Job opportunity at the FTC

Posted in Undergrad Opportunities

Posted on 10/21/2024: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is accepting applications for Statisticians in the Bureau of Economics. I wanted to reach out to let you know about this great opportunity for seniors and Masters students with coursework in Economics, Statistics, Data Science, or Computer Science. Below, we provide some application information for any of your students that might be interested in the position.

·        Duties

In this role, you will gain real-world experience by working alongside PhD economists to protect consumers and promote competition in the US economy. Statisticians work with economists to support FTC matters, including:

o   providing economic and statistical analysis in support of antitrust investigations, cases, and rulemaking

o   conducting academic research and developing reports on the functioning of markets in the economy

To learn more information about the experience of a Statistician at the FTC please visit: https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/bureaus-offices/bureau-economics/careers-ftc-bureau-economics/statistician-recruiting

·        Available Positions

o   Statistician GS7

§  The ideal candidate for this position has:

·        A strong interest in and intuition for applied microeconomics;

·        Proficiency in programming languages widely used in economics, statistics, and/or data science such as Stata, R, or Python;

·        Excitement about conducting data analysis on a wide range of datasets in support of consumer protection and competition missions of the FTC;

·        Interest and aptitude in working with PhD economists on economics research projects that serve the mission of the FTC; and

·        A desire to grow and build on skills in data analysis and microeconomics.

o   Statistician GS9

§  The ideal candidate for this position has:

·        A strong interest in and aptitude for applied microeconomics, data analysis, and computer programming;

·        Proficiency in programming languages widely used in economics, statistics, data science, and/or computer science such as Stata, R, Python, SQL, or C++;

·        Excitement about analyzing terabyte size datasets to support competition and consumer protection policy and law enforcement;

·        Experience conducting statistical, econometric, or data analysis tasks such as regression analysis, model evaluation, machine learning, or Natural Language Processing.

o   Position length

Note, all recruitment is for positions starting Summer 2025 in Washington, DC for a term position of one year with renewal for up to four years.

o   How to apply

§  All applications must be submitted through USAJOBS: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/815032900

§  The deadline for applications is 11/04.

·        Tips for the application

o   Self-Assessment

§  The application includes self-assessment questions relating to the skills in the job posting.

§  These responses will be reviewed by HR to determine if the candidate is qualified for the position. Candidates should be honest in their responses about their knowledge of a subject but not modest. When the candidates are rating themselves, they should consider their knowledge on a subject relative to the entire population (not just their classmates or peers).

o   Resume: We advise candidates to use the resume builder within USAJOBS.

o   Cover letter: Please discuss your interest in economics and the FTC in your cover letter.

Please pass this information along to any students who you think may be interested in applying for this position! Note, if you will no longer be the right person for outreach regarding job announcements in the spring, please let us know.

Best,

Kimberly

Kimberly Conlon
Economist
Bureau of Economics
Federal Trade Commission