how to get a job as a parliamentary researcher.

One of the things that stands my job now apart from my last job is the sheer amount of people that come into my office, week in, week out to do work experience, shadowing days and internships. It's a revolving door of young people desperate to get a little taste of what it's like to be a parliamentary researcher. But it's not a very easy job to get at all, for each intern position we advertise for in my office, we have over 100 applications. For a fully paid job, it's rare to have less than 200 applications, I've known it go to over 300 on a few occasions. 

With the election coming up, there will be new MPs and a lot of swapping and changing in Parliament, meaning a lot of jobs up for grabs. So I thought I'd write a little guide on how to get a job as a parliamentary researcher. They're my own thoughts on how it's generally done, but it's not the be all and end all. I don't know everything. For example, I barely did any of these myself and got my job on networking alone. 

Get some experience.

It's not easy to get work experience in parliament, but it's also not impossible. My office offers a one day experience in Westminster - our office is physically too small to have someone for a week. We take pretty much anyone who e-mails and asks for it, as long as they have some connection to the constituency - whether that's by living there or going to school there. We ignore party lines when it comes to work experience, which is something we wouldn't usually do for anything else. Some MPs just won't do work experience placements, and some will only be in the constituency and not in Westminster. It's still worth emailing your MP to ask. 

Do an internship. 

I find this a difficult bit of advice to give because it's something I didn't do and couldn't have afforded to have done either. But it's also hard to avoid it because the average team size in Parliament must be around two for each MP - when they hire someone they want them to be able to come in and start work straight away and doing an internship is a great way for someone to have the Parliamentary experience they need. Some internships are now paid, some only require you for one day a week meaning you can fit it around University, some Universities (like Leeds for example) offer an internship as part of their courses and you can take part in the Speakers interning programme too.

Volunteer. 

If you can't do an internship, then you should probably get involved in politics in some way. There have been two general elections recently and the EU referendum, even local elections provide a chance for you to get involved. Join your local party, deliver some leaflets and show willing. I asked everyone I interviewed when I was last looking in September about what they got up to in the EU referendum, if it was nothing then they were downgraded pretty quickly. 

Do your research on MPs.

When you work in such small teams, it really is vital that you pick the right MP for you. It's not hard to do research into what they believe. Check their voting record (but don't take it as gospel), read up on their websites and even look for gossip about them on sites like Guido. I work for an MP that is pro-gay marriage, anti-fox hunting and is pro-choice, all things which are really important to me. There are horror stories around about some MPs, and if you see the same MPs looking for staff then you know they'll have a high turnover rate and they might not be worth it. Some MPs will expect you to work long hours, and you'll work closely with them so you might want to be able to make friends with them.

Stay close to W4MP. 

This is the website where most of the jobs in Parliament are advertised. Unlike some other jobs, if you see a job you want to apply for then you should apply for it that same day. Leave it any longer and you risk not having your application even read because it's been hidden below thousands of others. 

Expect to fail at least once. 

Most of my previous interns have found a job in Parliament after doing an internship with our office, but most of them had interviews for jobs they didn't get first. It can be a gruelling and cruel process and often something you have to stick to and just keep going because you will get there eventually. 

Personalise your cover letter/CV.

I know that when people are applying for jobs in Parliament they will have applied for many others, but it's so easy to read when someone is applying using the same cover letter. Each MP's constituency is different - they face different issues and different problems, they have wide-ranging demographics and each MP will have different interests. Your CV/cover letter should reflect that - even if it's just a small sentence or paragraph. 

Know something about your MP and their constituency. 

The first thing I always ask when I'm interviewing anyone is "what are three things you know about this constituency?" and/or "tell me three facts about this MP". It's maddening how many people just can't answer it, or come up with something completely random. I'm never looking for an in-depth knowledge, it's nothing you can't find out on Wikipedia or on the MP's own website.

And once you get there, I highly recommend reading How to Be a Parliamentary Researcher by Robert Dale.

how to be a better constituent when you write to your MP.

Recently, with Brexit and Trump and everything else that is happening in the world, I've seen more and more bloggers becoming politically engaged and encouraging their followers to get involved.  I think it's great - I get pretty annoyed by people who take no interest in politics because I think it's so important. I also think it's pretty bloody interesting and can often be more exciting as a drama than anything that's on Netflix at the moment. Although writing about politics is something I won't generally be doing on my blog (honestly, I live and breathe politics, I need a little escape sometimes) I did feel the need to write this post.

