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What are the Different Lobbyist Jobs?
A lobbyist is a person who tries to persuade legislators or elected officials to vote a certain way. Groups and organizations have different lobbyist jobs to promote their interests and get their views heard by politicians. These professionals often meet with legislative members to give them information about the group’s position, such as written reports, graphs and other statistical documents. Some lobbyists work in public policy, while others may work for special interest companies.
One of the popular lobbyist jobs is that of a health care lobbyist who tries to get legislative acts passed that affect health care. Lobbyists often work in-house for a particular medical company and conduct extensive research regarding upcoming health care bills and legislation. Another duty this professional has is to network with jurisdictional lawmakers who may be in favor of passing bills that would benefit the medical organization’s doctors and specialists. The lobbyist is also in charge of preparing educational materials for seminars and attending medical conferences.
Another type of the many lobbyist jobs is that of a lobbyist consultant who is paid to lobby on behalf of a company or organization but does not work directly for the organization. Most lobbyists act as a liaison between the company and the voting committees. The consultant may be hired to lobby one or several issues. This professional meets with government officials on behalf of the company, prepares industry reports, and monitors regulations pertaining to the client. Consultants usually work in different areas ranging from regulatory affairs to taxation issues.
Some lobbyists choose to help the public by working as policy associates. Many organizations have policy associates who represent the organization at special events and public meetings. These people are responsible for coordinating with other companies who have similar policies and speaking on behalf of the company to the media. A public policy associate also has to meet with the directors for community programs and government agencies.
Most people who work in one of the different lobbyist jobs usually have an undergraduate degree as well as a graduate degree in legal studies or political science. Often, lobbyists are politically well-informed individuals who have previously worked in public service or government administration. These professionals have to be able help their clients get their interests out in the public and heard by members of the judicial branch. Lobbyists often work for unions, corporations and even branches of the government.
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![Lobbyists attempt to influence elected officials in an effort to benefit their client.]()
By: Andrey BurmakinLobbyists attempt to influence elected officials in an effort to benefit their client. -
![Some lobbyists may address policymakers in an open forum.]()
By: Africa StudioSome lobbyists may address policymakers in an open forum. -
![Often, lobbyists are politically well-informed individuals who have previously worked in public service or government administration.]()
By: qingwaOften, lobbyists are politically well-informed individuals who have previously worked in public service or government administration.
Discussion Comments
@KoiwiGal - I agree to some extent but I think you are making them out to be bad as a group. In reality, there are lobbyists for most issues, which means there are lobbying jobs for people campaigning for human rights or environmental issues or whatever else. It's not all about pharmaceutical companies and big tobacco or whatever.
But yeah, I think sometimes someone is just passionate about an issue and discovers they are good at talking with people about it, and eventually find their way into this job.
But there are also people who set out to get a degree in politics and get involved in them and they too can end up in this kind of job.
It varies.
I don't mean to disparage all the people in this profession, but lobbyists always seemed to be kind of like used car salesmen to me. While I'm sure some of them have degrees I imagine most of them are just simply good at talking and convincing people of things.
Most of the time I think politicians are pretty well informed and will usually have a logical way they intend to vote, even if it is only logical to them. But there is always the chance to sway them with emotion. And I think that's the real skill of political lobbyist jobs.
A really good satire of lobbyists is the movie Thank You For Smoking. It features several different lobbyists for "hated" commercial interests, including alcohol, guns and cigarettes. It particularly follows the man who is the main lobbyist for "big tobacco" and kind of parodies what an ordinary guy in his position would do.
I think they stretch his job position a little, because he's not only wooing politicians, he's also getting the product into films and talking people out of lawsuits.
I don't imagine one person would be doing all those different things, although I can definitely see that someone would be doing them, on behalf of companies like this.
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