Student Life

Many institutions - private and public - have various research assistant positions available for a short time (1-2 years). RA positions give you an opportunity to work with senior researchers and gain experience. RA positions are also a great option for those who are on the fence about a career in research or are sure about having a career in research but find it difficult to decide their field of interest. These are some institutes with RA opportunities:

On its website, NBER publishes its own RA positions as well as a list of RA positions outside of NBER.

(Pathways to Research and Doctoral Careers) is a premier hub for finding full-time, paid, post-bachelor research assistantships at universities and research institutions around the country.

AIR also posts about the research assistant positions on its 'Jobs posting' page.

The Tobin Center / Economics Pre-Doctoral Fellows Program at Yale University supports policy-relevant economics research by providing a high-quality education and training experience for individuals with bachelor's or master's degrees who are considering pursuing a Ph.D. in economics or a closely related discipline.

Pre-doctoral fellows work for one to two years as full-time research assistants for one or more faculty mentors and engage in additional education and training activities, including taking credit or auditing one course per semester, participating in a weekly professional development seminar, and attending department research seminars.

Apart from this, you can also approach a professor/scholar expressing your interest in R.A. ship.

Many institutes have internship programs for ECON and social policy students. Typically, these programs are 10-12 weeks long and follow the university quarter system. The application process for any internship program typically begins 4-5 months before the start date of the internship. Here are a few institutes that offer an internship program.

IEDC has an Economic Development Technical Internship and a Public Policy Internship. Besides these internships, IEDC has a "Young Professional Mentorship program" worth checking.

OECD is a Paris-based organization with offices in the USA, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. Students looking for international internship opportunities should check out their internship program.

MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City, Washington DC, Oakland, and Los Angeles, California. MDRC offers a paid internship program for Undergraduate, Master's, and doctoral fellows. The internship is based in the NYC office.

The Bank Internship Program (BIP) offers highly motivated individuals an opportunity to be exposed to the mission and work of the World Bank.

IMF recruits for the Fund Internship Program (FIP) globally, with approximately 50 students from around the world joining each year at IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. These paid internships take place between June and October and run for 10 to 12 weeks.

AIR's Summer Internship Program is a 10–12 week paid summer program for bachelor's, master's, and doctoral students. Apart from this, AIR also keeps posting about other internship opportunities with them.

Apart from these, all the Federal Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors have summer research internship programs. To learn about these programs, you should visit the website of the individual bank or the Board of Governors.

Check out the following pages to know more about a career in Economics

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• American Economic Association

You can also check out job boards like:

• American Economic Association's Job Board
• Skoll Community Job Board

  • Skoll foundation’s website has a community job board where you will find an aggregated list of social sector job opportunities and original postings covering unique opportunities in the NGO / Government and CSR space.

• Econ Job Market

  • On this website you can find all the job postings from across the globe.

• Econ - Jobs