Graduate School of Political Management Blog

Scores of students and alumni have contacted me about trying to land a job with the new Biden Administration. What should you do? Where do you start?

The Biden-Harris transition team opened their application portal for political appointments. Students who want to pursue a political appointment can check here. 

It has been quite a year!  We bid 2020 adieu and hope to never experience anything like it again. Few people have come out the other side unscathed. Many have experienced unimaginable losses. Now with the year thankfully coming to a close, we need to do the best job we can possibly do to move forward.

Many people have asked me if it is possible to get a promotion during a pandemic. The answer is “yes, it is possible" and “yes, I know people who have earned promotions/advancements during our current COVID crisis."

So the big question is “how did they do it?" As most people know, there are several factors that go into a promotion such as performance, timing, luck, opportunity and more. Here are some of the things to do to try to obtain a promotion during these challenging times:

1. Make yourself visible – Offer to work on projects that require their skills, and show up for meetings looking professional and interested.
2. Present your case – Sometimes people think everyone they work for is nefarious. That is simply not the case. Yes, there are bad people everywhere, but there are good people everywhere too. Keep track of your accomplishments and in a “non-braggy” way make sure people know about them. Show your worth inside and outside of your organization.
3. Ask for the promotion in a meeting or call with your boss by presenting your case described in tip #3.
4. Stay active on social media when appropriate - Of course, some jobs do not lend themselves to social media, such as intelligence jobs, but many others do. When allowed by the employer, post on work and private social media accounts. And obviously, make sure to keep everything professional.

5. Be lucky - Sometimes, timing is everything, so you need to try to create your own luck by keeping track of how things are going in your organization. Some offices will only consider promotions during specific evaluation periods. Be on offense! Do not be a church mouse waiting in the corner for something to happen!
6. Avoid office gossip and office cliques - This isn’t high school anymore!
7. Good luck - If you get your promotion, great, congratulations! If not, don’t sulk. Keep trying and know there is a next time. Keep a positive attitude and be someone that everyone wants to emulate.

Margaret “Mag” Gottlieb is the Career Director at the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University. Connect with Mag on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-gottlieb-1457753/ or contact via email: mag@gwu.edu

Several articles have been written about how one’s personality traits impact the job search, either positively or negatively. Most employers seek job candidates who are positive,  reliable, punctual, dependable, flexible, and good communicators.

"When companies are assessing job candidates they’re looking for … the right personality,” said Rosemary Haefner, Career Builder’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “It’s important to highlight soft skills that can give employers an idea of how quickly you can adapt and solve problems, whether you can be relied on to follow through, and how effectively you can lead and motivate others.”

Hiring executives have studied the personality traits that can “make it or break it” for job seekers. Some of the important personality traits are:

1. Team Player – Ability to work with others
2. Cultural Fit - Every organization is different and you may fit into one place and not another
3. Multitasking - The ability to do more than one project at a time
4. Strategist - Ability to think critically
5. Decision Maker - Ability to use your own judgment when necessary because your boss can’t be involved in every decision
6. Passion for the task at hand (even when it’s not fun or interesting)

Positive people and positive personalities are very important in the political world. No one wants to work with “Debbie Downer” or “Donald Downer." In a job interview, the interviewer is looking at whether you have the skills and “fit” to do the job. The person who conveys a positive personality and ability to adapt to new environments will be chosen over the person who comes across as negative and not passionate. Some people call it the “beer test," although I’m not one to encourage students or job applicants to drink. The “beer test” is whether the interviewer would want to have a beer with the applicant if stuck in the airport or working on a long project together.

Knowing how important one’s personality may play in the job search process, my advice is to always try to convey interest and positivity even when you don’t feel like it. Some people call it “fake it until you make it”.

Good luck to all during these trying times!

Margaret “Mag” Gottlieb is the Career Director at the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University. Connect with Mag on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-gottlieb-1457753/ or contact via email: mag@gwu.edu

Like so many chance encounters in this day and age, the story of Nikki Jedlicka and Ellesse Krall began with a Facebook post. Nikki was looking for a job. Ellesse had a job to offer. But Nikki did not know Ellesse, and Ellesse did not know Nikki. Thousands of miles separated the two women, but one bond tied them together. They were both graduates of the GSPM Strategic Public Relations program, and that was enough.

Nikki was looking for a job because she was about to move to Washington, DC, from California, not long after moving to California from Okinawa, Japan. Nikki’s husband is a U.S. Marine, and Nikki herself grew up a military brat, so she was used to crisscrossing the globe at the behest of the Pentagon. As it turns out, she completed her GSPM Strategic PR degree online in 2016 while living in Japan. Faced with yet another big move, Nikki asked her fellow GSPM graduates to point her in the right direction.

“I started really hitting the ground running with the online networking and GSPM does have that alumni page on Facebook,” Nikki said. “So I introduced myself awkwardly. I’m heading back to the East Coast shortly and I just want to start putting feelers out there for opportunities and meet some people.”

Ellesse, who graduated from GSPM in 2018, had a job to offer because of the drones. More specifically, the Federal Aviation Administration’s drone regulation program. Ellesse is a communications principal at Evans Consulting, of which the FAA is a major client. Although a job opening wasn’t immediately available, Ellesse knew that opportunities at the firm would emerge down the line.

“At Evans, we’re always looking for folks with communication experience because, as our projects and our business continue to grow, there was always that increase in needing communications support,” Ellesse said.

Ellesse came across Nikki’s post on the GSPM alumni Facebook page and the gears quickly began to turn.

“I got a handful of messages, but the most promising was from Ellesse,” Nikki said. “We had some email exchanges, we got to know each other, she told me all about Evans Consulting and just really tried to feel out where my skill sets were and where my interests lie, and we started an interview process as soon as I got to the East Coast.”

“It just lined up perfectly,” Ellesse added. “It took like six months or eight months from the time we first met to the time [Nikki] actually got on board.”

Fast forward to now. Nikki is about to complete her first year at Evans. She still focuses on providing communications and logistical support for the FAA’s drone regulation program, but she also tackles marketing and corporate social responsibility duties outside the FAA sphere. She believes she has found the right fit. She is happy.

“It worked out really well for both of us and I don’t know if I would’ve been so successful without someone in the program to help me,” Nikki said.

Both women are well acquainted with the capabilities of the GSPM and GW networks. Despite having completed her SPR master’s degree online, Nikki had met with SPR program director Larry Parnell and GSPM career director Mag Gottlieb, who connected her with other GSPM graduates at several DC firms. Ellesse remains in close contact with her former classmates and is proud to have helped several GW graduates obtain jobs at Evans.

Now that it is difficult to envision a return to the days of shaking hands, slapping backs, and exchanging business cards at meet-and-greets, Nikki and Ellesse’s story serves as an example of remote networking at its finest. In the era of social distancing, being proactive, reaching out to the right people, and dedicating time to building relationships is essential.

“It sounds cliché at this point but you just have to participate and be willing to spend time on your computer and get on the phone and do the webinars and the happy hours,” Nikki said. “I hate to frame it as trying to stay relevant but that’s really the only way to do it since we do lack that in-person piece and we do need to stay in communication.”

Nikki did not know Ellesse, and Ellesse did not know Nikki. What they did know were the skills and experiences they acquired at GSPM. They knew the work ethic, the focus, and the commitment necessary to succeed at GSPM. This knowledge cultivated an implicit trust between two strangers and led both of them to take a leap of faith that ultimately paid off.

“I knew the skills she already had just based on her being a GW alum,” Ellesse said. “That’s the great thing about the network. We already know your background. We already know you can do the job.”