For some, time to elect a new career

One certain outcome of a presidential election is that someone is going to be out of work. And that's not limited to the losing candidate.

Thousands of campaign workers toiled behind the scenes as volunteers or paid staff for President Bush and Senator John F. Kerry. After the votes were cast, however, many found themselves job hunting.

But be warned: putting political activities on a resume may be helpful in pursuing a career in politics. But for everyone else, it's a risky proposition. Declaring political preferences to potential employers "can backfire," said Elaine Varelas, a managing partner and career coach for Keystone Associates.

"It can't just be all about the candidate. It has to be about what you get out of it, what you invest in it, that you're a person of your passions, and you are living them," she said. When the election comes up in an interview, "be prepared to discuss politics on a very even-keeled basis."

Some people work on campaigns while taking a sabbatical from jobs for several weeks or months, returning to them in November with a fresh view of their careers. For others, the campaign is more than an interlude. The experience may be profound, whether they are in the winner's or loser's camp. It may lead to a career change -- or perhaps career disenchantment, causing them to rethink their future.

Three people who worked on the Bush and Kerry campaigns -- a public relations consultant, a recent college graduate, and a nonprofit executive -- discuss their experiences and their next moves.

On the Friday after the presidential election, the campaign continued to swirl around Justine Griffin, Kerry's communications director in Massachusetts.

"This morning, it's the French-Canadian version of the Today show begging for Teresa Heinz Kerry, and yesterday it was Inside Edition begging for Kerry's schedule," Griffin said. "Every TV station in Boston wants the first interview -- and plenty nationally."

Griffin, 38, was at the center of the world's biggest political story. Only a three month -- but paid -- stint, it caused a midcareer crisis of sorts. Her career as a public relations consultant, working with healthcare companies, banks, and the Puerto Rican government, has lost some of its sheen.

"I had an amazing experience" and "a front-row seat with the powers that be," namely Kerry campaign advisers Mike McCurry, Joe Lockhart, Michael Meehan, and others, she said. "I see exactly why it's addictive."

Griffin, who once worked for McDermott/O'Neill & Associates, a Boston consulting firm, and, prior to the campaign, was an independent PR consultant, is now working at Rasky Baerlein Group, and considering a full-time offer from that Boston PR firm. Her hesitance about this -- or any -- option is that politics is in her blood. Her father, Robert Griffin, knew the late House speaker and Cambridge native Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr., worked for Robert Strauss, special trade representative to President Jimmy Carter, and was a lobbyist for former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca.

She landed the Kerry campaign job through family connections and Boston political circles.

Her job offer at Rasky Baerlein would put her at the center of local government and the media, but a presidential campaign is tough to top.

"The reality is there are very few jobs that have the same energy level and pace and being in the thick of things," she said. "No one can live the constant pace of a campaign but you don't want to go back all the way to a slower corporate pace either."

William Toye, 24 and a year out of college, is wrestling with career choices.

After graduating from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, he didn't like the positions, such as stock analyst or marketing executive, his classmates were accepting. He got a full-time job tending bar instead. But volunteering for Bush's re-election campaign -- he took nine days off from bartending -- may help to put him on the right track.

Toye has returned to Sidney's Grille in Cambridge, where tips help pay his bills. But he learned something important about himself while calling New Hampshire voters or helping coordinate volunteers to knock on doors in the contested state.

The one-time president of the Young Republicans at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers got back in touch with his teenage passion: Politics. "I'm almost sorry the election is over," Toye said. "It provided me with some insight into maybe this is what I want to do."

At BC, he learned about operations management, project management and hiring procedures -- skills that would be useful in working on another campaign or in public life. "The career you get started on isn't necessarily the one you want to go into," he said.

Toye's next step into politics will be difficult. But, again, he hopes his work in the Bush camp helps. He plans to call the professionals he met on the campaign trail for advice or job leads.

Toye is open to any entry-level job that gets his foot in the door, either working for the Republican Party or the Bush administration. "I don't ever see myself running for office but I'd like to look into getting much more heavily involved."

Aimee Coolidge views her volunteer work on Kerry's campaign as an extension of her professional career.

Coolidge took five weeks of vacation from her job as director of community and government relations for the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter in Boston. She moved to New Hampshire and worked 16-hour days in the Manchester campaign office.

Coolidge, 48, had worked on state and local elections, but Kerry's campaign was her first at the national level. The senator's long history of supporting housing programs for the homeless gave her a personal story to tell New Hampshire voters. "I'd say, 'If John Kerry's elected president, I really feel that my job would be easier,' " she said.

Unlike some campaign workers, Coolidge's decision to take time off didn't require her to take a financial hit; she had unused vacation days.

Her boss's chief concern was that she could reach Coolidge when something urgent came up. Her cellphone and laptop computer, equipped with her Pine Street e-mail and files, easily resolved that issue, and Coolidge agreed to return to work if necessary.

The government officials to whom she advocates for Pine Street Inn were also out campaigning, so the election turned out to be a good time to take off, she said.

While worthwhile and exciting, the campaign probably won't lead to a career change. But, upon her return Monday, she was comforted by coworkers and one Pine Street resident who wanted to commiserate with her about the election results.

She'd love a career in politics, but the salaries "are insufficient for someone who owns a home," the Arlington resident said. "I value the work that I do here, too."

Kimberly Blanton can be reached at blanton@globe.com.