The ideal job candidate:
ready for policy research
Mary Bohman
Director, Resource & Rural Economics Division
Economic Research Service, USDA
Overview
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ERS mission & economist jobs
Key knowledge, skills & abilities
Implications for ideal candidate
Laying the foundation
ERS mission & economist jobs
• Mission to support public and private
decision makers
• Anticipate policy relevant topics
• Produce & disseminate timely, high
quality research findings
Knowledge, skills & abilities
• Keen interest in policy relevant research
• Timely means flexibility & work in teams to
meet deadlines
• Quality critical in policy process—talented
economists who publish in academic
journals
Communication:
Publishing for impact
Communicating directly
• Meetings, briefings, phone calls …
The ideal job candidate
on paper
• Commitment to public policy research
– Empirical research in thesis and dissertation
– Public policy experience through internships
– Leadership and service activities
Ideal candidate (cont.)
• Communication skills
– Conference papers, teaching
– Public speaking experience
(toastmasters, debates)
• Meet deadlines & work in teams
– Publications
– Interest
– Leadership through community service
– Job experience, including as an intern
Meeting the
ideal job candidate
• Communicate knowledge of
– context for your research
– policy issues in your area of
expertise
• Demonstrate research excellence through
thesis and dissertation research
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Frame relevant hypotheses
Select appropriate methods
Present intuition behind findings***
Communicate policy relevance***
For more info…
• ERS website:
www.ers.usda.gov