Obama announced Friday that Carney will step down from the podium in June. And while it is unclear what Carney will do next, many insiders say that if he wants to join the world of influence, he certainly could.

“Press secretaries by definition have a public affairs background that would lead them into that kind of civilian position,” said Marlin Fitzwater, who served as press secretary for both George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. As a result, press secretaries tend to go work for “either with companies that are hiring public affairs people, or Washington PR firms who want the combination of public relation experience plus access to the White House or government in general,” he said…

The one thing White House press secretaries have largely avoided? Outright lobbying. Though the Glover Park Group has a lobbying arm, Myers and Lockhart have never registered to lobby. McCurry registered to lobby briefly during his stint at Public Strategies in 2006 to represent a coalition called Hands Off The Internet. Other than that, White House press secretaries have stayed away from K Street.

“I’d say the skill sets are similar — in that you have to have a good grasp of policy, to know the different variations and nuances of the various policies that are being discussed. But the audiences are different,” said David Urban, a veteran Republican lobbyist with the bipartisan firm American Continental Group.