One Day, One Job » economics

Gerson Lehrman Group

Willy Franzen — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:57:18 +0000

Sometimes I get dubbed as a career expert. I guess in some ways that’s true, but I see myself more as an entrepreneur whose business is helping students and grads find jobs and internships. In my opinion it takes way more knowledge and experience to become an expert. I’m talking about people with PhDs and 30 years of experience, and, amazingly, there are experts on nearly every topic. But how do you find them when you need them? That’s where Gerson Lehrman Group comes in. They’re professional matchmakers when it comes to experts. Since 1998 they’ve created a global marketplace for expertise and “helped the world’s leading institutions find, engage, and manage experts across a broad range of industries and disciplines.” I have friends who have actually used Gerson Lehrman Group in their jobs to find experts, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about the people at Gerson Lehrman Group and their experts (who are not employed by the firm).

Become an Expert on Experts

Now, you’re coming from a college campus which is likely littered with experts. You can probably walk into a random professor’s office hours and gain insight from the foremost expert on some archaic topic. Usually expertise isn’t so free and easy. Businesses, consulting firms, and non-profit organizations are constantly seeking outside expertise to help guide their decision-making processes. Gerson Lehrman Group takes the pain out of finding the right expert for the job. While they provide experts in nearly any area imaginable, Gerson Lehrman Group calls out Accounting & Financial Analysis, Consumer Goods & Services, Energy & Industrials, Financial & Business Services, Healthcare, Legal, Economic, & Regulatory Affairs, Real Estate, and Technology, Media & Telecom as their main areas of focus. There’s a ton of information on the Gerson Lehrman Group, so you should really dig in and get to know the company in a little more depth. Then you can check out their Careers page and Job listings. Some examples of their entry level opportunities include: Business Development Associate (New York, NY), Event Coordinator (Austin, TX), Survey Associate (Austin, TX), Associate Copywriter (New York, NY), Associate (Dublin, Ireland), Recruiting Associate – Fluent Portuguese (Austin, TX), Member Solutions Associate – Fluent Portuguese (Austin, TX), and Front End Web Developer (New York, NY). However, you may want to pay most attention to their Associate and Associate – 2011 positions, which are both a two-year program for new/recent grads in Austin, TX.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Gerson Lehrman Group?

The Cadmus Group

Willy Franzen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:02:31 +0000

I’m sure that you keep hearing about the green job revolution and how environmentalist ideals are actually going to start fueling economic growth (instead of hindering it), yet you’re probably wondering where all of these opportunities are. Most of the green entry level jobs that I come across are either in the non-profit or energy sectors. However, if you look a little more closely there are a lot more options—some of which have been around a lot longer than you would have expected. Take The Cadmus Group in Watertown, MA for example. They were founded in 1983 to “take advantage of a change in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procured contractor support,” and they’ve evolved into a leading environmental consulting firm. They’ve done this by gathering “the best minds across a variety of disciplines to help address the nation’s most pressing environmental, energy, and health challenges.

Cadmus Was a Phoenician Prince

The Cadmus Group works in a variety of areas that include Water, Energy Services, Social Marketing and Communications, Green Building, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Strategic Environmental Management, and International Development. There’s a lot there, but they’re a decent sized consulting firm, so it makes sense for them to cover a lot of service areas. To get specifics on the kind of work that they do in each of these areas you can look at this section on their website. You may also want to read through their blog, although it hasn’t been updated in quite a while. Although Cadmus doesn’t get specific about client projects on their website, they provide plenty of information for you to be able to figure out where you might fit in. Their Careers page says that they generally seek applicants with backgrounds in Engineering, Public Policy, Public Finance, Statistics, Economics, Ecological Modeling, Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecosystem Analysis, Media and Marketing, Public Relations. You can find their current openings listed here. In terms of entry level positions, you’ll want to look at the following jobs: Entry Level Communications Professional (Arlington, VA), Part-Time Computer Support Technician (Watertown, MA), Part-Time Environmental Research and Policy Analyst (Watertown, MA), Research Analyst (Arlington, VA), Research Analyst (Watertown, MA), Research Analyst – Energy Services (Watertown, MA), and Research Analyst/Analyst (Arlington, VA). And in addition the locations that I mentioned, they also have offices in Portland, OR; Boulder, CO; Salt Lake City, UT; Los Angeles, CA; Helena, MT; and Madison, WI.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about The Cadmus Group?