I've seen so many comments on social media about just "writing to your MP" that I didn't think it would be a bad idea to help someone get the best response they can. I've worked for an MP now for nearly two years, I deal with all of his correspondence in the first place and so I like to think it's something I know about. I hope, at least *fingers crossed*

And of course, these opinions are mine and mine alone. 

new year, new workwear | a wishlist.

I don't know about you, but I find dressing for work quite difficult. I've never been good at being adventurous with clothing choices and if I don't watch out, I can find myself stuck in a bit of a rut quite easily. I'm the girl who, when it came to deciding which Sixth Form to go to, put the fact that one of the choices had a uniform on my pros list. I reckon most people would have put it in the cons!

10 things you'll recognise if you're on a job hunt

When I first started working in Parliament and I went on a tour of the Palace of Westminster, I was told that if I didn't look at everything like it was one of the most special buildings in the world, then it was probably time for me to leave. And even though I thought that it would never be possible, because lets face it, the building is incredible, I can now walk past central lobby without giving it much of a second thought. When we have work experience guys in our office, or interns who tell me how much they'd love to work here and I don't feel the same excitement, I just feel guilty. So, I think, my time has come. The job hunt has begun. 

I'd be lying if I said I was taking it really seriously - I'm sticking it out until I can find a job I really want to move to. Having made a job move mistake once in my life, I'm pretty determined not do it again. I'm in no desperate need to move, and I'm not unemployed. There are still pockets of enjoyment to be found in this job, just not as many as there once were. My hands are itching for a new change, for something challenging. It's not just interview speak, I really mean it. Eeek. 

Here are a few observations on the job hunt so far:

Updating a CV is pretty miserable. From now on, I'll be updating it throughout the year, instead of desperately trying to remember all the "skill improving" things I've been up to. 

Writing a cover letter is even worse, and completely goes against my natural tendency to chat shit about myself even though I don't really mean it. 

I have to constantly remind myself that nothing can be as bad as the time I was unemployed after University. There are very few jobs which is worse than being unemployed for 8+ months. 

My LinkedIn is now being viewed by some of the most random recruiters I have ever seen, which only leads me to think they fell down an internet black hole when they landed on my profile. 

Even worse, I now have to log in to LinkedIn every day and see those bloody awful motivational posts, and wonder why someone who works down the corridor to me and does the exact same job as me describes himself as a "political thinker" in his job title. No mate. 

This extra LinkedIn searching has found me turning a bit green eyed. That girl that once volunteered in my team and came in hungover every day has got that amazing job? Sweet Lord tell me how. 

A non-existent interview is a good excuse to spend a lot of time flicking through ASOS in an attempt to find that perfect interview dress. Gotta look up to it right? 

I have become obsessed with refreshing job advertising websites. Obsessed. Even though I now know when they update and can pretty much guarantee I won't even look twice at the 90% of job adverts

I have re-considered putting my law degree to use. Even though I can't afford to go back to University to do my LPC and even though the three years of law at Uni made me never ever want to study it ever again, I still think what if?

I have genuinely worried about the sanity of some employers. You're advertising an "amazing" position for £16K in London for someone with experience? Hmm...

Anyone else?!

12 things you should never do in a hotel room.

*As told by a former chamber maid...

001: Lie in bed and throw biscuits at the wall

002: Lie in bed, throw biscuits at the wall and then stomp them into the carpet with your feet.

003: Leave Babestation as the last TV Channel you were watching. 

004: Put a condom wrapper in the bin without the used condom resulting in a major room search for said condom. 

005: Stick a used condom to the glass shower curtain. 

006: Sit on the floor of your living room suite, eat Cadburys Roses, surround yourself with wrappers and then cum in a glass by the wrappers.

007: Cum in a glass that doesn't belong to you.

008: Leave a used tampon on top of the bin lid. 

009: Hang a used condom from the light fitting.

010: Leave a bugger load of cocaine in a drawer. 

011: Poo on the toilet seat and leave it.

012: Leave dirty nappies on the carpet.