Final Job Memo

  Matt Jacobs for Congress Internship

Although it wasn't my first choice or within the industry I want to work in, my past summer internship provided me with many new skills. I spent my summer as an intern for Matt Jacobs for Congress who ran in California's 26th Congressional District. My job primarily consisted of:

• sorting through voter data
• cold calling
• door knocking

Due dates are everything when working for a political campaign. Whether it was for the primary or general election, there was always a whiteboard with a countdown of how much time we had left to prepare.­­ Going into it, I didn't know much about the congressional election process, but I quickly learned that voter outreach is the most vital part of running a successful campaign.

Voter Data

To reach the right audience, I sifted through many names and other information that my manager thought could turn into a lead for donations. Some of the main criteria that I noted was to separate the voters by city, amount donated, and whether they were already in support of the campaign. Campaigns gather the majority of data through a website called OpenSecrets. It offers information about the transparency of money in politics. Shockingly, a lot of personal information is available through OpenSecrets. For example, how much a voter donated to a specific campaign is all public knowledge on the website.

Cold Calling

Another important, but dreaded, responsibility for interns is to perform a set number of cold calls each day. I say dreaded because I don't think there was a single intern or employee who actually enjoyed cold calling. Constantly on the phone, the odds of someone picking up the phone is usually 1 in 100. Not only are the odds of getting an answer low, most voters don't like unsolicited calls regarding congressional campaigns and will hang up. If I get an answer, I inform voters about the upcoming election date and then ask if they would like to sign up for involvement with the campaign. I remember one particular day when everyone in the office had to collectively reach a goal of five thousand calls. Cold calling is a hard, brutal skill to attain, but once a person has mastered it, it can translate into many other industries.

Door Knocking

The last of my responsibilities as an intern consisted of door knocking about 60 houses a day in neighborhoods within the district to raise awareness about Matt Jacobs. This part of the job is just as you would imagine: many doors shut in your face and lots of interactions through Rings cameras. Luckily, each intern has a walking partner which provides a nice social break from the office work. Keep in mind that this internship took place during the summer in the middle of southern California. To say it was hot would be an understatement. Although door knocking did have its cons, I would say that it was actually my favorite part of the job. I connected with many other college students that were in very similar positions to me, and we were able to endure the heat together.

Flesch Reading Ease: 52.3

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 11

Passive Sentences: 0