econ2014 Posted February 23, 2014 Share Posted February 23, 2014 Anyone who applied for an RA position at the Fed hear back about interviews yet? What portion of applicants receive interviews, and what portion of interviewees do they hire? I've heard some people mention that if you get an interview, you're basically in, but am skeptical about this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy235 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Anyone who applied for an RA position at the Fed hear back about interviews yet? What portion of applicants receive interviews, and what portion of interviewees do they hire? I've heard some people mention that if you get an interview, you're basically in, but am skeptical about this... Haven't heard back, but I did some digging and it seems like March-ish is a rough timeline for when they get back. That would seem like a reasonable time frame given that they (or at least the one I applied to) wait to see how many slots are open after RA's leave for doctoral programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverscuomo Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Anyone who applied for an RA position at the Fed hear back about interviews yet? What portion of applicants receive interviews, and what portion of interviewees do they hire? I've heard some people mention that if you get an interview, you're basically in, but am skeptical about this... I can help out a little bit, as I'm a current Fed RA. We hired ~20-25 RAs at the Board in the fall recruiting season. Those RAs were just matched to sections a week ago or so. Before then, sections didn't know how many RA spots they would need to hire (assuming turnover of some current RAs - although many RAs work for shorter / longer periods of time, the most common thing to do is start during the summer and leave two summers later.) Since that's been sorted out, I would expect that the Fed will reach out to candidates to set up interviews in the next couple of weeks. I think the majority of interviews are conducted in March and early April. There are probably somewhere in the ballpark of 110-120 RAs at the Fed, so using a little guesstimation using a 50% retention rate there are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 spots open. I don't really know how many applicants there are so I can't answer about the portion of applicants that receive interviews. I won't wholeheartedly endorse the idea that "if you get an interview, you're in", but keep in mind you can interview with up to six sections, and they have to make up their mind about you within a few days, so if they like you they're probably not going to string you along waiting for someone better. I interviewed on Friday and heard back from all of them by Monday morning, except for one section which had an offer out to someone else (they got back to me on Tuesday when the other person declined - actually ended up being the section I joined). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econ2014 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 I can help out a little bit, as I'm a current Fed RA. We hired ~20-25 RAs at the Board in the fall recruiting season. Those RAs were just matched to sections a week ago or so. Before then, sections didn't know how many RA spots they would need to hire (assuming turnover of some current RAs - although many RAs work for shorter / longer periods of time, the most common thing to do is start during the summer and leave two summers later.) Since that's been sorted out, I would expect that the Fed will reach out to candidates to set up interviews in the next couple of weeks. I think the majority of interviews are conducted in March and early April. There are probably somewhere in the ballpark of 110-120 RAs at the Fed, so using a little guesstimation using a 50% retention rate there are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 spots open. I don't really know how many applicants there are so I can't answer about the portion of applicants that receive interviews. I won't wholeheartedly endorse the idea that "if you get an interview, you're in", but keep in mind you can interview with up to six sections, and they have to make up their mind about you within a few days, so if they like you they're probably not going to string you along waiting for someone better. I interviewed on Friday and heard back from all of them by Monday morning, except for one section which had an offer out to someone else (they got back to me on Tuesday when the other person declined - actually ended up being the section I joined). Thanks for the info, this is very helpful! Just wondering, do you know what sorts of questions they'll typically ask in an interview - particularly if you're interviewing for multiple divisions, are you expected to have some technical or specialized knowledge about each division? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomsday23 Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I also applied and have yet to hear back from them. I would guess that the applicants that they would like to interview would be receiving their calls either this week or next. I applied to two Banks and I am not sure that they all go through the same process when hiring RAs for any given period. From what I can tell most applicants are applying to the Board in DC or the Fed bank in NY, so depending on which one you applied to I would say you should expect to hear back sooner than later (could be wrong about this though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy235 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 I can help out a little bit, as I'm a current Fed RA. We hired ~20-25 RAs at the Board in the fall recruiting season. Those RAs were just matched to sections a week ago or so. Before then, sections didn't know how many RA spots they would need to hire (assuming turnover of some current RAs - although many RAs work for shorter / longer periods of time, the most common thing to do is start during the summer and leave two summers later.) Since that's been sorted out, I would expect that the Fed will reach out to candidates to set up interviews in the next couple of weeks. I think the majority of interviews are conducted in March and early April. There are probably somewhere in the ballpark of 110-120 RAs at the Fed, so using a little guesstimation using a 50% retention rate there are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 spots open. I don't really know how many applicants there are so I can't answer about the portion of applicants that receive interviews. I won't wholeheartedly endorse the idea that "if you get an interview, you're in", but keep in mind you can interview with up to six sections, and they have to make up their mind about you within a few days, so if they like you they're probably not going to string you along waiting for someone better. I interviewed on Friday and heard back from all of them by Monday morning, except for one section which had an offer out to someone else (they got back to me on Tuesday when the other person declined - actually ended up being the section I joined). Just curious about your first paragraph, are you saying the Fed does two rounds in recruiting for RA positions, fall and spring? Sounds like that, but it's a bit confusing to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverscuomo Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 econ2014 - interviews are pretty low stress, as far as interviews go. Don't expect any golf balls in a 747 type of questions. A lot of the interview will be the section telling you about what they do, and you shouldn't feel the need to do background research on each division. Murphy235 - yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyrtap22 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 econ2014 - interviews are pretty low stress, as far as interviews go. Don't expect any golf balls in a 747 type of questions. A lot of the interview will be the section telling you about what they do, and you shouldn't feel the need to do background research on each division. Murphy235 - yep. when does the spring recruiting round start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
econ2014 Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 when does the spring recruiting round start? I think the deadlines have passed - they're usually late January and the applications open sometime in early winter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomsday23 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I think the deadlines have passed - they're usually late January and the applications open sometime in early winter January 31st for the Board. But to the OP, any luck yet on an e-mail, phone call, anything?.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doomsday23 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 January 31st. But to the OP, any like with receiving an e-mail, phone call, anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patho Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I think the deadlines have passed - they're usually late January and the applications open sometime in early winter The Board of Governors accepts applications throughout the entire year even though most of the positions will be filled in the two deadlines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy235 Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 The Board of Governors accepts applications throughout the entire year even though most of the positions will be filled in the two deadlines. Thanks for all your help, Patho. :) I applied to one as a backup around the beginning of December and my contact there said it would likely be after the PhD market cleared they would send out offers, but I figured I'd ask. You're the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agramon Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I'm new on here and just saw this thread. I received an email from the Fed on January 9th asking whether I was still "in the market for an RA position." I applied last September so I am a roll over from the fall recruiting season. Though I have not heard back from them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy235 Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Welcome agramon! Has anyone heard back regarding these? I'm assuming not, since they probably don't know which students are leaving for grad programs yet. I'm guessing after April 1 is when the majority will come out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agramon Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Has anyone heard anything yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrosent1 Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I'm flying out to Philly to interview in a couple weeks. Heard back from Dallas as well but I'm not as interested in going there. Haven't heard anything from Richmond or San Francisco though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agramon Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 I'm flying out to Philly to interview in a couple weeks. Heard back from Dallas as well but I'm not as interested in going there. Haven't heard anything from Richmond or San Francisco though. Great, Congrats! Best wishes in Philly. I'd love to end up in Dallas, it's my home state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrosent1 Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 Great, Congrats! Best wishes in Philly. I'd love to end up in Dallas, it's my home state. I just realized, I have the number of the Senior Staffing Rep at Dallas who contacted me (HR department, not an economist). Might be good to make contact and tell them how interested you are in the position. Would you like the number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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