Are you a special adviser out of a job this Valentine’s Day?

Are you a special adviser out of a job this Valentine’s Day? Here are a few ways to ensure you find your next perfect match. 

Special advisers will be waking up this Valentine’s Day with woolly heads – whether from celebrating having survived the cull or from comforting one another for not being found up to PJ Masks’ standards.

To those special advisers now considering donning a mask and fighting crime with all their new found free time (see Dominic, you aren’t the only one who can rhyme), there are a few things to keep in mind when looking for your next post.

Don’t assume being a ‘special adviser’ is self-explanatory

For many SpAds, the most common mistake during interviews is assuming the person in front of you understands what your role entailed. Help them get a picture of what responsibilities you had on a day-to-day basis and how that would relate to the private sector. Did you help manage your Minister’s media engagement or focus more on policy? Did you interact with other departments? Attend meetings on their behalf? It may seem tedious to describe the intricacies of a job that requires you to wear many hats, but if you are able to articulate the breadth and depth of your role, you will find that employers will have more confidence in you as a future employee. Focus on transferable skills such as crisis communications, media relations, policy analysis, and advocacy.

Don’t rely too heavily on your little black-book

Many special advisers feel that their primary value is in the contacts they have made during their time in government. While there is value in getting to know key policymakers and having the ability to reach out to them, it is important to not to present your contacts as your sole asset. Being that we have had 10 years of a Conservative government, any successful agency or in-house team has already established strong in-roads with relevant departments. There is also the fact that a Prime Minister’s greatest proverbial “stick” is a Cabinet reshuffle – meaning your black-book is one scandal away from being worthless.  

Make the mental shift from public to private sector

Your time in government was valuable and you have come out of the experience with important insight on the current political environment and a firm understanding of the beast that is Westminster. Yet, for those who became a special adviser out of university there is a lot to learn about the commercial realities of the private sector. Shifting from a service-driven to a profit-driven outfit means that your political know-how will often only help you with 50% of your next job. If you expect a company or agency to give you a competitive package well above what you made as a SpAd, you need to communicate to them that you can do, or are willing to learn, the commercial heavy lifting. 

Know your value

The value of a special adviser is based off a few factors: whether you focused on media or policy, the department you worked in, the seniority of your post, and – possibly most importantly – how many other special advisers are on the market. The natural ebb and flow of political life means that special advisers usually leave in droves and it is usually the first out of the gate that pick up the bigger packages. It is common for the second or third batch of disgruntled or dismissed advisers to expect the same at the first to jump ship – but the more SpAds there are out there, the more you need to keep the above points in mind when pitching yourself on the market.

Be honest with your employer about your political ambitions

Special advisers are political animals by nature, and it is not uncommon for SpAds to have ambitions to become an MP themselves. Often SpAds are afraid to admit that they only want to be in the private sector for a limited amount of time – but for many employers the idea of hiring a potential MP is an asset. They may even help you build your profile!

Need more advice on the next steps? Contact us at enquiries@hansonsearch.com