Research and Policy Analysis
Facilitator: Martin Black, Director, Career Services, Carnegie Mellon University, Heinz School
Legislative Analysts Office
Farra Bracht, Training & Outreach Coordinator
New American Dimensions LLC
Thomas Tseng, Principal & Co-Founder
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
Anneke Gaul, Human Resources Manager
RAND Corporation
Becky Garcia, Staffing Manager
Martin: Panel on Policy analysis. Emphasis on objective analysis and a special kind of student. Please give a small profile of your organization and what is different about it.
Anneke Gaul – HR Manager in PPIC in SF.
· Research organization, private nonprofit. Research on policy related to CA.
· 75 people. 40 in research dept.
· Hire Research Associates at masters and undergrad level. Interdisciplinary staff. Background in Econ. Quantitative work. Funded with endowment. They have flexibility in topics they take on. Don’t know of other organizations that have the same size. They produce publications – look at website for examples.
Becky – RAND.
· Founded in 1948. Original think tank.
· This word has been corrupted, we are very objective. Broad range of research.
· Half of work is in defense industry. Other half is domestic work. Emphasis on health and education on domestic.
· It is a nonprofit org. We are not for profit.
· 1300 regular employees. Over 700 are on professional research.
· 2 million in research activities. Santa Monica is our main office. Second office in DC area. Other office is in Pittsburgh. We have trouble attracting people to Pittsburgh. Another office in Jacksonville. One international office deals with middle-east issues. Also a RAND Europe site.
· We have a Ph.D. program in Policy Analysis. When students are admitted they work 20 hours a week while they are students. We don’t hire students immediately right out of grad schools. We encourage them to do something else before coming back to RAND. Nobody else out there like us. Other public policy institutions that might do similar research but they don’t have the breadth that we have.
Farra – LAO
· LAO was established in 1941. Works for both houses of the legislature. 56 staff.
· Most people have an MPA or MPP, a few Ph.D. The Ph.D’s do quantitative work. They work on governor’s budget. We put out a book of recommendations.
· Staff testifies in front of State legislature.
· Governor’s revised budget comes out around May. We shift into research mode after summer. Work on projects throughout fall. January the process begins again. Some state auditors play a similar role that we do. The congressional budget office does similar work that we do, but they don’t make recommendations.
Q – Are there opportunities for internships?
Anneke – we have some opportunities. We will post 6 or 7 positions in January. They will be posted on our website. We don’t participate in formal internship programs.
Farra – we are accepting applications for internships right now. We hire 4/5 for the summer. We try to match individuals with research that we are doing. Some times the intern will just be brought into a research project that is taking place.
Q- would you like to see someone with California experience?
Answers – not necessary. Internships are paid.
Becky – summer internship is for 12 weeks. We are currently accepting applications. We take Masters students. We don’t get many public policy students. January 7th deadline. We try to do matching by March. We used to interview on campus. You can go online and apply. We pay. We provide transportation. Assist in locating housing, but we don’t pay for housing
Martin- Rand is not an opportunity for everyone. Not the best directly after school. Can you 3 talk about the skill set, content knowledge. What kind of preparation do students need to have.
Anneke
· Ph.D. level – people who have recently come out of Ph.D. programs. Or working on their dissertation.
· Research Associate level – masters level. Quantitative in nature. Experience needed are SPSS, SAS, research experience working with professors.
· She send’s e-mails to professors in different schools about jobs available.
· RAND also hires students directly from undergrad, they are exceptional students.
Becky –
· Hires masters level into analyst jobs.
· At least 5 years experience, health background.
· Research and Analyst position requires Ph.D.
· Research assistant jobs are for masters level (2-3 years term).
· They do hire some of them permanently, but it is the exception. A lot of RAs go off get Ph.D.and then come back. They are considered junior analysts.
· They also hire exceptional undergrads, with language skills Chinese, Arabic, Urdu. Also quantitative background.
· Jobs posted on website.
Farra
· They recruit people who come out of schools with a masters. Not seeking a Ph.D.
· They also hire people who have work experience.
Martin – are there emerging trends in your industry?
Anneke
· So many layers of review and non-partisan objective is so key to us being effective.
· The research cannot be biased. If you are accepting money, there is always the chance or perception that it could be tainted. We have review process on the topics picked, the draft, etc.
Becky
· All the work RAND does is objective.
· We publish the work. If someone came to RAND with funding, we are happy to bring them abroad.
· Usually, when someone comes to RAND we assign them work. They can search for work(research) while at RAND. RAND is trying to expand on International work. Office in Quatar.
Martin – let’s open up for questions.
David Q – I think of Brookings, Urban Institute when I think of RAND. If we are talking to students about non-academic positions, what should we tell students?
Becky - Careers are similar to academic environment. They are publishing in same journals, going to conferences. They don’t have interest in teaching. That is the main difference.
David – What about career security?
Becky – RAND is stable. People have been there 30-40 years. If people are performing no need to leave. Some people are interested in researching and working on large projects, others will come in work and then find their own funding and work on their own projects. You don’t have to bring in your own money, but you have to be good to stay employed. Good researchers are overbooked; people want them on their projects. If you are an economists, you will not have a problem finding work at RAND. You can create you own unique career path.
Anneke – We are small. Hiring 10 people this year. People chose us because they want to be closely connected to direct policy. They might also like the idea of tenure. They may put that off, because getting tenure you loose some of the connection to direct policy. Our people don’t teach. Our focus is research. We hire them at will. They can get a 5 year contract. They are reviewed every 3 years. So if they know they are not going to get a new contract, they have 2 years to look for something else.
Q – What are the external changes for your Organization?
Becky – On our defense side, funding is set by congress. But funding can change as government has different budgets and needs. On domestic side, it is what federal government is funding. We also look for funding from foundations. A lot of funding is from multiple sources. There are gradual trends. If someone is working on a project that is ending, they start looking for other projects and funding.
Farra – We have to continue to educate people of what we do. Continually getting new staff. Biggest challenge is term limits.
Q – Security clearance and hiring non- U.S. citizens.
Anneke – Not an issue for us. As long as they are eligible to work in the U.S. If they are the right person for the job, we will try to help them.
Farra – we don’t hire International students.
Becky – we do need clearance for some jobs. If the position does not require clearance we can hire a person, also international students, We can help them get H-1 Visa.
Q – What are salaries for entry level positions with a masters?
Anneke – Mid $40s for a masters. We don’t do $65K. Sometimes we can find an undergrad for the same amount. If you have been with us for a well, you salary goes up.
We have good benefits package (based in San Francisco, also very expensive, retirement package – contribution by the company. 5 and a half weeks of time off. ) Not a consulting place, lots of opportunities to interact with staff, brown bag lunches.
Farra – at $45K. All health care, dental, vision is paid for. They have to contribute 50 hours a week to the office. Any additional hours, you get to take off some other time. You will work hard certain times. We are in Sacramento, much more affordable.
Becky – low to mid 40s. If you have a couple of years of work experience, you’ll get a little more. $2,000 in relocation expenses. Generous retirement plan. Sabbatical pay – bonus for every time you take vacation time. You get an extra 5% increase if you take vacation. This is an incentive for people to take vacation (some say).
Paul – Who are your main competitors?
Anneke – we lost some to RAND. Urban Institute, Brookings, resources for the future, universities, a few to ACT, Mathematica, law firms.
Becky – Universities. The same as above. Location is our biggest problem, because we only have the main 3 locations.
Farra – The same as above. A lot of lobbying groups and the legislature.