School to Career - State Senate Staff - District Director


		Responsibilities
		Skills Needed
		How I Got The Job
		Internships

New York State Senators represent the many districts all throughout the state. Senator Skelos represents the 19th District on Long Island, and Jonathan Crist oversees the senator’s activities in that particular district. This includes handling constituents case work and the ongoing interactions with the many different communities within the 19th District. It also involves overseeing the staff that works for the senator within the district, including full-timers and part-timers.

Madison Avenue Bound

"I went to St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York and studied Business Management there," explains Jonathan. "Eventually I wanted to get to Madison Avenue in New York City to do advertising," he adds. Unfortunatly there were not a lot of advertising jobs available at the time, so Jonathan followed up on a friend’s offer to meet Senator Skelos, who had a spot available on his staff in a marketing capacity. "I met the senator and interviewed with him and with some of his staff, and he hired me," says Jonathan, recounting how he got started working in politics.

Jonathan also benefitted from having done an internship in corporate marketing while at St John’s University. The internship helped him hone his business and corporate management skills, which are important for his current position. In addition, he mentions the need for social skills, since running an office requires you to interact with a wide variety of people on a regular basis.

Get Involved

While Jonathan admits that he did not have any actual involvement in politics at a young age, he recommends that students get their feet wet. "I would recommend to high school or college students to get involved with their local government, local elected officials or political groups," says Jonathan, referring to the many volunteering roles that are offered including fundraising activities, campaign work, office jobs and other ways of getting involved at an early age to see if you like being a part of the political environment.