So You Want to Work in Washington D.C.? - Jessica Riedl
Jessica Riedl
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So You Want to Work in Washington D.C.?<br>Advice for Aspiring Policy Analysts
Jessica Riedl<br>Jul 02, 2026
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I took this picture shortly after giving Senate testimony in November 2018<br>Each year, I am contacted by 100–200 college students and recent graduates seeking a meeting to discuss how to become a think tank fellow in Washington, D.C. While I enjoy mentoring (I was once that ambitious student), my busy schedule does not allow for this many meetings. Instead, I am offering my standard advice to young aspiring policy fellows below.<br>(While this advice is designed for think tank jobs, much of it also applies to jobs in Congress)<br>Before we start: Sorry, I cannot get you a job or internship
I have no role in hiring at my — or any — workplace. Such decisions are made by hiring committees above my pay grade. I do not have a dedicated research assistant position, nor do I select interns. Moreover, requests to “put in a good word” do not really help, because entry-level hiring decisions are made entirely on the strength of one’s application materials rather than on pre-existing relationships with fellows — relationships we likely do not have anyway. Your best bet for a think tank position is to put in a terrific application, and for that, my insider’s advice is below.
The Four Keys to Landing Your First Washington Policy Job or Internship
First: Build a strong academic record. College and graduate school transcripts are typically required, and you are likely competing against strong students from elite colleges. You need not attend an elite college, but you should be able to demonstrate that you have mastered the relevant coursework.<br>Second: Be willing to volunteer and intern. During my college and graduate school years, I put in 2,000 hours of unpaid volunteering and internships. It began during summer vacation after my sophomore year, when I simply walked into a hometown Congressional campaign office as a 20-year-old nobody and asked how I could help. That summer, I spent my nights working the lonely 11pm-7am shift at a 24-hour convenience store (a good time to read economic and policy books), and my afternoons lit-dropping, stuffing envelopes, handing out stickers at parades, getting ballot signatures, and driving the candidate (unfortunately he lost). Back at school, my political organization skills and (provocative) university newspaper opinion columns got me elected state chairman of the College Republicans.
These two roles earned me a junior and senior-year internship in my governor’s office (just down the street from campus), where for two afternoons each week I drafted constituent letters, made photocopies, ran errands… and then started receiving small policy research assignments, which over time grew into larger legislative analyses, policy memos, and even briefings with the governor. Upon graduating from college, this experience got me a Congressional campaign job back in my home district (this time we defeated the incumbent),1 then a full-time policy analyst position for the governor, and finally a personal recommendation letter from the governor that helped me get accepted into elite MPP programs. All in 36 (admittedly-exhausting) months.<br>So volunteer on campaigns, apply for internships with state legislatures, governors, Congress, think tanks, agencies, etc. Be willing to run errands and do low-level work. Nothing is beneath you because everything is a steppingstone. This is how you learn politics from the inside, and how you make contacts and earn the responsibilities that turn into full-time jobs.<br>Third: Develop a niche. Knowing a little bit about everything is great for conversation and bad for landing a policy job. Think tanks, congressional offices, and agency positions are typically siloed by issue area. Employers will be looking to fill slots for a health care legislative assistant, tax policy advisor, immigration research assistant, or China expert. This makes generalists difficult to place. Have one or two policy areas — or skills, such as press and communications — where you have legitimate expertise to offer and can shorten the learning curve. Note: Do not worry that you are locking yourself into a policy area for life. Once inside, experts move around across issues — but you need a niche to get your foot in the door.<br>Fourth: Be an excellent writer. Despite being an anonymous 26-year-old fresh out of my MPP program with no notable Washington experience or connections, I managed to get hired as the Heritage Foundation’s lead research fellow in federal budget policy (this was at Heritage’s peak of power and influence in Washington, long before it went off the deep end).<br>The key was showing up to my interviews with a full binder of writing samples for each person I met with. The goal was to demonstrate a broad range of policy writing — from college newspaper op-eds to shorter class essays...