The Hill Life: In Search of Greener Grass
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at 1:00PM
Now that we’ve all returned from August Recess and gone back to the legislative business at hand, it’s time for a bit of news. After nearly five years on Capitol Hill climbing the ladder from intern to Legislative Assistant, I decided to hang up my Congressional Staff ID and take a job as a lobbyist with a national organization.
I dabbled in the fine art of lobbying for a short time in 2006, and decided that it wasn’t for me. I was too wonkish, too obsessed with policy and minutiae to survive off the Hill. But, when someone offers you your dream job and it comes with double your salary, you’d be a fool to turn it down.
Life outside the comforting embrace of the marble halls is certainly an adjustment. I didn’t realize how much of my identity was tied up in being a Hill Staffer until I left. It took a good three weeks before I supressed the urge to tell new acquaintances that I “worked on the Hill.” I also have trouble remembering that my e-mail address no longer ends with @mail.house.gov, and I still have to stop myself from referring to the Member I used to work for as “Boss.” It’s a new job with a new lexicon, and I’m still acclimating.
On the plus side, I upgraded from a cubicle to an office with windows (plural) and a door. (A real door that opens and shuts!) I can now expense most of my lunches and afternoon milkshakes (I’m going to enjoy every calorie of my Lobbyist Freshman Fifteen). And I get to work on issues that I’m passionate about with people who I like (so far, this honeymoon period can’t last forever *wink*).
But there are certainly things that I miss, and since I can’t be sentimental without some snark, here are the Top 10 Things I Miss About Being a Hill Staffer:
10. My staff ID. Until you’ve waited in a thirty minute line at the public entrance to Rayburn in the sweltering heat, you don’t realize what a Golden Ticket that little badge was. Same goes for needing a chaperone when I enter the Capitol Building proper. I have never missed eight 8 sq inches of plastic so much in my life (except for when my Father cut up my "emergency" credit card).
9. The Library of Congress. Thanks to the LOC, Congressional staff can check out almost any book from the Library of Congress. Simply reserve it online and someone will deliver it to your office within a couple of days, and they even pick it up when you’re done. I didn’t pay for a book for four years.
On a related note, now would be a good time to buy stock in Barnes and Noble. I think I dropped half of my paycheck there last week.
8. Interns. You don’t realize how much work the ‘terns do for you until they’re gone.
7. Virginia. I now work in an office that is 90% male, so I miss having a co-worker who could talk about shoes, bags, the Royal Wedding and the best brand of black tights just as easily as she could talk about legislative policy. Luckily, she still reads this blog and e-mails me the comments she would have previously shouted across the cubicle farm but it's just not the same. Cue the Celine Dion song...
6. The mystique. Most of America may hate Congress, but there is still a certain cache to being a Hill Staffer. Outside the Beltway, there aren’t many people who can say they work for Congress. Probably because they read the poll and decided to stop admitting that.
5. Being able to wear flat shoes. On the Hill, I could wear flats with my suit and nobody cared. Now, I pretty much have to wear heels. Apparently, it’s part of some lobbyist code of conduct and it’s given me a whole new perspective on my wardrobe. It's also the reason why the other half of my paycheck belongs to the good folks at Piperlime.
4. The Phone System. I miss dialing five digit extensions instead of full numbers and I really miss dialing 0 for the House operator. I actually have to look these numbers up on my own now, and I don’t even have an intern to do it for me (see number 8).
3. My solitude. If you read my Twitter feed, you know how I feel about people (kidding, okay, half kidding). I was always a bit of a loner and that was rarely an issue on the Hill. Now, I have to be social as part of my job, and let’s just say, it’s a learning process. A bit like teaching a fish to ride a bicycle.
2. CRS. The folks at Congressional Research Service are amazing. Need trade data for wheat exports to Nicaragua in a three-month-period in 1994? They’ll find it. Need to write a memo on changes to Social Security without doing a lick of original research? Copy and paste from the CRS report.
Having a wealth of information, meticulously generated by a legion of PhD’s was wonderful. I should have e-mailed about 50 reports to myself before I left. Another reason I could use an intern (see numbers 8 and 4).
1. People Come to You on the Hill. When you make the switch to an off-the-Hill job, you shift paradigms. You are no longer the person people want to schedule a meeting with (unless they want money, it's a bit like being a parent). You are no longer the person responding to the e-mail inquiries. You are no longer the person who decides to put someone on hold. You’re now the person who hopes that the Staffer has time for a meeting, answers your e-mails and takes your calls.
You're also the poor schmo sitting in the front lobby of a Senator's office for over an hour waiting for the Chief of Staff to grace you with his presence. You know he's not really doing anything back there, because just a few weeks ago, you were back there making people wait while you sipped coffee and talked about football. But it's not like you can walk back there and get him, because you're on this side of the heavy, wooden door now.
Yes, those are the things that I miss. Until I close the door to my office, that is. After spending half a decade in a cubicle, I don’t think that will ever get old. Open, shut, open, shut...