MCG

Willy Franzen — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:20:12 +0000

Did you know that you can get Amazon Prime for free if you’re a college student? That means unlimited, free two-day shipping on everything you buy.

For the past couple of months we’ve been including more numbers than usual in our daily posts—things like three-year growth rates and annual revenues. Since we’ve been looking mostly at companies on the Inc. 500, we figure that it’s useful information. If simple numbers like those intimidate you, then today’s company is definitely not for you. However, if your response to our daily posts is to seek out more numbers and dig into annual reports and other similar documents, then you’re in luck. MCG is a Providence, RI based company that does mathematical, statistical, and strategic consulting. Their motto is “Nothing is too complex.” The first person listed on their Management Team page is their Chief Analytics Officer, so that should tell you a lot about MCG’s focus. And I almost forgot—MCG has grown at an 834.4% rate over the past three years to $2.2 million in revenue (they were only founded in 2006).

Quantify Your Worth at MCG

I’m not sure which is more interesting, the areas that MCG works in or the clients who use them. Apparently, they break their business up into ten defined areas: Business Consulting, Business Planning and Valuation, Trading Systems, Government Procurement Consulting, Dissertation Assistance, Medical and Biostat Research, Equal Employment Advisory & Litigation Support, Casino Gaming and Sports Analysis, Market Research Services, and Risk Management. With all that expertise, it should be no surprise that their clients include Starbucks, ESPN, Nielsen, Teach for America, Visa, Harvard Medical School, and quite a few other huge names. If you graduated with a degree from a top program in theoretical or applied statistics, pure or applied mathematics, physics, economics and econometrics, psychometrics, engineering, or computer science, then you may want to consider a Career at MCG. They don’t list specific positions, but you can reach out to them about their opportunities at careers@mcg-site.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Are you a quant?

The Urban Institute

Willy Franzen — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:54:28 +0000

Yesterday I told you about Bonobos and their awesome men’s clothes. They’re having an amazing sample with ridiculous prices on a lot of their stuff. And on top of that you can get $50 off your first order.

One of the wonderful things about running this site is all of the reader e-mails that I get. Some of my favorites are from readers who have had success stories about jobs they’ve landed through the site, but I also love it when you guys introduce me to companies or organizations that I haven’t heard of. One reader recently wrote me to recommend The Urban Institute, where he had been temping. It’s a Washington, DC based non-profit that does “nonpartisan economic and social policy research.” They were founded in 1968 in response to President Johnson’s call for “independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America’s cities and their residents,” and they now work in all 50 states and in more than 28 countries.

A Research Based Approach

Beyond hearing great things about what it’s like to work at The Urban Institute, I’ve also read some great things about what they’ve accomplished in 40+ years of operation. Yes, the list came from them, but you have to be impressed with a list of accomplishments like this one. And if you’re more concerned about the future, then you can take a look at The Urban Institute’s current projects. What I really like about The Urban Institute is that they are tirelessly focused on finding the facts, not promoting political opinions. It truly is all about the research. If you like what you see, then you should check out careers at The Urban Institute. Their current postings include quite a few opportunities for new or recent grads including Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center Research Associate, Health Policy Center Research Associate, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center Project Associate, Grants/Contracts Specialist – Center on Labor, Human Services and Population, Health Policy Center Research Assistant, Programmer/Analyst, and a few other positions. Check them out and see what interests you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about The Urban Institute?

MITRE

Willy Franzen — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 12:28:19 +0000

Not many of the companies on Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies” are non-profit, and not many non-profits generate over $1 billion in annual revenue, but MITRE fits both criteria. I know that many of you responded in our survey that you wanted to see fewer technical jobs, but I’ve also noticed that most of the non-profit jobs that we feature on weekends aren’t very technical. MITRE, which has headquarters in Bedford, MA and McLean, VA offers an exception. They are an “organization chartered to work in the public interest” through “expertise in systems engineering, information technology, operational concepts, and enterprise modernization.” They do this work through “four Federally Funded Research and Development Centers,” with one focused on the Department of Defense, one on the Federal Aviation Administration, one on the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, and one for the Department of Homeland Security.

