. Burr, Rep. Foxx, and Massachusetts Sen. Edward
Kennedy, the sponsor of the Senate student aid bill, explaining how the loan
forgiveness program will benefit the nonprofit sector.

Effective Date

The loan forgiveness program is effective for student loan payments
made after October 1, 2007. Nonprofit employees will be eligible for loan
forgiveness after making 120 monthly payments after this date, while employed by
nonprofits or in other public sector jobs. This means that the nonprofit
employees will be eligible for loan forgiveness beginning in October 2017.

Eligible Student Loans

Eligible student loans include Federal Direct Stafford Loans,
Federal Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and
Federal Direct Consolidation Loans. In addition to Section 501(c)(3) nonprofits,
public service jobs eligible for loan forgiveness including positions in
government, the military, public education, emergency management, law
enforcement, public health, social work, and public library service.

How Loan Forgiveness Works

Loan forgiveness means that the the federal government will cancel all
student loan debt that remains after 10 years of public service. Loan
forgiveness does not include reimbursement for any loan payments that have
already been made, including payments made during the 10 years of public
service. Borrowers eligible for loan forgiveness do not receive a check from the
federal government for the outstanding loan balance, but rather this debt is
cancelled.

Applicability to Existing Student Loans

Current nonprofit employees who are making student loan payments may be
eligible for forgiveness of their existing student loans. To be eligible, these
employees would need to make 120 payments on their students loans after October
1, 2007 while they are employed by a nonprofit or in another public service job.
Here's an example of how this can work:
Sally Student graduated from college
in 2002 with a 30-year federal student loan, meaning she is scheduled to make
360 monthly payments between 2002 and 2032.

Sally began working for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2002 and has continued
to work there for the last five years. Sally has been making monthly
payments on her student loan over the past five years and is not in default on
this loan. Beginning October 1, 2007, Sally's monthly student loan payments may
count toward the 120 payments needed as a prerequisite for loan forgiveness.
Consequently, if Sally continues working for a nonprofit – or in another
public service job – for the next 10 years, while continuing to make her monthly
student loan payments, her outstanding student loan balance would be cancelled
effective October 2017. "

Chugging along

This week was a pretty active week for me on the job application front. I've applied to a couple of jobs, doing lots of cover letter writing. It's a pretty uncertain process for me. I haven't even gotten any confirmation that they received my materials. But I'm sure they did. Campaigns are busy, and I wonder when they're going to get around to actually reviewing my resume and cover letter.
So now, I just wait. Basically, I've been just going to campaign websites and contacting them, asking them about how to apply to jobs. They eventually get back, and let me know where to send my information too. Hopefully I'll have more to tell next week!

Don't Give Up!

Hi again, everyone. Well, first of all, I had an interview yesterday for an interview on Capitol Hill. I am really excited about this job and I've heard from others in the office that it went well. So I will just have to wait and see. I am reminded again about the importance of networking.

This is how the process goes:
I applied for the job.
I told my internship supervisor that I applied.
He e-mailed the Cheif of Staff in the office.
I told my friend who works in the office.
He told others in his office I had applied.
I got called for an interview.
Someone from another office, e-mailed my interviewer to put in a good word.
My friend in the office e-mailed me and said he heard from my interviewer that it went well...
Now I am waiting.

The waiting part is the part that sucks. But, I'd say it was a good interview. It was with the Press Secretary AND with the Congressman himself. The congressman is so busy that he usually isn't brought in to the interview process until the final stages and even then it isn't unless the position is for a higher up position in the office.

About a week ago, I was ready to give up. I had applied to numerous different places and hadn't heard anything back. And so far this week, I have had a great interview and was asked for an interview someplace else next week! Never give up looking for a job!