Finding Political Job To Apply For: Full Chapter Extract From My Book, Political Careers: Chapter 6
In this section, we cover the best websites to find politically related jobs. We start with W4MP.
W4MP Jobs
There is no doubt that W4MP is the best resource for finding a job with an MP. Why? Because all MP’s are able to post to this website for free and it is supported by the parliamentary estate.
The beauty and wonder about this site is that it has a wide variety of roles on offer across politics, public affairs, public sector and the third sector. This means that it will, in some respects, be an excellent hub for your job search.
W4MP is also a vital resource for what is going on in the House of Commons, and a wide range of other useful information that you will find helpful to your career is present on the website.
The downside to W4MP is that it is a little basic on the technology side of the website, so does lack features like email updates and ‘save your CV’ function. However, this is just a small negative and let down compared to the usefulness of the jobs on the website.
Public Affairs Networking
Public Affairs Networking or ‘PubAffairs’ to those who frequent its networking events, is an excellent website if you are looking for your second job onwards. It does have a small careers section for graduates and a whole host of other useful information that you may find helpful.
Once a month, the website also hosts a networking event. If you pop along it would at least give you a chance to meet and greet people who are working in public policy and public affairs, so you can pick up industry knowledge, contacts and lingo.
http://www.publicaffairsnetworking.com/
Guardian Jobs
Guardian Jobs is a brilliant website if you are looking across the public sector, third sector, local government or similar sets, it is for those who are interested in a diverse range of jobs.
It is a trendy website that does also have in its nooks and crannies some weird and wonderful jobs.
It is a very modern website that does include all the features that you would expect of an up-to-date website with the ability to upload CVs to a database and receive job alerts.
The website generally does not have many frontline political roles with MP’s. However, if you are moving onto the second phase of your career, this is a great place to look.
With the job alerts, it does also allow you to automate part of the searching process and get a daily email, which is a brilliant time-saver.
PR Week Jobs
PR Week (now published monthly) is the leading Public Relations job board for those who are looking for a career in Public Relations. Public Affairs is considered a sub-sector of the public relations industry in most people's eyes.
PR Week is as with all modern websites choc-a-bloc with useful features like CV upload and job alerts to help you save time on the job searching process, which is something that we really love.
PR Week is generally an excellent, robust website for those who are looking to make the transition from working with an MP that is open to a broader range of career destinations.
Other useful websites
The above job boards are a great place to start when you are looking for a job in politics. This, however, does not cover all the places that you may find useful. Below, we are going to outline a diverse range of websites and job boards that you should check out (in no particular order). Other websites are of course,e available.
Charity jobs - https://www.charityjob.co.uk/ - this is a brilliant website for those of you who are also considering a career in the third sector. There are a wide range and diverse spectrum of roles and organisations. There should be something for everyone.
Indeed - https://www.indeed.co.uk/ - this is the Tesco’s of the job board. They stack the jobs high and sell them cheap. Indeed's business model is to aggregate jobs advertised on company websites and job boards and then sell advertising around them. This means there are loads — some good, some bad and lots not suitable for your particular skills set. The beauty and brilliance are that when you search for a specific job, e.g. “premiership footballer” you can save the search as a job alert, thus having jobs sent to your inbox straight away.
SimplyHired - https://www.simplyhired.co.uk - Same as indeed.
Reed - https://www.reed.co.uk - One of the UK’s most significant job boards. It has thousands of roles published on its website each and every day.
Similar to Reed are: CV Library, Monster Jobs, Total Jobsand Jobsite.
Job Board Recap
Just type the below into google or bing, and they should appear right at the top.
W4MP
Public Affairs Networking
PR Week Jobs
Guardian Jobs
Charity Jobs
Third Sector Jobs
Main Political Party Websites
The Labour Party The Conservative and Unionist Party Liberal Democrat Party Green Party Plaid Cymru Scottish National Party
International Political Websites
USA
Political Job Hunt
Hill Zoo
US Senate
Public Affairs Council
EU
Anglosphere
Canadian Parliament Australian Parliament New Zealand Parliament
This is an extract from my book Political Careers, which is available to read and buy here.
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