Last Updated: March 3rd, 2022 by
Politics affect everyone’s daily lives at all levels of society. That’s why many feel a strong need to serve their community by getting involved in politics, fighting for change, and improving people’s lives. So if you’re wondering how to become a politician, you’ve come to the right place.
This guide will help you understand the role of a politician, including the kind of work they do daily. You’ll also learn how to become a politician at the local, state, or federal levels.
Let’s get started.
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Job Description
When trying to understand how to become a politician, it’s essential to know what a politician does. Overall, your job is to represent your community by voicing their concerns and championing their interests. You can do this at the local, state, and federal levels.
Your job is only possible by building and maintaining solid relationships with your community. Doing that will allow you to understand which issues are most important to them and positively affect those issues.
Maintaining strong relationships is also important so the community will support you as their representative. That support can be in the form of votes to get you elected to positions of political power. But it can also be in the form of financial help to fund campaigns to get you elected.
Once elected, you will then be a legislator working directly on the bills and laws that affect your community. That means supporting the ones that improve the lives in your community and opposing the ones that don’t.
Read More: How to Become a Pastor. Another great way to encourage and help your community is by becoming a Pastor. See what it takes to step on this faith-based career path.
What Does an Average Day for a Politician Look Like?
Learning how to become a politician requires you to understand what politicians do day-to-day. One thing’s for sure: you can expect to have a career that is anything but the average 9-to-5.
Here’s what an average day will look like for you in this role:
Daily Briefing With Your Team
As an elected representative, you’ll have a team of people who will support you in performing your responsibilities.
Depending on what office you hold and where you are in the country, your team can vary in size. For example, some politicians only have a handful of assistants, while others have much larger teams.
At the beginning of each day, you’ll meet with your team and conduct a briefing. First, they’ll update you on any information you need to know, such as the latest goings-on with current issues. Then, you’ll delegate tasks to them, including speechwriting, research, and communications.
Many of the people who work for you are learning how to become a politician from you and are, themselves, at the early stages of their political careers.
Meet Your Voters (Constituents)
When you think about it, learning how to become a politician means learning how to interact with your constituents. The members of the community you represent are the most important people you’ll meet, which is why you’ll spend a portion of your day doing just that.
Politicians like you will meet with constituents in many different ways, including:
- One-on-one meetings, such as at your office.
- Group meetings, such as with workers unions or local business owners.
- Town Hall meetings or forums, where you can meet large groups at one time.
- Community events like parades, festivals, and others.
- Online using video conferencing software when meeting in person is not practical.
No matter how or where you meet them, the goal is to spend a part of your day staying informed on the lives of your voters and how you can help them.
Meet Other Stakeholders
Aside from meeting the people you represent, you’ll also spend a part of your day building and maintaining relationships with other stakeholders. These are the people or groups affected by the bills and laws passed by local, state, and national governments.
Some examples of the stakeholders you’ll interact with are:
- Local, State, and Federal government agencies.
- Police, fire, and other emergency departments.
- Local healthcare administrators.
- Non-governmental agencies (NGOs)
Firstly, many of these stakeholders are also members of your community. That means they’re your supporters or potential voters, and your work as a politician affects them personally.
However, their roles in their organizations also mean that they’re affected professionally.
Let’s use the issue of homelessness as an example. Any bills or laws passed that help the homeless will also indirectly benefit NGOs that support them, like soup kitchens and shelters.
So, meeting stakeholders like them will help you understand the bigger picture of any issue you’re analyzing.
Attend Council Meetings
Politicians sit on one or more councils that explore and decide about issues affecting the local community. In your role as an elected representative, your day will be packed with these meetings where you will make your concerns and interests known.
These meetings also allow you to make suggestions on how things can be improved based on the input that you get from your constituents.
Attending council meetings also has another benefit: it makes you more visible. That will show your supporters that you are indeed championing their interests.
At the same time, people who don’t support you or know you will also get a chance to see the value you bring.
Analyze, Draft and Propose Bills and Laws
You and representatives like you can draft and propose new bills and laws. When fellow politicians submit a new proposal, you and your team must spend some time analyzing them in detail.
That way, you can decide if you will support those proposals (if it helps your constituents) or if you’ll oppose them (if they go against your constituents’ interests).
Your analysis is crucial to determine whether those proposals hurt or help the people you represent in your community.
Besides that, you’ll also be drafting and proposing bills and laws of your own. This process will require your team to perform a great deal of research to understand what the proposal should look like and get support from your colleagues.
How to Become a Politician: Process
When learning how to become a politician, you’ll quickly discover that the process looks slightly different depending on where you are. Still, most of it involves making yourself known in your community.
Here is what the process will look like for you:
1. (Optional) Get a Degree
You don’t have to go to college to learn how to become a politician. However, having one would give you a significant advantage. That’s because pursuing a degree will help you understand politics, the government, and essential issues in better detail.
There are no limits to what kind of degree you can have as a politician.
