How to Become a Presidential Appointee
Strategies for Positioning Yourself to Be in the Top 1% of Applicants for a Job in the Next Administration
Word count: 6,122; twenty-eight minutes to read.
There many ways to support a future Trump administration, but I’m guessing you want to assist from the inside, and that means getting hired as a political appointee.
In the first three weeks after election day in 2016, the Trump transition received 65,800 applications for jobs in the new administration.
By inauguration the number was nearly 100,000.
This was for around 4,000 positions.
Those who get hired as appointees do a variety of things to position themselves in advance of applying. And they know the tricks for how to submit the best application possible. There are also certain secrets to know about what to do once you’ve applied, things that can expedite your onboarding or tank it.
Much of this advice is only known to those who have been part of the process.
Luck is still involved, but as the Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
When it comes to time to apply after victory on election day, probably 99% or more of those submitting applications will not have done what they could have to optimize their chances of getting into a new administration.
As a result, their resumes will be given a quick glance before being shuffled aside.
I served all four years of the Trump administration and made it in despite not having spent any of my professional career in politics or Washington, D.C., nor doing anything with the campaign except serving as a local volunteer.
A few weeks after President Trump won in 2016, after I learned he needed appointees, I called the few contacts I had in D.C. for advice on how to get an appointment.
Their guidance was invaluable, and has been supplemented over the last eight years through continuing conversations with other appointees with much more experience from serving in multiple administrations, including people who served in the Presidential Personnel Office throughout the Trump admin and were directly responsible for hiring new appointees.
Throughout the last admin I’ve shared what I’ve learned about getting in to those who approached me about political appointments, once I was sure they were aligned with President Trump’s governing agenda.
Some used my advice and were later hired.
Others were not.
So what I relay to you below is no guarantee of success.
And here’s another disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with the Trump campaign and do not speak for it or the formal transition effort. Anything I say here my opinion alone, and is not endorsed by any organization or anyone other than myself.
That said, my advice, (which is pretty solid as it’s based on personal experience, significant research, and conversations with people who know), applies to anyone looking to work as a political appointee, regardless of whether it’s a Republican or Democrat administration.
Btw, this is my twentieth newsletter, and all the rest have been free.
So far I’ve written about 30,000 words on the transition and political appointees, which I hope added to your knowledge and skill set, along with providing some enjoyable reading.
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Thanks for reading!
Now, continue if you want to learn what you can do to position yourself as one of the top 1% of applicants for a job in the next administration . . .