Duties
Interns will help staff with day-to-day operations of OTEA and responsibilities will vary depending on the team in which the intern is placed. Tasks may include the following:
- Assisting seasoned economists with international trade research and analysis
- Participating in monthly trade data release activities and briefings
- Supporting the development of new trade data products
- Working on a team to build econometric models for policy analysis
- Contributing to senior staff economic talking points and press releases
- Presenting independent research findings to senior level economists in a seminar series
- Creating special trade data and econometric research products as needed
Important Qualifications
The Office of Trade and Economic Analysis is looking for interns who are interested in U.S. trade data, research, and analysis geared toward informing U.S. policy discussions and the public. Interns should be self-motivated, comfortable with a fast-paced work environment, have good writing and communication skills, and be very experienced with spreadsheet programs. For some OTEA intern positions, experience with statistical programming packages like STATA and econometric experience would also be helpful, but is not required for all OTEA interns. You must be a U.S. citizen to work for the federal government.
Work schedules are flexible, but we require interns to work at least 24 hours per week. This internship is unpaid but offers an excellent opportunity to meet and network with U.S. Government officials and gain experience working with international trade data and international trade and investment policy issues. Each intern will have the opportunity to create economic work products that will contribute to their respective portfolios; our interns have a good track record of leveraging their experience to move onto dynamic positions in the international economic space. On a case-by-case basis we can also arrange for you to get academic credit.
To Apply
If you are interested in applying for a position, please email a cover letter, resume, transcripts, and a brief writing sample (one to three pages) to Natalie Soroka
Natalie.Soroka@trade.gov or Elizabeth Schaefer Elizabeth.Schaefer@trade.gov with “OTEA Intern Application” in the subject line. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.
