Author: Christian Resch

In my internship this summer, I am working for Pennsylvania State Representative Emily Kinkead. I serve as both a constituent services and legislative intern. When working for a legislator, the staff exists to improve the legislator’s quality of service and make their tasks easier overall. A legislator’s responsibilities are to bring resources back to their district, resolve the problems of their constituents that they are capable of assisting, and advocate for their constituents when passing legislation in the capitol. A legislator who completes these tasks effectively will win the voters’ hearts and be re-elected, and the citizens will be well represented.

In a legislators office, constituent service staffers solve the problems of constituents on behalf of their representative. These officials serve as an effective tool in speeding up the bureaucracy of government and are also essential to the re-election of the representatives. By directing assisting citizens in their problems, the representatives gain favor in their district and can prove their worthiness to be re-elected. Therefore, an effective constituent services program is essential to a legislator in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In the legislative role of the office, the staffers assist the representative in analyzing all current and future legislation. After this team’s analysis, the representative will make their own decision. Also, the legislative team helps the representative determine policies to pursue enacting and then helps to form the wording of the policy physically. Thus, the legislative team works to make all decisions involving legislation easier and help ensure the representative knows everything they need before deciding.

After a few weeks of working for a legislator, an essential skill to succeed in the industry is reliably completing work. The legislator and their chief of staff maintain the office’s public image, and their responsibilities are overwhelming at times. When an employee can complete any task given to them in a timely, efficient manner with few questions, it makes their employers’ world much more manageable. The employers can then complete their tasks with all the proper materials put together by their office, and it was relatively non-time intensive for them. Competency of work throughout politics is essential, as it is a highly stressful industry. An employee or coworker that is competent in their own right and doesn’t need constant assistance from their coworkers is one with who others will place their faith and trust. In Representative Kinkead’s office, the coworkers trust each other’s competencies, and they complete tasks at a much higher rate than other offices in their industry.

In Representative Kinkead’s office, the synchronous working relationship of the employees creates a positive example for me to follow. They work in coordination with one another, properly assigning work to each other to maximize efficiency. In addition, the office analyzes and utilizes each others’ strengths and weaknesses to ensure that their community is being served to the best of the office’s abilities. I am fortunate to serve in an office that gives a unique example of running an office.

A legislator’s office can be an essential service to the community if the influence behind the legislator is used to its full potential. Representative Kinkead’s office embodies this duty to community service and has taught me valuable lessons about effective, moral governance. In an era of citizens losing faith in government and the elected officials who represent them, the examples of selfless service from this office will prove invaluable throughout my career.