Welcome to Washington – Advice for Interns

As flocks of thousands of interns come to Washington D.C. to start their dream of working on the hill, many of them are trying to figure out how to stand out among the competition. With over 160 interns in the audience, AF along with Heritage Foundation and the Leadership Institute, hosted an event this past Monday called “Welcome to Washington” with the hope to guide these young professionals on a path to a successful career in the district.

Chris Malagisi, the Editor in Chief at the Conservative Book Club, moderated the panel. With his advice and a few great jokes, he closed his introduction was a quote from Morton Blackwell, the founder of the Leadership Institute. “Before you change the world, you have to pay the rent.” As many of the interns laughed at that statement because they knew exactly what Morton Blackwell was talking about, they knew that the panel would be able to give them some tips on how to make the most out of their experience.

One of AF’s members, Jared Meyer from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, gave advice on the art of Networking as an intern. Interns should go out after work instead of going home and watching the latest episode of their favorite show. He asked the interns to “make a pledge to me that you will go to two events every week for the ten weeks you are here. It may sound like a lot, but it will make a difference in your future employment.” Heritage sent one of their own Foreign Policy Analysts, Ana Quintana, to talk about her experience while looking for jobs after she graduated. Her best piece of advice is to maintain the “real” relationships that you make in D.C.  Paul Alfonse, the Intern Coordinator from the Leadership Institute, told the interns what every intern should be doing outside of work. Interns need to invest in themselves by attending policy briefings, get training from LI, and write op-eds.

Attendee, Christopher Nosko, a current intern at Students For Liberty as well as a student at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, said,

“The event was valuable to someone new to Washington. The speakers were helpful and knowledgeable when it came to best practices to succeed as an intern.  Getting to meet and network with the other interns and speakers was a plus as well.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and made this event possible.