[mattdavis11]

Rick nailed it. It's not only a combination of what you know about the process, but who you know. It would be fairly easy to become an internal lobbyist. By internal, I mean a corporate employee who tends to the needs of the legislature and their staff. They tend to monitor bills, buy lunches, sponsor happy hour gatherings for staffers and attend committee hearings, but they often don't know the intricate details of the process. These types of lobbyists usually are assigned a hand full of members to work and remain in contact with. They are known to start fires, and are a dime a dozen. A general understanding of the process and an outgoing personality are the basic requirements.

On the other hand, the hired gun lobbyist has a very close connection with the members, which has developed over many years of interaction. These are the ones that would be taking members hunting and fishing, offering up their vacation home for the members personal use and the like. They usually don't have members assigned to them unless it's a chairman of a committee, the speaker/president of the Senate, or a powerful loose cannon that lobs bombs at the interest group. These types of lobbyists are the ones the corporations turn to when the heavy lifting needs to be done. They know the process very well, are often former members or long time staffers, and are the ones who tend to put the fires out.