What political staffers love about their jobs
People who take on political staffer roles are driven by a clear sense of purpose and higher calling to contribute to the public good and serve their country. They are passionate about making a positive difference in people’s lives.
“For a lot of people it was the actual purpose-driven stuff of doing good, serving your nation…I feel like I got a lot of amazing work done.”
- Damian Damjanovski, Senior Advisor, Strategy and Communications in the Australian Prime Minister’s Office
"Most special advisers come into politics because they care about ideas and issues."
- Munira Mirza, Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit in the UK Prime Minister’s Office
“Staff are drawn to this work because they want to contribute to the public good and to public policy, and they want to make a difference.”
- Georgia Goldsworthy
“Why are we here? To better lives of Canadians”
- Melissa George, Human Resources Advisor in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office
“Focusing on doing the right thing for the public and making sure that you're doing the right thing really helps. That’s the biggest motivation: making a difference in a positive way to New Zealanders.”
- Joy Gribben, Senior Press Secretary in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office
Staffers feel privileged to be involved in government; as one put it, “it's an honour to have been here at all.”
They also appreciate that the role enables them to be in the room when significant events occur and decisions are made in government, and that the jobs are dynamic, super creative, fulfilling, rewarding, exciting, fun, amazing, unique and they get to work with great people.
“I devoted 8 and a half years of my life to advising in Federal Government, and loved it; like absolutely loved it”
- Rachel Howard, Senior Advisor for Policy in the Australian Prime Minister’s Office
“They are one of the most interesting roles you could have…there is never a day that you are bored in the work”
- Sarah Austen-Smith, Director of Research and Advertising in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office
“I still look back, and I’m really proud of the work I did and the people I worked with.”
- Emily Draper, Communications Advisor in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office
“It was a lot of work, but I was always conscious of the fact that I was getting a chance to do this work. When I joined this organization I would have wanted to be in the room for this conversation, and I’m in the room.”
- Ben Chin, Senior Advisor, Policy in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office
“The people who work in there are imbued with politics and they get a thrill out of a good day, a mission achieved, an announcement that ran well, the minister having a good afternoon in the house, or a policy announcement that was the combination of years of work.”
- Mike Munro, Chief of Staff in the New Zealand Prime Minister’s Office
“You get to go to first ministers meetings and travel and meet people and go to big rallies and do all of those cool things, you get to be in the House of Commons when decisions are made, when speeches are made.”
- Laura A'Angelo, Senior Manager of Executive Office in the Canadian Prime Minister’s Office
What are the downsides of doing these jobs?
Doing these roles is not easy – there are many challenging working conditions, often HRM is lacking and this has a negative impact on individuals. Follow links to other pages to find out about the downsides.
Want to know more?
Other pages in the gated section of this resource centre there is detailed insight into these jobs, covering staffers’ own descriptions of their roles, capabilities they require, and what those doing these roles try to achieve in them. Please sign up to get free access to this.
It would be great to add positive perspectives. If you have anything you would like to see added to this page, please let me know by emailing me on [email protected]k or using the sharing solutions form.