What I wish I’d known before interning for Congress in WA DC

Hey all! Here are some of my tips and tricks that I wish I'd known before moving to WA DC and being a congressional intern!

[@JudgeJudith]

Very interesting video! Thank you for sharing.

[@driannadimatulac6961]

Thank you for this! I'm currently interning for my district representative as well, and hope to move to the Washington, D.C. office after the internship ends. Your tips are very helpful :)

[@bayvlogs8945]

Drianna Dimatulac I’m so happy to hear that and I’m glad my video helped you! Best of luck at your internship!!

[@elizabeth568]

This is so helpful! I’m interning next year

[@bayvlogs8945]

Exciting, good luck!

[@MorenitaBonita19]

Please make a part 2!!

[@bayvlogs8945]

Jazz what would you like to know??

[@MorenitaBonita19]

@@bayvlogs8945 like the hierarchy of the office, the work environment, worklife balance, how you networked, day to day in the office, tips for being a successful intern or assistant.. .thanks for responding 💕

[@bayvlogs8945]

Jazz I will look into making one! If you have any friends who have questions, make sure to let me know

[@harrietpotts5195]

These videos are really interesting! Do they accept international interns for this kind of thing? and was your internship paid? thanks x

[@bayvlogs8945]

Harriet Potts Hi Harriet thanks for watching! No, internships for Congress are not paid. To my knowledge there is rumor that senate interns may be paid, but I haven’t confirmed that. I am not sure if they except international students, thats something that you could look up on Congress.gov !

[@sumelk1020]

Were you assigned mandatory readings and book reports? I’m wondering if this is normal because I’m currently a congressional intern at a district office and the deputy director is making the interns read several books and then write book reports on them. I signed up to be an intern, not take a class

[@bayvlogs8945]

No my office did not do this. However I hear a lot of offices do. There’s no intern program it’s different for each office so it really just depends who you work for. I know some members want people to do that off to the side but it’s not mandatory

[@Thecuzins001225]

Hi!! I was wondering what kinds of things were on your resume when applying?? How much experience are interns supposed to have?

[@bayvlogs8945]

Hey! It depends on the office as to how much experience they'd like to see ie how competitive it is. Such as if you were applying to work for say Senator Cruz or Sanders it would be much more competitive. I had been involved in politics before and had a good amount of community service but nothing super crazy interesting. This was my first internship or real "job" too so I didnt have too much!

[@ryanh909]

I have a question: what is the likelihood of actually getting a congressional internship?

[@bayvlogs8945]

Ryan H very high! Just have to have a good interview and resume and you should have a good shot, or from my experiences.

[@hamadboss7684]

I want to do this what should I do like do I apply online.

[@bayvlogs8945]

Hi there, there’s a couple ways you can go about it. You can either look for internships on job searching sites such as indeed or glass door, or you can identify a member that you want to work for and go directly to their website. Usually if you scroll down all the way on their congressional website at the very bottom there is a section that says apply for an internship

[@jaredgalligan6471]

How do you afford living there if you don’t get paid?

[@bayvlogs8945]

Some places pay, but if they don’t I worked and saved up before I could move to DC

[@bobbybattaglia9560]

Who’s office?

[@bayvlogs8945]

For my privacy and my employers I don’t give specifics as to who I worked for, but most congressional offices are the same in terms of the advice I gave