Pros and Cons of Working as a Politician

advantages and disadvantages of being a politician

You want to become a politician but are not entirely sure whether this is a good idea or not?

Stick with me since I will show you all the pros and cons of being a politician in the following chapters so that you can better decide if you still want to go this career path.

Politician Job Profile

Job DescriptionPoliticians have to represent the wishes and preferences of the general public. They have the power to really change things to make the world a better place.
Salary$85,000 per year on average, most politicians make between $75,000 and $150,000 per year.
Job SecurityDecent since it is hard to fire politicians.
Job SatisfactionPoor since you will always be stressed and have to deal with problems all day long.
Work-Life BalanceBad since you will have to work basically every minute of your life.
Physically / Mentally Demanding?Working as a politician is mentally and emotionally demanding.
Future OutlookDecent since good politicians will always be needed.
RequirementsYou need a strong network to get political influence. Yet, you don’t necessarily need a college degree for becoming a politician.

Advantages of Being a Politician

  1. Politicians can make good money
  2. High level of job security
  3. Good pensions
  4. You will get paid even if you make bad decisions
  5. Politicians have a high social standing
  6. You get almost everything for free
  7. Politicians can work indoors
  8. You can avoid working in a physical manner
  9. You may have a secretary that can do the annoying work
  10. You will be able to afford good medical treatment
  11. Politicians can make additional money on the side
  12. You can do good for your country
  13. You get lots of attention
  14. Some politicians travel the world for free
  15. You can build a strong network

Politicians can make good money

One advantage of being a politician is that you can make really good money from what you are doing.

If you are able to get into congress, you will be able to make above $200,000 per year.

Even if you don’t get to this stage, you can still make decent money as a major or in other positions.

As you can see, you can make more money as a politician than secretaries and in most other jobs.

Consequently, if money and luxury are really important to you, it can make quite a lot of sense to leave your corporate job and to go for a career in politics instead.

Of course, this is also not a one-way ticket. You can also just work as a politician for a few years and then go back working in the corporate sector.

This is what many people out there do and your experience as a politician can also greatly help you when it comes to understanding corporate politics and how to behave in such an environment.

High level of job security

In many countries, you will also have pretty good job security as a politician.

In fact, you will enjoy a pretty safe working environment and as long as you obey the law and do something extremely stupid, you will be able to stay a politician for many years or even decades.

Please note that this doesn’t mean that you will work in the same position forever.

Yet, if you make it up to a certain point, you will have many different career options in politics and will almost have the freedom of choice regarding where you want to work.

Good pensions

Another benefit of becoming a politician is that you will also enjoy pretty good pensions.

In many countries, politicians enjoy tax advantages and other goodies once they retire.

Many of them are also able to retire pretty early and still get more money compared to most other people who have worked for their whole lives.

Consequently, politicians are also not at risk of old-age poverty and while many other people will struggle to pay their bills once they retire, you will be able to afford many nice things for the last part of your life.

You will get paid even if you make bad decisions

Thanks to your high job security, it will not really matter whether your decisions are good or bad as long as you don’t break the law.

Even if outcomes are pretty bad, you will still be able to stay a politician since it is just pretty hard to fire you.

You may have to work in a different department.

Yet, you will just not end up unemployed as easily as someone who just works in the corporate world and can lose his job from one day to the other.

Politicians have a high social standing

You will also have an edge over most other people when it comes to social status.

Since politicians often speak in public, you will be admired by many people.

In turn, your social reputation will be quite high and this will also help you in the dating market.

To be honest, almost everyone loves to date people with high social status and as a politician, you will almost have freedom of choice in this regard.

You get almost everything for free

Another upside to working as a politician is that you will also get many things for free.

For instance, you will get free food while you are in parliament.

Even when you are away from work, you will still get many other things for free since people will often want to give you presents since they admire your work or since they just want you to make certain political decisions that are in their favor.

In the second case, you have to be careful that those presents are in line with local laws.

Yet, if you are a smart guy and don’t do anything stupid, chances are that you will not have to spend that much money from your salary for your living costs and can use this extra money for additional investments or to spend it on other nice things.

Politicians can work indoors

As a politician, you will also enjoy the privilege of working indoors.

While you might take this for granted, it is indeed a privilege. Think about it!

How many people still have to work outdoors during periods of rain and snow to keep our system running?

Quite a lot! Those people would do almost anything to change places with you to work in a rather cozy environment instead of outside in the cold.

Hence, working indoors can just make your work life much more convenient and chances are that you will also stay healthier in the long run since you will not have to expose your body to harsh outside conditions.