So what does this new job mean for the blog? Absolutely nothing. I’ll still be anonymous (at my new Boss’s request). I’ll still post three times per day. And I still won’t be bad mouthing what Members wear. I know, it’s an untapped well of snark, but sadly, it’s going to have to stay that way. (She said with a teary look in her eye...)
If you’re a former staffer who made the jump to the private sector what do you miss about the Hill? And conversely, if you came back to the Hill from the private side, what do you miss about being off-the-Hill?
Reader Comments (37)
I used to work in a state Governor's office and have now switched over to a private firm and your post today is spot on (even on the state executive level). There is definitely something to be said about everyone answering to your every whim when you are "in". When you are "out" your hope is that those that are "in" will still remember your "in" days and respond to your emails and take your meetings even though you are now an alumni of the club.
Belle -
I moved back down South after 3 years on the Hill, and I miss all of the things you list. Especially #1, 2, and 9. At least you're still in D.C. though - people down here don't grasp what it meant to work on the Hill, and I miss it each and every day. And worst of all, I'm still in a cube. Horror! That door will come soon though.
Best of luck in your new job!
Congrats on your new job! The best thing about leaving the Hill is the new feeling that "Every day is Recess" - aka you can leave for lunch, actually leave work at a decent hour, etc. The worst is that no one really wants to hear from you anymore - on the Hill, in the press. But I'm sure you'll enjoy your job - and please remember that even though you've doubled your salary some of us still need suggestions at that "intern" price point!
Congratulations to you on your new gig! I left the Hill (along with many other people) about a year ago, and I agree with all you've listed here. I especially miss CRS (hope they all know how much they are appreciated!) and being able to roam around the Capitol un-escorted. There's something about sitting under the Rotunda at night after an especially rough day.
For me, the best thing about being off the Hill is employer-provided food. There's something about free food with coworkers that really builds morale. I'm only partially kidding. Also, a big plus is not having to defend your profession or your party during every conversation. Though you're a lobbyist now, so you'll probably have to do the former :)
I wondered why your "10th Commandments" were all of a sudden pricier than usual ; )
Congrats Belle!
Congratulations Belle! And as for the heels issue - you won't be spending your days walking miles on hard marble floors (or at least, not as often), so it shouldn't be too painful a switch.
Congratulations and the best of luck!
Congratulations! Best of luck lobbying, and I'm (selfishly) glad you'll be maintaining the CHS status quo!
Congratulations! that's amazing. I don't know what sounds better: double salary or an actual door...
Congrats! Best of luck to you in your new job.
Congratulations to you! I'm a Hill staffer with friends who have left and said that the camaraderie is what they miss the most-- in fact, some have returned for it. For those of us drawn to the intensity of the Hill and the aspect of being a public servant for the folks we grew up with, that esprit de corps is hard to replicate. And the LOC membership ... hoo boy, that'd be tough to relinquish.
On the other hand, a DOOR??!? I cannot imagine. Best of luck to you!
Congratulations on the new job! Writing to you from a cube, I envy that door!
congrats on the new gig and welcome to the other side!
You can still get CRS reports, although you still cant call them and have them do research for you by COB that same day. opencrs.com
Awwww, we miss you too, Belle. I especially miss being able to immedately tell you about the fashion horrors that I see walking these halls on a daily basis. Why just today I spotted someone in a skirt made out of sweatpant material ("sweatskirt?"), a button-down and heels. SWEATPANT MATERIAL. Thank god for e-mail and glad you're not too far down the road.
P.S. The best brand of black tights is still Hue.
Hooray to HUEs. I absolutely agree... and I hope I will never have to see a sweatskirt.
So now that you're not on the Hill and governed by those pesky ethics rules, what's your real name?
Go back, read the blog post again.
Congrats, Belle! Enjoy the new gig. So glad you're keeping the blog up :)
I miss the people. Having your closest friends work down the hall from you is such a treat, and you don't realize how great it is until its gone. Congratulations on going after your "dream job"--I know its bittersweet to leave the Hill but still very exciting.
Congratulations! Best of luck for a wonderful career.
Ha ha. I left the Hill 10 years ago, and still laughed out loud at how true this list was. Boy, could I use an intern...Anyway, my #11 would be: Being at the "center of the universe". When I left the Hill, I l also left DC, to go to grad school, and was amazed to learn that out there beyond the beltway almost no one was paying attention to what was all consuming to us Hill/DC folk. It was strange.
Congratulations! My fiance is an LC right now. He loves it but I sent him this post for a bit of a look ahead :) Best wishes for much success in your new job!
Congrats!! I am sure your new office is lucky to have you.
Congratulations! I came from a political nonprofit in DC and what I love most about the Hill is the people you meet, and how there's always SOMETHING going on. I do miss being able to run to Starbucks whenever I wanted, and leaving at 5 every day. And yesterday in the Rayburn Cafeteria, I saw a girl wearing LEOPARD PRINT HAREM PANTS with a suit jacket. There are many ways to wear leopard print. That is not one of them.