Give MITRE a Try

MITRE serves each of these groups by providing “a unique combination of broad operational knowledge and in-depth technical skills” while also developing new technology that can be transferred when appropriate. What is really astonishing about MITRE is its size. They have over 7,000 employees, and more than 65% of them hold an advanced degree. The organization is a hotbed for technical knowhow and creativity, and it’s great to know that they have thousands of talented people working to ensure the future of our country. On that note MITRE is constantly looking to hire smart people for both technical and non-technical positions. They have a very strong college recruiting program, which you can find out about here. There are nearly 400 positions posted right now on MITRE’s Jobs site, so browsing through everything may be a little tough. It maybe a little hard to sniff out which jobs are considered entry level, so you may want to reach out to Jessica Yu using MITRE’s employee directory to get your questions answered (or you can use the chat box on the Student Opportunities page during working hours).

Job categories at MITRE include: Acquisitions, Artificial Intelligence, Business Analysis & Administration, Communications, Computer Operations, Contracts/Subcontracts, Database Technology Software, Defense & Space Systems, Desktop Support, Digital/Microprocessor Hardware, Domain Operation Analyst, Economics/Business, Electromagnetic & Nuclear Effects, Facilities Engineering, Financial Analysis, General Accounting, General Systems Engineer, Graphics, Human Resources Generalist, Human Factors Engineer, Industrial Security, Information Security, Information Systems Engineer, Integrated Electronics, Legal, Multi-Disciplinary Systems Development, Networking & Distributed Systems, Physical Security, Procurement, Sensor Systems, Signal Processing Engineer, Software Applications Development & Software Systems, Special Security, System Administrator, Technical Project Support, Telecommunications Specialist, and Treasury & Risk Management. There are also a variety of locations beyond MITRE’s headquarters, so you’ll have plenty of options.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you know about MITRE?

The Economist

Willy Franzen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:00:13 +0000

I’ll admit it, I don’t read The Economist regularly, but plenty of my friends do—mostly the smart ones. It’s a magazine (they call themselves a newspaper, but you’d likely identify it as a magazine) that stands apart from other periodicals in a variety of ways. It’s not the topics that they cover—they offer both news coverage and analysis and opinion on business and politics—it’s more the way that they cover those topics. The most interesting thing about The Economist is the fact that all of their articles are written anonymously. It’s about “a belief that what is written is more important than who writes it,” but you have to like the fact that anonymity allows the writers the freedom that they need to address topics in the ways that they should be addressed. The Economist is all about free trade and free markets, yet it “considers itself the enemy of privilege, pomposity and predictability.” The Economist is based in London, but they are very much an international business and magazine.

Put the Free Market to Work

I can’t imagine that you could take a job with The Economist without being an avid reader. If you’re already one, then I’m sure that you’re chopping at the bit to see what kind of jobs they have available, and if you aren’t, then you better go pick up a copy or start browsing their website. You’re certain to find yourself challenged in a way that you never have been before. Not only does The Economist’s approach make them stand out editorially, but it also makes them stand out as a business. While many huge names in the print media are struggling—the New York Times is a perfect example, The Economist continues to thrive and grow. This article from PaidContent.org goes into more detail about The Economist’s economic successes, which are even more impressive considering that their parent company (half owner) Financial Times is struggling. So what about those jobs? The Economist has job offerings all across the world, but we’re going to focus on their US based opportunities, which are mostly located in New York City. Potential entry level opportunities include UI Developer, Account Executive – EIU Enterprise Subscription Sales (Chicago, IL), Distribution Customer Service Analyst, Integrated Marketing Coordinator, and Drupal Developer. All of the jobs look really interesting, and you can apply by using the HR contact info on The Economist’s site. If you’re looking for a job on the editorial side, I’m sure that you have your work cut out for you.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you read The Economist?

Ceteris

Willy Franzen — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:19:06 +0000

The way that large corporations operate often boggles my mind. Take for example my friend who worked in the internal consulting division of a massive, well-known company. Despite being owned and operated by the company, his division had to bid against outside consulting firms for projects. There was a good reason for this (it forced the internal consulting division to watch its back), but it still seems a bit ridiculous. Another example of this kind of thinking is transfer pricing (don’t worry, I had to look it up too). It’s the “pricing of contributions (assets, tangible and intangible, services, and funds) transferred within an organization.” At first it may seem that since all of the money is going to the same place pricing things that are transferred within an organization doesn’t really matter. Unfortunately, that would cause all of the accountants in an organization (and the IRS too) to have a fit. So how do companies price these transfers? There’s no external market to set the price, and trying to do it internally can get really messy. That’s when companies bring in Ceteris a “global independent consulting firm specializing in transfer pricing, intellectual property and valuation services” that is headquartered in Chicago.

