Working on the Hill AND having kids

[Anonymous]

10 year Hill veteran here, now in the private sector.

The Hill can be family friendly, especially if you've worked for the same, nice boss your entire career and can then scale back.

I think it would be extremely hard to find a family-friendly position right off the bat, though. Hill staffers are poorly paid, generally, and are expected to work brutal hours, because the jobs are seen as "stepping stones" to better-paid jobs in the future.

I also think it's hard to generalize -- there are some members and chiefs of staff who are great, and others who are slave drivers. Not suprisingly, the great offices are hard to break into.

As a new mom myself, I can't in a thousand years imagine going to the Hill at this point in my life.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for reviving this post - I was going to ask the same question. I have a nine-month old, and have been thinking of going to the Hill, among other things. My husband works for a committee and has an amazing gig. It can get busy every once in a while, but generally he has hours any parent would kill for. Any more perspectives would be greatly appreciated!

[Anonymous]

OP, what did you decide? I missed this post the first time around but I am a lobbyist. I worked for a Senator for only 2 years before we lost our reelection. Rather than seek another Hill job, I started doing policy and never looked back. That said, my boss was amazing. As P6 suggested, it's all down to your member. One of the professional staff members I have dealings with had to reschedule HIS WEDDING due to his boss not allowing him the time off he had lined up because a bill was on the Floor. I mean, holy shit! But my member would have never done anything like this, nor would most of the Members I now work with.