ECONOMIST

Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens

As an Economist at the Federal Trade Commission you will perform the following duties:

• Apply statistical, mathematical, and econometric techniques to the analysis of data to empirically analyze economic theories and test hypotheses in support of policy recommendations.
• Provide analysis and interpretation of economic and related information collected from companies to support policy and program decision-making.
• Identify and collect the appropriate data needed to analyze the validity of competing economic theories.
• Conduct investigations, reviews, and studies that apply a thorough knowledge of microeconomic theory to study the behavior of individual consumers, firms, and industries in order to analyze how markets establish relative prices among goods and services and thereby allocate limited resources among alternative uses.
• Analyze the likely effects on consumers and firm competition of mergers, agreements between firms, and individual firm business practices.
• Prepare economic impact assessments under the laws that govern federal rulemaking to ensure adequate considerations of the costs and benefits of proposed rules.
• Develop oral and written products, tailored to the needs of the audience, in support of recommendations involving issues such as the economic aspects of new or proposed investigations, policies, or rules affecting FTC programs.
• Undertake research aimed at addressing unresolved theoretical or empirical questions in topics related to competition, consumer protection, and general understanding of consumer and firm behavior.
• Draft, present, and defend positions for policy, enforcement decisions, and education of other competition and consumer protection agencies.

Conditions of employment

• U.S. citizenship requirement must be met by the closing date of this vacancy.
• This position is subject to a background investigation.
• Males born after December 31, 1959 must register with Selective Service.
• You may serve a one-year probationary period under this appointment.
• This position is in the bargaining unit. This position is represented by the National Treasury Employees Union.
• If selected for this position, the agency will evaluate your fitness and whether continuation of employment advances the public interest before extending your appointment beyond one-year probationary period.
• Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

Qualifications

To qualify for an Economist position, you must meet the following requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Basic Requirements:
1. Degree: Economics, that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus.

OR

2. Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in 1 above, plus appropriate experience or additional education. In addition to the above, you must meet the requirements described below:

1. Independently or collaboratively producing published or unpublished formal written materials (e.g., memoranda, reports, briefing materials, manuscripts, or research papers) in economics or public policy.
2. Independently or collaboratively conducting microeconomic or microeconometric research, demonstrating an ability to identify and collect appropriate information and/or data to analyze economic theories, issues, or hypotheses.
3. Applying at least a graduate-level knowledge of microeconomics and/or microeconometrics to conduct novel research on economic or policy questions and/or issues.

Only experience and education obtained by the closing date of this announcement will be considered.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE: PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

If your resume or application does not support your questionnaire answers, we will not allow credit for your response(s). Your resume or application must contain sufficiently detailed information upon which to make a qualification determination. Please ensure that your resume or application contains specific information such as position titles, beginning and ending dates of employment for each position, average number of hours worked per week, and if the position is/was in the Federal government, you should provide the position series and grade level.

If you meet the minimum qualification requirements, you will be referred to the selecting official. If your resume does not support the specialized experience, your final rating may be modified and you may be removed from consideration.

The Human Resources Office is ultimately responsible for determining your final rating. Your application will be rated on the extent and quality of your experience, education and training relevant to the position.

The following information must be received by 11:59pm ET on the closing date of the announcement. Resume via USA Jobs, 2. Responses to online questionnaire, 3. If applicable, the following supporting documentation listed below:

1. Resume- (Not to exceed Two Pages) Please ensure that your resume contains your full name, address, phone number, employment information such as: Employer name and location; From and to dates (or from date to present for current position), which include the month and year for each description of experience, with grade level held, if applicable, education, training etc. Your description of experience and education must be able to support any claim for qualifying for this position.
2. Transcript- THIS POSITION HAS AN EDUCATION REQUIREMENT: You MUST provide transcripts or other documentation to support your educational claims. All materials must be submitted by the closing date of the announcement.
3. Writing Sample- Preferably Sole Authored
4. Three Letters of Recommendation should be provided via email to econrecruit@ftc.gov .
5. Schedule A- In order to receive consideration under the Schedule A authority, you must provide a certification of job readiness printed on a medical professional's letterhead and signed. For more information, please visit USAJOBS Individuals with Disabilities (https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/unique-hiring-paths/individuals-with-disabilities/).
6. Current or former Federal employees- If you are a current or former Federal employee, you must submit a copy of your SF-50 that shows competitive service appointment, tenure group, grade, and salary. Employees applying with an interchange agreement must provide proof of their permanent appointment. If you are applying for a higher grade, please provide the SF-50 that shows the length of time you have been in the next lower grade level. (Examples of appropriate SF-50s include promotions, within grade/range increases, and SF-50s one or more years old).

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