Predoc Tips
Looking for a predoc? Here are some sources to look for positions that I have used and have suggested to friends, this list by no means is exhaustive
Pages with Predoc (RA) postings:
Websites to look through many postings
NBER posts non-NBER RA positions here
NBER also advertises some positions directly here
Profs and others tag relevant RA postings on Twitter @econ_RA page (no account needed to check the postings)
Organized pre-doctoral research programs with a set hiring cycle for multiple RAs every year:
Stanford (SIEPR program, a variety of topics)
Chicago (EPIC program, Energy Policy center)
Harvard EPod – look for EPoD Research Fellow postings here
Harvard Opportunity Insights (2 year commitment) updates posted here
Yale predoc program
Princeton – mentioned in the PhD program application – cross-department university program, unclear how many Econ positions there are
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For US citizens and/or permanent residents only:
Harvard Scholars (no visa sponsorships, US citizens and permanent residents only)
The PhD Excellence Initiative (NYU-Stern) (states that it is for citizens only)
Other sources to check
· J-PAL Careers (again, a lot of RA positions directly at JPAL do not provide visa sponsorship, but other postings do) https://www.povertyactionlab.org/careers
· IPA Research position https://www.poverty-action.org/work-with-ipa/current-opportunities
· Brown, Princeton often have a lot of positions that are not always posted on the above-mentioned websites, you can check them directly in their career portals
E.g. Princeton: Predoctoral Research Jobs at Princeton
· World Bank has research postings that don’t seem to come up on Twitter or NBER, so you can check their careers under research & quantitative analysis job family https://worldbankgroup.csod.com/ats/careersite, there are specifically research assistant positions, but another type is ET consultant that seems to offer a very similar RA opportunity
Other resources:
JPAL 2-page guide on what's important when looking for an RA position
A website I came across recently that might have something useful - Predoc.Org
My archived search guide (pdf last upd in Nov 2020)