Chapter Eight: Other Political Career Options
There is only so long most people can take working in parliament and working for an MP before they decide to move on and get a new role. However, many people do an internship or two with MP’s and then end up in a variety of purposes.
There is nothing wrong with this. After all, there are only 650 MP’s, so there is only ever going to at most 1,800 - 3,000 roles available.
These “other” political roles can also be seen as even “post” political careers for people who have decided to move on from their job with an MP.
Jobs within Public Relations and Public Affairs Agencies
One of the most exciting and popular routes after working for an MP is to go and work for a Public Relations and Public Affairs Agency.
This route is ‘very open’ as the agency talent marketplace is always looking for a fresh young candidate to replace those candidates who have either been promoted or have left to join their clients. As with all junior roles in professional services, there is a high turnover among junior staff. This does not reflect the working practices so much as the opportunities that await people once they have a couple of years of experience with an agency.
So what do PR and Public Affairs agencies do?
The below quote from the PRSA sums this up neatly.
“Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.
Counselling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions, courses of action and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.
Protecting the reputation of an organization.
Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing; financial; fundraising; employee, community or government relations; and other programs.
Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public policy.
Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing facilities — in short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above.
Overseeing the creation of content to drive customer engagement and generate leads.”
As you can see, there is a broad and diverse range of tasks that are related to this role.
Agencies generally provide a range of services that help clients meet the above.
For public affairs agencies their main focus is on tasks similar to those above, however, focused on the small political journalistic audience both elected and journalistic as well as aiming to engage with local and central governments.
Now one of the myths of public affairs is that they all have long lunches with MP’s and the “will of the people” and democracy ends up being subverted. This, however, cannot be further from the truth.
Given the sheer number of Public Affairs professionals, every MP would be the size of the marshmallow man. In most cases, public affairs professionals claim to influence but generally supply MP’s with relevant information. MP’s are headstrong people and know their own minds.
What types of roles are there in a PR agency?
Generally, PR agencies have three layers; Executive, Manager and Director. On most occasions, they are called Account Executive etc. with some agencies having Seniors and Juniors. However, this is more for internal hierarchy and retention. Above Account Directors, many agencies have Associate Directors, Directors and Managing Directors. Generally, these roles will (as they rise up) they take on more business-related responsibility.
Account Directors
AKA - Directors, Associate Director, Senior Account Director, Junior Account Directors, Lead Consultants.
Account Directors are generally the client's primary senior contact with a PR agency, with Account Managers engaging with the client on a daily basis. Their responsibility is to be the commercial, creative and managerial lead of their PR team and acting as senior strategic counsel to clients when and as needs arise.
Commericalities are an essential part of their business, ensuring accounts are profitable, and all agreed client campaigns run smoothly to task and goals.
Account Managers
AKA - Junior Account Managers, Senior Account Manager, Consultant, Senior Consultant, Manager
Account Managers are the backbone of PR agencies. They have the vital responsibility of being in charge of a portfolio of clients and ensuring that their client's messages are promoted to their target audiences.
They will use a variety of tools, processes and activities to shape the opinion of the client's particular audiences. The Account Manager is also generally responsible for the management of Account Executives and Interns on a daily basis. Account Manager also has typically regular contact with their clients.
A critical commercial outcome that Account Managers are striving for is to retain clients and upsell new products, offerings and time.
Account Executives
AKA - Junior Account Executives, Account administrators, Senior Account Executives
If Account Managers are the backbone of a PR agency, Account Executives are the eyes, ears, hands and legs of a PR agency. Account Executives will be responsible for all the run of the mill, but vital, daily tasks of the agency from writing press releases, organising events, and monitoring the press, to selling in stories with journalists.
Account Executives can generally be entry-level, post-University. If you are finding it hard to get a role with an MP, a career in a PR agency might be the way to go.
Where to find these roles?
PR Week Jobs, Public Affairs Networking, W4MP, are great resources for finding these roles. Additionally, we have included a range of websites that are also worth checking out in the appendix.
Payscales
Account Executive £18,000 - £30,000 Account Manager £30,000 - £42,000 Account Director £40,000 -£60,000 Associate Director £50,00 upwards
Please note the above pay scale are for demonstrative purposes only, as a large number of variables can change. In-House Careers - the other side of the PR careers coin
Outside of PR/Public Affairs agencies, there are a whole host of organisations that recruit people with a political background from FTSE 100 corporates through to small charities. To go into great detail on all these different career paths, we would need to write a whole other book. What we are going to do is highlight the job titles available for various organisations.
Third Sector - Examples
Charities: Oxfam, Cancer Research UK, Cafod, Water Aid, Marie Stopes.
Non-Governmental Organisations: Médecins Sans Frontières, Anti-slavery International, The Wikimedia Foundation.
Think Tanks: Centre for Policy Studies, Institute for Public Policy Research, Fabian Society.
Campaigns & Special Interest groups: TaxPayers Alliance, Generation Rent, Countryside Alliance, Campaign for Real Ale.
Chambers of Commerce: British Chamber of Commerce, Durham Chamber of Commerce, Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce.
Trade Bodies: and Industrial Groups: Association of British Travel Agents, RDF industry group, Make UK.
Professional Bodies: Law Society, Royal Society for Public Health, Institute of Mechanical Engineers
Job titles: Public Affairs, External Affairs, Campaigns, Communications, Public Relations, Media Relations, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Government Affairs, Public Policy and Membership - Officers, Manager and Head of.
Corporate & Private Sector
The private sector generally only employs people in related political roles in either big companies or highly regulated industries.
Example job titles: Corporate Affairs, Political Risk, Regulatory AFfairs, Public Affairs, External Affairs, Campaigns, Communications, Public Relations, Media Relations, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Government Affairs, Public Policy and Reputation Management - Officers, Managers and Head of/Directors.
Please note that neither of these lists is exhaustive.
This is an extract from my book Political Careers, which you can purchase here.
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