A Lefty Writes

My pollster/consultant boss and I had a few beers and discussed the possible job some more. Though there will definitely be assistant-ish responsibilities, I'll also have the opportunity to act as something of an associate consultant. I'll be tasked to lower-priority campaigns and will handle strategy meetings and consult with candidates and campaign staffers.

As of now the boss needs some time to make sure that he'll have enough work this election cycle to justify hiring someone full time. I also need to decide what I need to be paid to do the job. (It'll technically be contract/freelance work so there won't be health/dental/unemployment benefits or anything like that.) It'll also take a few weeks before I know about the other jobs I've applied for. So during that time I'm going to be doing some part-time work to help the boss get a feel for what other consulting and polling work is available. By mid-March he'll know more about his situation and I'll know more about my own options.

Basically there are a few questions at the forefront of this decision:
- Would this job be as beneficial for me as one of the non-profit jobs? Would I be learning as much and would it look as good on a resume? Would this job help me get a better understanding of what I want my next job to be? Will this job help me get my next job?
- What will my employment options look like after this job wraps up? It would only go through the elections in November, and the last month of the year really isn't the ideal time to look for work. If I do this will I be in this exact same position next year but will a better resume? On the one hand, if I do this I could probably have an easier time getting a job as a State House aide or working communications for a non-profit. That being said, the job would still have to be available. So would I be better suited going with an open-ended full time position?

Lots of things to consider over the next few weeks.