Econ One Research Analyst Interview Questions
& Process

First, there was an HR screening call. Then, a technical interview followed, which involved two case studies lasting 2 hours. The first hour was for reviewing materials and preparing responses, and the second hour was for presenting them. The first case study was more theoretical. The second case study involved reviewing a data cleaning program written in SAS, Stata, or R. Finally, there were two more interviews to meet the team and discuss my experience and skills.

The interview process was terrible. It began with a packet of questions and no instructions. No one explained what they wanted; they just had a secretary drop off the questions and leave. Then, people came in and asked vague questions about the packet without instructions. After that, you went through several rounds of people, many hostile, asking more vague questions and then criticizing your answers for not being correct, despite the questions being vague and open-ended. Following that, there was an awkward lunch with junior employees, and then another round of questions. The interview process is pointless; they decide whether to hire you before you even arrive. If they don't plan to hire you, you're just practice material for their employees, which is unprofessional and disrespectful. While some individuals at the firm are nice, the hiring process is shark-like and disregards the candidate. You spend 6 hours trying to impress them, only to be dismissed and realize you were used.

I saw a job posting on my graduate program's email list and applied. The contact person asked for more documents and then we scheduled a phone screen. I had an in-person interview when I returned to the city. This first interview involved meeting the HR contact, two senior analysts, a consultant, and an economist. I also took a skills test in SAS or STATA, a quick Excel test, and answered case study questions. Discussing the skills test answers verbally made it low-stress. The company seems focused on ensuring hires can do the job, so if you're qualified, the tests shouldn't be an issue. I was invited back for a second interview a couple of weeks later. This interview was with the economists I'd be working with and included a lunch with senior analysts. It went really well. Everyone there is polite, helpful, smart, and dedicated. I'd want to work at a place that's serious about its work but also collegial.