You can avoid working in a physical manner

Many people also become politicians since they just don’t want to work in a physical manner.

This may sound weird to you at first, but think about it.

While many other people out there have to lift heavy stuff on a regular basis at work, politicians can just sit in their office chairs and don’t have to do any of this unpleasant work at all.

Sure, this doesn’t mean that the job as a politician is always nice and relaxed.

Of course, politicians also have to work hard.

Yet, the kind of work differs quite a lot.

While many other people have to work in a physical manner, politicians mostly work with their brains.

In turn, chances are that you will also be able to avoid health issues that come along with heavy physical work in the long run.

You may have a secretary that can do the annoying work

If you get to a certain level, you may also have a secretary that can do most of the annoying work for you so that you can focus on the most important tasks.

This can be great since you can outsource many annoying tasks to your secretary while you can relax in your office.

Of course, this will not be true right from the beginning.

In fact, it will take many years to get to this level.

Yet, it is not impossible and if you are willing to work hard on your career, you may get to this point at which the life of politicians is much more enjoyable than on the lower stages.

You will be able to afford good medical treatment

Since you will be able to make good money from your job as a politician, chances are that you will also be able to afford proper medical treatment.

In the future, good medical treatment will likely only be affordable for people who have money while many other people will not be able to get proper medical treatment due to financial reasons.

Hence, thanks to your income as a politician, you will be able to get the good stuff and to live much longer on average compared to the general public that will often struggle with financing important medical treatment.

Politicians can make additional money on the side

Another advantage of working as a politician is that you will also be able to make significant money on the side.

In fact, many politicians make more money from their side jobs compared to their actual official salaries.

For instance, many politicians have a position on the supervisory board of big corporations and make lots of money from just a few meetings each year.

Thus, with only a little bit of extra work, you will be able to double or even triple your income as a politician and chances are that you will be able to afford a really fancy lifestyle due to that.

You can do good for your country

Apart from the money, becoming a politician also enables you to do good for your country.

If you get to a certain stage, your decisions will really begin to matter and can change the lives of many people.

Of course, this also implies a certain level of pressure since bad decisions on your side can really adversely affect the lives of numerous people.

Yet, this feeling of importance can really give you the motivation to carry on during difficult periods of your career since you know that people need you and you don’t want to disappoint them.

You get lots of attention

Once you get to a certain level, you will also get lots of attention all day long.

In fact, people will often recognize you when you walk down the streets and will sometimes even ask you for pictures and autographs.

While this might be annoying for some people, others really love all the attention and can’t get enough of it.

Thus, if you belong to the second group of people, a career in politics can really be great for you.

Some politicians travel the world for free

If you are an important politician who has to attend many meetings all over the world, you will also be able to travel the world for free.

While many other people have to pay significant amounts of money for flights and hotels, you will be the one who can get all of this for free and you will even get paid well for it at the same time.

You can build a strong network

You should also not underestimate the network that you can build during your career as a politician.

During this time, you will be able to meet many influential people and if you are able to stay in touch or even make friends with those people, chances are that many doors will open for you regarding your future career.

As you can see, there are definitely many important advantages of being a politician.

Yet, apart from all the nice things that come along with it, there are also some issues related to a career in politics that I want to show you in the following.

Disadvantages of Being a Politician

  1. Being a politician can be exhausting
  2. You may have to travel quite a lot
  3. People may try to bring you down
  4. Working as a politician can be dangerous
  5. You will often not be able to get what you want
  6. You have to make compromises all day long
  7. Being a politician can be stressful
  8. You will be a public figure
  9. Can be problematic if you have a family
  10. You may not be able to live a normal life
  11. You will barely have any leisure
  12. People may not understand your decisions
  13. You will be surrounded by lobbyists
  14. High barriers to entry for becoming a politician

Being a politician can be exhausting

One disadvantage of being a politician is that it can be a really exhausting job.

You will never really get to rest since you will always have to deal with many issues all day long.

In turn, many politicians also have problems unplugging from work and some of them even suffer from serious sleeping problems sooner or later.

You will also have to deal with many snarky comments along the way and you should make sure that the opinions of others don’t really bother you before you decide for a career in politics.

You may have to travel quite a lot

While some people love traveling the world, others rather want to stay in their home town and are not keen on seeing different countries and cultures at all since they just need the familiarity that comes along with sleeping in your own bed.

Yet, if you get to a certain level, you will just not have a choice but to travel the world as a politician while roofers and many other people can stay at home with their families.

Therefore, make sure that you are willing to spend many days away from your home and your loved ones before you decide to become a politician so that you don’t get disappointed in this regard in the long run.