Transfer Yourself to Ceteris

For most new grads, grasping exactly what Ceteris does is pretty hard. The best way to get a feel for the kinds of projects that they work on is to take a look at examples of their work. It turns out that this stuff is pretty fascinating—at least to me. If you agree, you’ll want to check out Ceteris’ Jobs page along with their Campus Recruiting page. Although they don’t explicitly post job opportunities and they don’t have any campus events coming up, they say that they’re looking to hear from outstanding undergraduates with a background in Economics, Business, Accounting, Finance, Statistics, or Mathematics. They provide a decent amount of information about what it’s like at Ceteris including employee profiles, and they invite interested applicants to send a résumé and cover letter to careers@ceterisgroup.com. The company has only been around since 2003, but they’ve already expanded to 13 locations: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Calgary, AB; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Libertyville, IL; Los Angeles, CA; Mexico City, Mexico; New York, NY; Salt Lake City, UT; Toronto, ON; Washington, DC; and Auckland, New Zealand. It’s not clear which offices have entry level opportunities, but their Locations page does allow you to contact the head of each office if you’re so inclined.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What have you heard about Ceteris?

Intrade

Willy Franzen — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:46:26 +0000

Rarely do we feature companies that aren’t at least partially US based, but sometimes there are companies so interesting or relevant that I have to share them with you even though it would require a serious move (and probably some visa acrobatics) for you to land a job with them. Today we’re going to look at Ireland’s Intrade, a company that runs prediction markets. I originally learned about Intrade from Freakonomics, but I became more interested yesterday with the election in Massachusetts. A prediction market falls somewhere between betting and investing—it allows you to buy contracts that either pay out or don’t based on a given outcome. For example there was a time yesterday before polls closed when you could have purchased a contract for $70 that would have paid out $100 if the Republican nominee, Scott Brown, won the Massachusetts Senate election. The price of a contract reflects the probability that a given event will happen—a $70 contract represents a 70% likelihood.

Bet on Yourself

Some would claim that Intrade and other prediction markets are outright gambling, but I think there’s more to it than that. First of all, the information provided by Intrade can be extremely valuable. Secondly, it can provide a great hedging tool. Imagine that you owned a lot of stock in a health insurance company and were nervous about the ramifications of yesterday’s election on healthcare reform. You could have purchased contracts to moderate your risk. Then again, you can also buy contracts on whether you think Tiger Woods will play in a PGA event before April 30th (right now it’s 70% likely that it will happen) or whether Avatar will become the highest grossing film of all time domestically (90%). Those seem a bit frivolous, but it’s interesting to see the predictive capacity of these types of markets. You can even buy contracts on future tax rates. Economists love Intrade, and so do I. I think that prediction markets will play a bigger role in our life in the future, and if that happens, it’s going to be very good for Intrade (can I buy a contract on that?)—they charge fees on trades. Intrade doesn’t have any specific job openings, but their Jobs page does say that they are “always interested in meeting talented people with an interest in prediction markets.” If that’s you, send a cover letter and résumé to recruitment@intrade.com.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Have you ever purchased a contract on Intrade?

Roubini Global Economics

Willy Franzen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:55:33 +0000

Remember that time that you predicted the walk off home run during the baseball game or the fact that your friend would get back together with his girlfriend for the 7th time? Of course you do. It was proof of your psychic abilities. Remember the time that you made a similar prediction but were wrong? Of course not. When you only count your wins and not your losses, it’s easy to have a perfect record. Politicians take advantage of this all the time. The truth is that there aren’t a lot of people out there who are good at predicting things, whether it’s weather, the economy, sports, or any number of other things. Nouriel Roubini may be an exception. He could be insanely “lucky” with the fact that his descriptions and predictions of the current financial crisis were dead on, but you have to give him credit for the amount of detail included in his predictions, like when he said “the United States was likely to face a once-in-a-lifetime housing bust, an oil shock, sharply declining consumer confidence and, ultimately, a deep recession.” He’s very obviously a brilliant guy, and he’s also the founder of New York City based Roubini Global Economics, a company that provides “a uniquely tailored look at the logic of the global economy” for its clients.

Working for “Dr. Doom”

Nouriel Roubini has been dubbed “Dr. Doom” by some because of his dour predictions, but you have to imagine that the demand for his company’s services is extremely high regardless of his scary nickname. Now, don’t get confused. Roubini Global Economics isn’t about looking into a crystal ball or just making predictions, it’s about taking a scientific approach to economic analysis. Here’s what the Roubini Global Economics website has to say about The RGE Approach:

Our analytical approach demands a constant probing of the important questions facing the global economy. When considered and debated, these questions lead to breakthrough economic analysis. Each question is formulated from a constellation of topic and region-specific information sources and augmented with opinion from RGE analysts and expert contributors. Together, these elements help you command the fundamentals and identify opportunities and risks throughout the world.