Some examples of the degrees aspiring politicians take often include:
- Political Science
- Government
- Communications
- And others.
Still, having a degree in a different field won’t limit your success. Instead, it will help you when it comes to tackling issues related to your field of study.
For example, you can be a qualified marine biologist and still become a politician. Plus, there have been plenty of politicians in the United States Senate over the years who were qualified as doctors before pursuing long political careers.
2. Gain Political Experience
While a degree can be helpful, a better way to learn how to become a politician is by gaining hands-on political experience.
The best way to gain this experience is through volunteering or internships.
For example, volunteering on another politician’s election campaign can give you a view from the frontline of how the election system works. It will also allow you to network with other future politicians and experience what it’s like to work alongside the politician’s team members.
An internship will take your experience several steps further. In this position, you’ll learn how politics work once the election is won and it’s time to get to work.
The things you learn and the connections you make during this time will take you a very long way in your political career.
3. Get Active and Gain Support
The next step in how to become a politician is to gain the support of your community. But, you can’t do that until you’ve started becoming active in the issues and events that are important to the people around you.
You can start by attending Town Hall meetings and other events where voters meet with the local government and politicians to discuss current issues.
4. Run For a Local Office and Become a Legislator
Once you’re ready, you can then find out the requirements in your location for becoming a politician. That will allow you to prepare to run for local office whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Remember: like many other jobs, the goal is to start small and work your way up. So, don’t be afraid to campaign for elected positions with more minor responsibilities. That will help you get your foot in the door of local government before moving to bigger things like state or federal positions.
The best way to learn how to become a politician is to become one and gain first-hand experience.
Read More: Not sure if learning how to become a politician is right for you? Explore other law careers in our How to Become a Mediator guide.
Are You Suited for a Politician Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools and Technology
Pursuing this line of work and learning how to become a politician is challenging, but you can also learn to become a politician by developing the right skills and proficiencies.
Here are some of the ones you’ll need:
Personality and Skills
Your interpersonal skills are the most important ones you’ll need in this line of work. That’s especially true since you’ll be interacting with people from all walks of life.
On top of that, strong persuasion abilities are also helpful as you must convince people that the causes you champion are in the community’s best interest.
Lastly, politicians often speak in front of crowds. So, public speaking skills are also crucial so that people feel confident in your abilities when they see you give speeches.
Credentials and Proficiencies
No matter your background, you must have a deep understanding of the political process. Not only does this help you get yourself elected into office, but it also helps when you need to propose bills or laws on behalf of your constituents.
Besides that, there’s no denying that politicians must learn how to use modern communication tools, mainly social media platforms.
Lastly, you must also have expert-level knowledge of the issues you’re championing, whether climate change, healthcare, education, or anything else you choose to pursue.
How Does a Politician Find Work?
Now that you know how to become a politician, how will you find work in the field?
To find work as a politician, you must run for an elected local, state, or federal government position. Winning that position will make you a legislator who can then work on bills and laws that directly affect the wellbeing of your community.
Politician Salaries
If you’re researching how to become a politician, it’s likely that salary will play some role in your decision.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that legislators earn an average of $53,560 a year. The top 90th percentile earns $105,100, while the bottom 10th percentile earns $18,120.
The BLS also finds that the 5 highest-paying states for this role are:
- Washington ($ 119,810 a year)
- New York ($ 93,370 a year)
- California ($ 72,250 a year)
- Florida ($ 72,090 a year)
- Alaska ($ 68,580 a year)
Politician Job Growth
The growth for this role is expected to be between 5% and 10% between 2020 and 2030, which is average. This is good news for those learning how to become a politician.
Top 5 Most Popular Staff Roles in Politics
Being an elected legislator or politician is not the only job you can have in politics. Instead of learning how to become a politician, there are plenty of other staff roles in politics that you can also pursue.
Some of the most popular staff roles include:
Chief of Staff
You’ll support a legislator by administering their office and assigning work to other staff members in this role. You’ll report directly to the legislator you work for in this role.
Legislative Assistants
Legislators are often concerned with a long list of different issues affecting their constituents. Their legislative assistants help them keep track of what’s going on with each particular issue. You’ll do that by monitoring the bills and laws related to those issues in this role.
Legislative Correspondents
A legislator can’t keep in touch with all of their constituents individually. So, they hire legislative correspondents to help pass information back and forth between the legislator and the people they represent.
Press Secretaries
Legislators need help interacting with the media to spread their message far and wide. As a press secretary, you’ll interact with the press and prepare media statements when necessary.
Assistants
Lastly, a legislator’s office requires assistants to help keep things running smoothly. This position involves performing routine office tasks and supporting the other functions listed above.
Read More: How to Become a Professor. Learn what it takes to pursue this career including education, experience, and more.
Professional Associations
The Republican National Committee
American Association Of Political Scientists
US Association Of Former Members Of Congress
Top Colleges and Universities
Here are some of the best colleges and universities to consider when pursuing how to become a politician: