Congressional Aides

High School

A thorough understanding of the government and how it works is important to anyone working for a member of Congress. You should take courses in U.S. government, political science, civics, social studies, and history, and get involved in school government and school committees. Attend formal meetings of various school clubs to learn about parliamentary procedure. Writing press releases and letters, and researching current issues are important aspects of congressional work. Taking journalism, English, and speech classes and reporting for your school newspaper will develop these communication skills. Taking a foreign language such as Spanish would also be good idea since many members of Congress represent people who do not speak English as their first language.