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RA at the Fed


veryconfused06

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I just started working at the Fed BoG about a month ago. I decided to go to the Fed for a few reasons.

 

1) While my GRE and GPA were very strong, I had no good source of LoR's.

2) I had no research experience.

3) I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do a phd in economics and, if so, what area of economics.

4) I had very little experience with statistical packages, even though I was very familiar with programming.

 

So far I'm very happy with my decision. I can tell that my time at the Fed will fix all of these issues, and I think I will come out of it with a MUCH stronger application than I would have had otherwise. I told my economists that I'm planning on an econ PhD and they have been very supportive. One has already invited me to co-author a paper (on a subject that I have quite a bit of experience in). I find the research topics interesting and I'm learning a lot. The work-life balance is also very nice. The environment is very academic and laid-back. You almost never have to work overtime, and you have pretty good annual leave (3 weeks) and benefits. Also, the pay is decent ($47,500 at the BoG, more than you'd make at almost any other RA job).

 

You have to ask yourself if it's worth 2 years of your life though. If you really want to get into a top 5 and you think the RA job will fill those holes in your application, then go for it. But be sure you know exactly what you're getting into. Ask the economists what research you might be working on, where their past RA's have gone, and ask the RA's in the section what they think. Look up the economists you'll be talking to and see what papers they've written, what journals they've published in, etc. Also, keep in mind that an RAship at the Fed, even an excellent one, won't guarantee you to get into any top school.

 

I just wanted to emphasize again that this can vary GREATLY by section and economist who you work for in terms of: 1) availability of co-authorship opportunities, 2) # of work hours per week (I regularly work late hours and weekends), and 3) laid back environment (depends on who you work for). Last paragraph has great advice -- good luck!

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How do you guys know the co-author opportunities/the willingness of the economist to write good LOR when you make the decision? I understand these greatly depend on the person I work with and the nature of the economist's research. I mean, at the interview they only tell you great things and it does seem like a great leverage for future re-application. How do you know before you actually start the job? What if you only find out maybe the experience is not as expected after you start? Or is this the risk that I will need to consider?
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One possibility is you contact their current RA (if you don't meet them in the interview) and get them to talk about their experiences.

 

One problem is sometimes economists can't predict the workload of their own RAs... but usually you'll have some downtime.

 

I think co-authorship opportunities always exist -- you just have to be the one to suggest them. The problem is if you get bogged down with too much other work too often and lose motivation. You are getting paid to work for them after all.

 

One indicator is probably whether the economist has been a successful researcher already. If they haven't been successful researchers themselves, how can they teach you?

 

Also, I'd be careful not to overreact to any little bit of busy work you might have to do. You'll have to do some of this busy work for your own research in grad school anyway -- might as well gain some skills now.

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How do you guys know the co-author opportunities/the willingness of the economist to write good LOR when you make the decision?
Chris Blattman has a take on co-authoring that you may be interested in reading:

RA versus co-author – Chris Blattman

 

To judge whether there will be co-authoring opportunities, I'm willing to say a good predictor is the amount of academic research the economists have done while at the Fed and the number of working papers they have going on. The more time the economist spends doing academic research, the more opportunities there will be for you to co-author.

 

Also, younger economists who have joined the Fed more recently may be more likely to collaborate. Two reasons: (1) Fresh out of grad school, they want to establish themselves as a serious researcher and keep the possibility of returning the academia open, so they will be working on a lot of projects. (2) If they are younger, more likely they will sympathize with your situation and want to help you out, be your buddy, and be more of a partner than a boss.

 

In the end though, to repeat what has been said above, it's going to be up to you and your self motivation. The best advice I got when I started my job at the Fed was that co-authoring opportunities came to those who worked the hardest for them. If you drag out the policy work by reading blogs and TM all day long, you won't have the time to do anything more collaborative or interesting. Instead if you get the grunt work done fast, there will more time to talk to your economist about your ideas and give the economist reason to get you more involved.

 

Also, you will get more co-authoring opportunities if you work 3 vs. 2 years. The first year you're gonna spend getting up to speed on the economists' current projects and becoming a Stata/MATLAB wizard. That 2nd year you won't have time to co-author if you're going to be going nuts applying for grad school (co-authoring can mean working more than 40 hours a week). Also, the economists much prefer 3 vs. 2 year turn over because RAs are so much more productive after their first year. Thus, in exchange for staying an extra year, there's often a tacit (or explicit) understanding that you will have more involvement in the research projects.

 

One last thing. Co-authoring is, in my opinion, totally overrated. What matters most is the amount of academic research you get exposed to, both for your own development as a researcher and for the strength of the LOR your economist will write to help you get into grad school (more for them to write about). In the end, the co-authoring I did with my economist was on more policy-oriented stuff that probably meant little to anyone on an admissions committee. In the end, I got into Berkeley because I got an NSF. And I got an NSF because (well, I got lucky, but also because) I was able to demonstrate research experience that had broader impact (because of the work I did with my economist, co-authored or not), and most importantly I had the time during the day to talk to the economist I worked for and the other RAs about the idea many, many times. That kind of support is priceless, in my opinion, and why working at a Fed is such an incredible opportunity.

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Just gotta chime in and agree that working at the Fed is of course a fantastic opportunity, but most people seem to have lost sight of the fact that the OP has a Funded top 20 offer in hand... the Fed may be great for a lot of people, but if the OP is ultimately headed down the academic route, the Fed would just delay that outcome unnecessarily...
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Just gotta chime in and agree that working at the Fed is of course a fantastic opportunity, but most people seem to have lost sight of the fact that the OP has a Funded top 20 offer in hand... the Fed may be great for a lot of people, but if the OP is ultimately headed down the academic route, the Fed would just delay that outcome unnecessarily...

 

This is largely my intended sentiment. RA positions can go either way. Since the ultimate goal is getting a PhD, blowing off a few years seems pretty silly.

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This is largely my intended sentiment. RA positions can go either way. Since the ultimate goal is getting a PhD, blowing off a few years seems pretty silly.

Really? My ultimate goal has never been to acquire a PhD. My ultimate career goal has been to become a successful economist -- to me that means I do research that I enjoy & that people respect inside and outside of my field. Of course acquiring a PhD is necessary for that goal. My point is that improving your chances at PhD admissions is not the sole benefit of taking a Fed RA position. It's not necessarily "silly" to do so with an offer in hand.

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