People may try to bring you down

Another problem with working as a politician is that people will make fun of you and try to bring you down.

This is especially true for members of different parties who will often do everything to make your life as hard as possible.

Sure, there are not only bad people out there.

Yet, you will still often have to deal with annoying people and you should make sure that you are able to deal with those kinds of people in an emotionally healthy manner so that you can avoid getting into serious trouble.

Working as a politician can be dangerous

While most people will only try to bring you down verbally, others may even attack you in a physical manner.

Of course, this will not happen as often and you will also have some security guards on your side during work.

Yet, you may still be at greater risk in this regard compared to most other people out there since you will just often be the target of frustrated people.

You will often not be able to get what you want

You should also not expect to get what you want as a politician for the majority of the time.

In fact, there are so many politicians that are quite naïve at first but lose their faith pretty soon.

You will just be a small factor in the overall picture and even if you do everything to get important things done, there will still be other politicians that pull from different directions.

You have to make compromises all day long

Since people and also politicians are different and don’t have the same opinions regarding how things should work, you will often also have to compromise with people you don’t like at all only to get things done.

This can be really annoying since you will often have to agree to things you don’t want to just to move the overall project a little bit forward.

Being a politician can be stressful

You should also not underestimate the stress that comes along with being a politician.

Sure, this is not true for all politicians.

Yet, if you get to a certain level, you will just have so many things to do at the same time and will often be buried by work.

You will also have to deal with many difficult people along the way and it can really be challenging to stay on track as a politician, especially if you don’t have a stable emotional mindset.

You will be a public figure

While some people love to be famous, others just don’t want to be a public figure at all.

In fact, being recognized in public can have many downsides since you will often be asked by people for favors and often also have to decline their offers.

Can be problematic if you have a family

Not only you may suffer from your career in politics, but also your kids may have a hard time in school since other children may try to bring them down and to make fun of them due to your political activities their parents may not agree with at all.

In turn, the lives of your children may be much harder compared to other kids who don’t have famous parents.

You may not be able to live a normal life

Another downside to working as a politician is that you will just not have a normal life once you get to a certain stage anymore.

You will always need protection and you will also not be able to walk down the street like a normal person anymore.

In fact, you will lose a significant portion of your overall freedom due to your political career and you should make sure that you are willing to pay this price before you decide for a career as a politician.

You will barely have any leisure

Since you will have to work on many different problems at the same time, you will also barely have any leisure and even when you leave your workplace, you will still have plenty of work waiting at home for you.

People may not understand your decisions

You will also have a hard time convincing people about your ideas.

This is not only true for strangers, but also for your family and friends who will often just not understand and agree to your decisions.

In turn, you may have serious conflicts with your loved ones sooner or later and many relationships of politicians also end due to that.

You will be surrounded by lobbyists

Working as a politician can also be quite annoying since you will be surrounded by lobbyists all day long.

Those people always want to get privileges for corporations and dealing with those people can just be difficult, especially if they are willing to donate significant amounts of money and you have to do those people favors due to that.

High barriers to entry for becoming a politician

Last but not least, it is also not easy to become a politician.

You will need lots of experience and contacts before you can get to a stage where your decisions really matter.

Of course, it is doable.

Yet, you have to put in lots of work and you should make sure that you are committed enough to your political career before making any efforts in this regard.

Top 10 Being a Politician Pros & Cons – Summary List

Being a Politician ProsBeing a Politician Cons
Politicians make good moneyBeing a politician can be exhausting
You will have the power to change thingsYou may be stressed all day long
You can do good for your countryPeople make fun of you
Politicians enjoy good job securityYou will not have a normal life
Your performance doesn’t matter as muchProblems for your family
You get plenty of attentionPoliticians barely have any leisure
You may become famousYou may be away from home quite often
Politicians can travel the worldPeople may not understand your decisions
You can make extra money on the sideLobbyists can be annoying
You will not suffer from old-age povertyYou will have to compromise quite often

Should You Become A Politician?

Now that you know all the advantages and disadvantages of being a politician, it is on you to decide whether you still want to become a politician or if you rather want to aspire to a corporate career instead.

If you still consider becoming a politician, you should also have a detailed look at the salary, job prospects, future outlook, duties, educational requirements, job satisfaction and work-life balance of politicians.

Also make sure to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of working as an economist

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a day trader

Advantages and disadvantages of working as an investment banker

Sources

https://www.statista.com/markets/2535/topic/966/politics-government/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salaries_of_members_of_the_United_States_Congress

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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