While heavily focused on Economics, Roubini Global Economics is also pretty focused on being a web media company. Their major website used to be RGEMonitor.com, but it appears that they’re making the move to a new site on Roubini.com over the next few weeks. Both sites have job listings (on Roubini.com and on RGEMonitor.com), and there appear to be some opportunities for new grads. All of the job postings for Economic Analysts appear to require a PhD in Econ, but positions like Editor/Web Producer (London), Web Developer (New York), and Account Manager (multiple openings in New York and London) are worth checking out depending on your background and relevant experience. None of the jobs are explicitly entry level, but Roubini Global Economics puts a heavy focus on interns, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some entry level positions that aren’t currently posted on their site.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

What do you think of Roubini’s predictions?

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Willy Franzen — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:42:58 +0000

If there’s ever a time to be a Bank Examiner, it is right now. What probably would have been considered a boring job just a couple of years ago is now action packed. What is a Bank Examiner? It’s the entry level position at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. What’s the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency? It’s a bureau of the the U.S. Department of the Treasury that was chartered in 1863 to ensure a safe and sound national banking system for all Americans. How do they do that? They have a nationwide staff that “conducts on-site reviews of national banks and provides sustained supervision of bank operations. The agency issues rules, legal interpretations, and corporate decisions concerning banking, bank investments, bank community development activities, and other aspects of bank operations.” I think that it’s pretty obvious that the OCC has become a lot busier in the past couple of years. That’s why now is a great time to check out their entry level hiring program.

Are You Down with OCC?

There’s a lot to learn about OCC before you apply for a job, so you should probably spend a couple of hours on OCC.Treas.gov, if you’re serious about applying. If you’re not quite so serious yet, but you’re intrigued about what an entry level Bank Examiner does, then you should watch the OCC’s Careers Video. It’s a nice introduction to what the OCC does and what it’s like to work for them. After watching that, you should check out their Bank Examiner Careers page. This goes into great detail about the specific position that they typically hire new grads for. The jobs require a degree in “accounting, banking, business administration, commercial or banking law, economics, finance, marketing, or closely-related field from an accredited U.S. institution” or extremely relevant prior work experience. The OCC is based out of Washington, DC; however, they have locations all across the country and often require travel (30-80%) because Bank Examiners are often working in Community Banks. The pay is great, with a starting salary of $47,000, and the benefits are top-notch. It’s no big surprise that the OCC was ranked the 4th Best Place to Work in the Federal Government. The OCC already did some recruiting back in September, but they being recruiting again in February. Keep your eye on the Bank Examiner Careers page to see when they open up applications.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Do you think that we have a safe and sound national banking system right now?

Federal Reserve Board

Willy Franzen — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:00:37 +0000

“May you live in interesting times.” It’s allegedly a translation of a Chinese proverb, but Wikipedia can’t even figure out who actually said it first. Regardless, a job at the Federal Reserve Board should be extremely “interesting” over the next year (at the very least). With Bear Stearns almost falling into bankruptcy, and a lot of other investment banks in trouble, a job in finance doesn’t look nearly as attractive as it did a year ago. Still, if you’re interested in economics, finance, or a related field, a job at the Federal Reserve Board is a great alternative. Although connected to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Federal Reserve Board is a different entity. If you don’t already know, the Fed, which is led by Chairman Ben Bernanke, is responsible for crafting the monetary policy that supports the American economy.

Whether you were too late in trying to get a job with an investment bank or you’re looking to get a Ph.D in Economics, the Federal Reserve Board still has a lot of entry-level job opportunities. Their hiring process is interesting for a government employer, since they don’t go through USAjobs.gov, but instead have their own system. If you want to be a Research Analyst or Economist (Ph.D required), then you need to use the links we just gave you to apply. Otherwise you can search for current openings at the Fed. These openings are categorized by pay scale. From what we can tell, Grade 22/23 jobs are definitely entry-level, and up to Grade 25 may be appropriate for a new grad. You’ll have to do the searching yourselves, because we’re on vacation.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

Remember, we’re on Spring Break this week, so the posts will be on the short side. Don’t worry, we’ll be back in full force next week.