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DismalScientist · 03-08-2006, 01:47 AM

On many occasions, I have been told that out side of academia, success is more of a function of the individual. On the other hand, I don't believe that IMF, WB, etc... will hire people who have done a lot of research in areas that are far from issues of development no matter how outstanding their research and where their degree is from. My school is actually ranked in the 200s and it has IMF placements. I am just concerened if that was a statistical deviation and if economists out of such low-ranked schools end up being just teachers.
Thanks!

associate · 03-08-2006, 06:11 AM

I'm not really familiar with placements for 200s schools, as you can imagine. But I'm not surprised that your school has IMF placement. I'd imagine these people were hired because either they knew someone who could ensure their resume got a careful look and/or because they did some good research that demonstrated competency in skills relevant to WB/IMF problems, and probably both. When I say that they may have known someone who helped, that doesn't mean they had a friend who got them the job. It could be a career center rep at your school. Hiring practices at these organizations require that individuals be hired competitively and they are for the most part, but with so many applicants in the resume databases of these organizations, having a way to ensure the right person looks at your resume (which is where an acquaintance of career center college fair may come in) can matter a lot. To that end, if there was somebody who had done a great deal of research in an unrelated area but expressed a convincing interest in and ability to pursue development research, I can imagine they might be hired only if they had also done research on development issues and/or had in-country experience in developing countries. It all really comes down to the individual, like you say. And the school is one of many things that factor into an individual. But there are certainly no schools from which these orgs, as a policy, will not hire, because that's just not in the bottom line for them. But, like you mentioned, getting their development/trade analyses done as best possible is what is.

Lseapplicant · 03-08-2006, 10:13 AM

Hi.

I went through the same decision process as dismal scientist last year. I had the chance of attending a top - 3 school in the UK, but unfunded and a anohter school in Geneva funded. It has been like some people's on this board one of my dream jobs to work for IMF/WB/UNCTAD/BIS, etc, so I di some research on placement of certain schools at these organizations.

I would say that the university of maryland has probably the highest placement of all unis at the IMF/WB(having seen their placement record from 1990 - 2004), but this may also be due to self selection.

On the other hand I would say that the ranking of the school does not matter as much for ANY Job outside of academia.

What matters much more is that you as an Economist do very well in an interview. There are some schools in the World which completetly specialize on washington based organization placement, by preparing the candidates especially well for such jobs. One example is hei.unige.ch/sections/ec
. I am certain that mose people on this board probably have never heard of this school, yet I know for a fact that they cosistently place about 2 -3 people at hte IMF evey year. Moreover they can usualyy place people at the OECD, BIS and UNCTAD, a swell as Bank of england and so on.

My point to drive home to anyone(and this is after what I saw from people working at the economics research department of a top 5 investment bank) is that the school does not matter, but what does matter is what you learn there.

A top - 200 level school may be better suited for you if the department pushes you really hard, you get a great supervisor and you actually learn some usefull stuff which will be usefull on the job. (Read: Proving asymptotic theorems about estimators might not be so handy, but knowledge of how to actually work with the fallacies of real world data is.)

In this sense a top 200 maybe be better suited for you than a top 20.

Having studied at the Ph.D. level and switched (voluntarily I may add) in the US at a top 20 institution, in the UK at a top - 3 and now in switzerland I think I can safely say that you have to go to the best school which is the best school for you to avoid the possibly high levels of frustration you might experience otherwise.

Just my two cents.

Cheers

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03-08-2006, 01:47 AM	#11 (permalink)
DismalScientist Let's Go Hokies! Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 192	On many occasions, I have been told that out side of academia, success is more of a function of the individual. On the other hand, I don't believe that IMF, WB, etc... will hire people who have done a lot of research in areas that are far from issues of development no matter how outstanding their research and where their degree is from. My school is actually ranked in the 200s and it has IMF placements. I am just concerened if that was a statistical deviation and if economists out of such low-ranked schools end up being just teachers. Thanks!

03-08-2006, 06:11 AM	#12 (permalink)
associate Within my grasp! Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 127	I'm not really familiar with placements for 200s schools, as you can imagine. But I'm not surprised that your school has IMF placement. I'd imagine these people were hired because either they knew someone who could ensure their resume got a careful look and/or because they did some good research that demonstrated competency in skills relevant to WB/IMF problems, and probably both. When I say that they may have known someone who helped, that doesn't mean they had a friend who got them the job. It could be a career center rep at your school. Hiring practices at these organizations require that individuals be hired competitively and they are for the most part, but with so many applicants in the resume databases of these organizations, having a way to ensure the right person looks at your resume (which is where an acquaintance of career center college fair may come in) can matter a lot. To that end, if there was somebody who had done a great deal of research in an unrelated area but expressed a convincing interest in and ability to pursue development research, I can imagine they might be hired only if they had also done research on development issues and/or had in-country experience in developing countries. It all really comes down to the individual, like you say. And the school is one of many things that factor into an individual. But there are certainly no schools from which these orgs, as a policy, will not hire, because that's just not in the bottom line for them. But, like you mentioned, getting their development/trade analyses done as best possible is what is.

03-08-2006, 10:13 AM	#13 (permalink)
Lseapplicant Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 23	Hi. I went through the same decision process as dismal scientist last year. I had the chance of attending a top - 3 school in the UK, but unfunded and a anohter school in Geneva funded. It has been like some people's on this board one of my dream jobs to work for IMF/WB/UNCTAD/BIS, etc, so I di some research on placement of certain schools at these organizations. I would say that the university of maryland has probably the highest placement of all unis at the IMF/WB(having seen their placement record from 1990 - 2004), but this may also be due to self selection. On the other hand I would say that the ranking of the school does not matter as much for ANY Job outside of academia. What matters much more is that you as an Economist do very well in an interview. There are some schools in the World which completetly specialize on washington based organization placement, by preparing the candidates especially well for such jobs. One example is hei.unige.ch/sections/ec . I am certain that mose people on this board probably have never heard of this school, yet I know for a fact that they cosistently place about 2 -3 people at hte IMF evey year. Moreover they can usualyy place people at the OECD, BIS and UNCTAD, a swell as Bank of england and so on. My point to drive home to anyone(and this is after what I saw from people working at the economics research department of a top 5 investment bank) is that the school does not matter, but what does matter is what you learn there. A top - 200 level school may be better suited for you if the department pushes you really hard, you get a great supervisor and you actually learn some usefull stuff which will be usefull on the job. (Read: Proving asymptotic theorems about estimators might not be so handy, but knowledge of how to actually work with the fallacies of real world data is.) In this sense a top 200 maybe be better suited for you than a top 20. Having studied at the Ph.D. level and switched (voluntarily I may add) in the US at a top 20 institution, in the UK at a top - 3 and now in switzerland I think I can safely say that you have to go to the best school which is the best school for you to avoid the possibly high levels of frustration you might experience otherwise. Just my two cents. Cheers

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