The professional profile
Anyone who wants to leave a mark on society or the economy and help shape these areas should consider going into politics. But getting started isn’t always easy. In most cases, aspiring professional politicians prepare their careers in their youth with their entry into one of the youth organizations of the various political parties.
Here they make their first political attempts at walking, hold first posts and offices and engage in a wide range of fields. For example, they support their parent party locally in the election campaign and gain a lot of experience on the political park.
In addition, the parties usually offer their young people different funding opportunities in the youth committees. In order to be included in the respective programs, however, young politicians must have already earned their first spurs and must have been positively noticed.
Few make it to the areas in the municipal, state or federal parliaments where one can live off the job as a politician. The basic condition, of course, is that they were elected by the people to the appropriate offices. Along the way, they already had to shake many hands, discuss at events, develop concepts, present them to the population in a comprehensible way and convince many people of themselves.
Other tasks include:
- Give interviews to the media
- Participation in work and specialist groups
- Representative performances
- Preparing, working out and holding speeches
- Participation in various political bodies
How do you become a politician?
There are no concrete training requirements for becoming politicians. A large proportion of incumbent politicians have studied, mostly subjects such as:
- Law
- Business
- Humanities
- Social sciences
However, this is not a mandatory requirement. There are also professional politicians who come from the craft or trade. In this respect, the profession of politician is a typical lateral entry job.
A fundamental prerequisite for gaining a foothold in politics is an early and extremely strong political interest and a deep understanding of political issues. In addition, political success requires its own ideas and visions, which contribute to an improvement of the overall situation in certain areas.
And, of course, aspiring politicians must radiate a considerable enthusiasm that captivates others. Otherwise, there is little chance of ever being elected to office.
If you have app ideas you want to be developed, check out app developer.
What do you earn as a politician?
If you start your career in local politics, you have to prepare for a long period of thirst in terms of income. With a few exceptions, local politicians are active on a voluntary basis and receive only a certain amount of compensation, which, depending on the area of responsibility, is around 300 to 400 euros per month. In addition, there are meeting fees, loss of earnings allowances and travel allowances.
Those who make it into the mayor’s chair, for example, can live off politics. The salary is regulated by the Act on Municipal Election Officers (KWBG) and depends on the size of the municipality. Mayor’s incomes range from 3,800 to 11,500 euros gross per month.
The monthly income of state parliamentarians is between 4,700 and 9,500 euros gross, depending on the state. More lucrative, on the other hand, is the job as a member of the Bundestag. Members of the Bundestag receive a taxable allowance for members of parliament, also known as “diets”, from the current monthly salary of 9,327 euros gross. There are no special payments such as holiday allowance, Christmas allowance, a thirteenth month’s salary or the like.
The Prospects for Politicians
In fact, the chances of working as a professional politician have never been as good as they are at the moment. All established parties are struggling with dwindling membership and rising ageing. In this respect, young, bright minds who can be enthusiastic about politics are very welcome in the political landscape.
