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General Overview
The primary objective of Vote Smart is to provide the essential tools that American citizens need when selecting their representatives, as well as monitoring their job performances. The Profiles program is one of the six major programs that Vote Smart has in our research department.At the most basic level, citizens need two key types of information on their candidates/officials: biographical information and contact information. A candidate's/official's biography includes where they went to school, what jobs they have held, what organizations they have been members of, any past or present leadership experiences, and if they have held public office. The second key type of information is a candidate's/official's campaign or official office contact addresses where citizens can reach them.
The Profiles program works on collecting the biographical and contact information for candidates and completes roster checks to make sure we have the correct politicians in office, along with the correct leadership positions and committee assignments. In many ways, the profiles program is the first impression users have of our Voter Self-Defense System and the first page most users see. The Profiles program makes it possible for a citizen to know where a politician is from, what they look like, and how to contact them all on one page. In fact, biographical information is the most used information of the six data types collected at Vote Smart.
To create a comprehensive database of information, the Profiles program researches most federal and state level officials/candidates in the United States. Each piece of data entered is categorized and tagged so that biographical information can connect to the other five data types. For the Profiles program, this data is categorized and tagged as information is being collected.
What you will be doing:
You will be researching, collecting, entering, categorizing and tagging biographical and contact information for most federal and state level candidates and officials in the United States.
Why your work is important:
Like anyone else, politicians can be judged by their previous experiences and background. The Profiles program aims to research the biographical and contact information of politicians in order to provide citizens with facts about where they come from, what they have done in their lives, and where they can be reached. During an average election year, the Profiles program tracks over 17,000 candidates. Can you imagine the amount of information profiles researchers are pouring into our database in one year? Well organized and driven staff and interns have spent countless hours building Vote Smart's database from the ground up. Each year, there are new faces to research and track and that is where you come in.
What you will learn:
- General Learning Objectives
- How to research, find, and enter biographical/contact information.
- The most common types of experiences politicians have.
- A greater understanding of American politics.
- The many ways candidates reach out to their constituents and their willingness to be transparent.
- The tactics candidates use to portray themselves in the best light.
- The range of political offices and number of organizations nationwide.
- Weird quirks about people!
The following are links you will be using throughout your training:
- Profiles Expectations
- Management of the Profiles Program
- Biography Tab
- Addresses Tab
- Office Tab and Office Updates
- Office Election and Appointment Dates
- Helpful Hints and FAQ
- Photos
- Leadership Positions
- Committee Updates
- Categories and Tags
- Caucuses
