An official website of the United States government
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) Government and Finance Division seeks an Analyst in Economic Policy to join its Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Macroeconomic Policy Section.
The analyst will serve the United States Congress by providing expertise on economic policy, the U.S. economy, and financial markets. The ideal candidate will possess expertise in housing finance, securities markets, and/or macroeconomic policy, but may support research analyses undertaken throughout CRS.
Learn more about this agency11/29/2018 to 03/18/2019
$96,970 - $126,062 per year
GS 13
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
No
Permanent - Position
Full-time - Flexitime, Compflex
Excepted
15
No
No
VAR000701
518009500
Applicants should have experience conducting research and analysis on economic policy, the U.S. economy, and financial markets. Applicants should have knowledge of the history, trends, and current status of federal policy and its interrelationships with the U.S. economy, and U.S. financial markets, including housing finance, securities markets, and/or macroeconomics.
The ideal candidate will have knowledge of and experience conducting applied analysis that blends detailed knowledge of economic policy and financial markets with an understanding of public policy, and must be able to work as part of a collaborative team. Strong writing, research, data analysis and presentation skills are essential. Candidates with experience explaining principles, policy, and practices related to economic policy, the U.S. economy, and financial markets in terms that resonate with audiences without their level of expertise and/or providing sophisticated economic analysis to congressional staff and Members are encouraged to apply.
CRS works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for more than a century.
CRS is well known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective, and nonpartisan. Its highest priority is to ensure that Congress has immediate access to the nation’s best thinking on public policy issues of interest to its Members and committees.
Analyst duties include:
Preparing a variety of objective, non-partisan analytical studies and descriptive background reports, memoranda and other written materials on subjects or public policy issues of national significance that are within the employee’s area of professional knowledge.
Providing personal consultation and assistance to congressional committees, Members and staff on public policy issues throughout the legislative process by providing information and analysis, and applying professional subject-area knowledge.
Participating in CRS seminars, workshops, and/or outreach programs for congressional committees, Members and staff.
Participating in or leading team research projects and seminars.
Locating and providing information requested by Members and committees of Congress and their staff.
The employee is also expected to develop over time the skills necessary to provide public policy and legislative analysis and consultation to congressional committees, Members, and staff at increasingly sophisticated levels.
No additional requirements to those listed above.
Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision.
Knowledge of economic policy, the U.S. economy, and U.S. financial markets**
Ability to analyze public policy issues**
Ability to write in a public policy context**
Ability to convey analysis and information orally through briefings, consultations and other presentations
Ability to lead collaborative research tasks
Ability to exercise objectivity in all phases of analysis and consultation
Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing
Applicants must meet at least one of the following basic requirements in order to be eligible for consideration for this position:
(A) Degree in economics that included at least 21 semester hours in economics and 3 semester hours in statistics, accounting, or calculus;
OR
(B) A combination of education and experience with courses equivalent to a major in economics, as shown in A above, plus appropriate experience or additional education.
You must submit a legible copy of your college/university transcripts to your online application. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application. Official transcripts will be required if selected. Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.
Foreign Education – Education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed equivalent to conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. If your college/university is outside the U.S., your transcripts must be accompanied by a report from a credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). Failure to submit a foreign education evaluation report will result in disqualification of your application.
The Congressional Research Service, within the Library of Congress, is part of the Legislative Branch of the federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service.
The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustment for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
Although it is the Library's policy to afford the maximum pay benefit to employees when setting rates of pay, a new appointee who has had no previous federal service will generally be paid the minimum step of the grade.
This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position.
The tour of duty for this position is full-time.
The position description number for this position is 4740.
The incumbent of this position may elect to work a flexitime or compflex work schedule.
Relocation expenses are not authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.
The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement.
Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation.
Initial appointments, permanent or indefinite, to the Library of Congress require completion of a one-year probationary period.
Applicants must submit a complete application package that is received by the closing date of this announcement.
This agency provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify this agency. The decision on granting reasonable accommodations will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The certificate of disability may be issued by a State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, Disability Services or Career Services office of an applicant's college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The date of certification must be within one year of the vacancy closing date and must be submitted with your application. For more information view the directive on the Library's Selective Placement Program and/or contact the Library's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Programs at 202-707-6024 (voice or TTY) or email spp@loc.gov. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM.
Are you a veteran? Please indicate the type of Veterans' Preference you are claiming in your application materials and/or applicant profile and provide the appropriate supporting documentation to validate your claim. Those applying for 5-point preference must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD 214. Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out an SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and provide the required documentation listed on the back of the form. For more information regarding eligibility requirements, please see the Library's Merit Selection Plan, Section X.D. IF REQUIRED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION IS NOT ATTACHED, VETERANS' PREFERENCE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
The Library of Congress evaluates applicants through an applicant questionnaire and a structured interview. Applicants may also be screened for some jobs through licensing, certification, and/or education requirements, a narrative/application review, and/or a preliminary telephone interview.
