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Account manager: Richard

This Case Study belongs to Public affairs consultant.

I was attracted to public affairs originally because I wanted to understand more about how politics worked and what made politicians tick. Lobbying was a way of getting that exposure without becoming involved in party politics, which interested me less. I applied for a six-month internship and five months in, I was offered a permanent position as an account executive. It’s often tough to get a foot in the door and it’s not helped by the fact that many people, wrongly in my view, see PA as their route to becoming an MP. Once you are in though, work hard and most importantly get ready to listen and learn. Everyone in PA has met the intern who thinks that, on the back of his or her first in Politics, they ought to be off briefing ministers. Needless to say they don’t last long!

Of course, what you learn at university is important. I studied physics and philosophy for my undergraduate degree, and then took a Masters in Philosophy. Having studied some science made me think in a more structured and analytical way. That’s hugely important when you’re presenting ideas to colleagues and clients. Perhaps more importantly by studying philosophy - especially at a postgraduate level - meant I had to learn to write fluently. Now, when I interview, I look for people with some background in humanities. I know they won’t be fazed by writing a briefing note that’s more than a thousand words long.

Once I was a permanent member of staff, I was soon promoted into a more client-facing role. I don’t know how common an experience that is. In the larger PA consultancies there’s a much more rigid career structure - which I think a lot of people appreciate because they know where they stand - but the opportunities for quick progression are perhaps less. If you have the choice of which consultancy to join, the size of that organisation is certainly something to bear in mind.

Even as an account manager, I still spend most of time at my desk researching how Government works and the terrain of particular policy debates. This is vital so you can give clients the advice they need. By comparison, very little time is spent actually ‘lobbying’ members of Parliament or civil servants. Ideally a good PA consultant goes unnoticed; not because it is some sort of shadowy profession, but rather because you recognise that, given the right advice, your client is their own best advocate. Indeed interacting with clients is the aspect of my work that I most enjoy. Whilst I came into PA most interested in the political nature of the work, it’s the business side of the equation that now excites me more. There’s something very rewarding about helping people who are trying to get things done - whether that be building a power plant or getting grant funding for a new technology. I don’t know how long I’ll stay within the industry, but I do know that this kind of commercial exposure is a great launching pad for a number of other careers.

That’s not to say there aren’t parts of the job that are less enjoyable than others. Certainly when you start, most people’s main responsibilities are for media and parliamentary monitoring. It is pretty dull and, whilst I was lucky enough to move away from it quite quickly, I know in some organisations it's all new starters do for their first few years in the job. The flip side is that it does give you a solid grounding in Parliamentary process and the policy issues you’re likely to engage in further along in your career.

Case Study sourced by Katja Linssen of Newcastle university, 20 March 2009.