Judiciary Clerkship - Wrong Party - Future Employment Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hoping for some help here. Jobless 3L, have a judiciary committee clerkship with a prominent republican senator for the spring. I'm hoping to spin this into long term employment some how. But, I'm a democrat. I took the job because it was the only position I could find after a ton of applications, and I was sort of desperate. Also, I have a strong IP interest/background, and the senator is very involved in IP legislation. This was the entire content of my interview - actual politics barely came up.

What kind of jobs will this experience make me competitive for? (Top 25% at a T20 otherwise)? Will the party affiliation be determinative later?

Any help is appreciated.

[Catsinthebag]

Hoping for some help here. Jobless 3L, have a judiciary committee clerkship with a prominent republican senator for the spring. I'm hoping to spin this into long term employment some how. But, I'm a democrat. I took the job because it was the only position I could find after a ton of applications, and I was sort of desperate. Also, I have a strong IP interest/background, and the senator is very involved in IP legislation. This was the entire content of my interview - actual politics barely came up.

What kind of jobs will this experience make me competitive for? (Top 25% at a T20 otherwise)? Will the party affiliation be determinative later?

Any help is appreciated.

Probably only determinative if you're looking at jobs with/for Dems later. I mean, if a resume comes across the desk of a partisan of either party and s/he sees experience with the other party, it's almost surely going in the trash (or recycling bin!). Doesn't even mean the person thinks the applicant is a bad person. The simple question is, "Why would I spend time entertaining the idea of hiring ________ who in all likelihood doesn't even believe in the goals we are striving for?"

To move past the desk-to-trash phase, you're better off just listing it as Judiciary Committee Clerk... e.g. no reference to party and no reference to Majority Staff or something of that nature. Another option is to just try and network with colleagues across the aisle and if you make a strong bond with a couple folks and if/when a position opens up somewhere, jump on it - this likely won't be within the same committee or even Hill job-to-Hill job, but perhaps to a Dem-leaning org/firm then at some point back to the Hill if the opportunity arises.

[Anonymous User]

So eventually list as Judiciary Committee Clerk, list substantive projects I worked on, and hope for the best? (+ networking).

Any idea what kind of entry level jobs I should be gunning for/networking towards?

[Catsinthebag]

So eventually list as Judiciary Committee Clerk, list substantive projects I worked on, and hope for the best? (+ networking).

Any idea what kind of entry level jobs I should be gunning for/networking towards?

Absolutely. Generally speaking, though this isn't a rule by any means, committee staff (especially attorneys) are less partisan than member offices. So, if you're a smart dude who enjoys the work and knows the subject matter (IP, I believe you said), with some effort and luck, you should be okay to make a switch at some point.

I don't know about what entry level jobs you should target, though. Switching parties or not, Hill jobs (at least ones more substantive than answering phones for free) can be some of the toughest jobs to get. But once you're there, you've got an advantage over every other wannabe Hill staffer in the country, so make the most of it!

[SemperLegal]

You'd be surprised how well elected figures in the same interest area, but different parties get along. Yes, the spoils system still exists, but you were probably out of the running for those plum party -loyalist jobs the day you were dumb enough not to be born to a bundler.

A good recommendation from a massively successful politician will open more doors than a shady entry on a resume.

[Catsinthebag]

Lol at shady resume entry. It's not "shady" to write Law Clerk, Senate Judiciary Committee as opposed to Law Clerk, Senate Judiciary Committee, Majority Staff" or something along those lines.

See this link: http://www.rollcall.com/features/30-Hil ... 896-1.html. First person featured is: Chief intellectual property counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee. In the profile, he's described as "top advisor to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Is he shady? Also, there are in fact partisan staff and non-partisan or bi-partisan staff within each committee - I'm not sure where op would technically fall within those lines.

And yes, the legislators get along just fine usually. But it's the staff who usually make these hiring decisions. Like I said, the COS or whoever is doing the hiring receive 50 (conservative number) resumes, all range from decent to great, and one has entries listing the opposite political party. That one is getting tossed first 99% of the time.