The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are marked with a double asterisk (**) in the vacancy announcement and the applicant questionnaire are considered the most critical for a position. To be considered for final selection, applicants must demonstrate fully acceptable experience in these designated KSAs in the narrative/application review, preliminary telephone and/or full structured interview.
The various assessment tools listed above are designed to verify or explore applicants' experience, knowledge, and training directly related to the job in order to identify the best qualified applicants for selection.
Current or former federal employees must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent).
You must submit a legible copy of your college/university transcripts to your online application. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application. Official transcripts will be required if selected. Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.
Disabled applicants claiming Selective Placement eligibility must submit the appropriate supporting documentation described in OTHER INFORMATION above. If this required documentation is not attached, your application will not be considered under the Selective Placement Program.
Veterans claiming Veterans' Preference eligibility must submit the appropriate supporting documentation described in OTHER INFORMATION above. If this required documentation is not attached, Veterans' Preference will not be applied to your application.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please carefully follow all instructions under the How to Apply tab to ensure you are considered for the position.
You are required to apply online for this announcement. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents. You must complete the entire application process, including submission of all documents BEFORE this announcement closes. To do so, complete the following steps.
Step 1: If you do not already have one, create a resume on USAJOBS. Although you must enter your Social Security Number for USAJOBS, this information will not be provided to the Library of Congress.
Step 2: Review the Job Announcement. We recommend you go to the end of the Qualification and Evaluation section of the job announcement to preview the online questions that you will answer in Step 4. You may wish to customize your USAJOBS resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions.
Step 3: Click on the "APPLY ONLINE" button to the right of this announcement. Follow USAJOBS' instructions to access your account and submit your resume. You will be redirected to the Hiring Management website to complete the application process. If this is your first time in Hiring Management, you will be asked to answer questions related to your eligibility for Federal employment. You will be able to update this information and save it to our account for future announcements.
Step 4: Once you have completed the eligibility questions, you will be taken directly to the vacancy application questions. Answer all questions honestly and thoroughly.
Step 5: Hiring Management offers three options that will electronically attach your documentation to your online application once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement.
(1) You may select a document that you have already uploaded to USAJOBS for a previous announcement.
(2) You may electronically upload a document directly from your computer to your application. Be certain to review your complete application for confirmation of the document uploaded and click on "Finished" to be returned to USAJOBS.
(3) You may follow the "Faxing Supporting Documentation" instructions within the online application, which will provide the necessary cover sheets for each of your documents so that they will be correctly submitted. The fax number will be available on the cover sheet.
Please note that each cover sheet and corresponding document must be faxed separately. Be certain to review your complete fax transmittal confirmation to ensure that all pages have been received.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have multiple documents of the same kind, e.g. 2 undergraduate transcripts from different schools or 2 SF-50s, etc., be sure that they are all in the same file on your computer or in your USAJOBS profile before uploading them. If you try uploading them individually, only the last one sent will be visible in our system. Likewise, if sending them by fax, be sure and include both of them behind the respective fax cover sheet and send them as one fax. If you send them individually with the same cover sheet, the last one sent will overwrite the first one. Finally, if you upload a document, e.g. your undergraduate transcript, do not also fax that same document (or fax another undergraduate transcript), because whichever one you send last will be the only one that is visible in our system. If you have any questions about this information, please contact the person on this announcement BEFORE the closing date.
Step 6: Click on "Finish" after you have completed your application. Once you have submitted your application, you can check your status online through your Hiring Management or MY USAJOBS account. Your complete online application and any required supplemental documentation (e.g., SF-50, etc.) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure that all documents are received on time and that the materials are readable. Failure to do so will result in your application being excluded from consideration for this announcement.
If you are experiencing any technical difficulty with the online process, you MUST CONTACT THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. For all technical issues please contact jobhelp@loc.gov , no later than 4:30pm EST of the Closing Date. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS WILL NOT BE GRANTED.
Please review our evaluation process under Evaluation. You may check the status of your application for this position at any time by logging onto the USAJOBS "My USAJOBS" tab and clicking on "My Applications." You will receive final notification via e-mail when the vacancy has been filled.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/518009500. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
The Library of Congress serves the Congress in fulfilling its duties and preserves and promotes knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people. It is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the world's largest library, with more than 158 million items in its physical collections (including books, manuscripts, prints, photos, film, video, and sound recordings) and over 37 million items online. Located primarily on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the Library is the home of the U.S. Copyright Office, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Law Library of Congress, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
