General Information
Type of contract
Traineeship
Who can apply?
EU nationals eligible for our traineeship programme
Grant
The trainee grant is €1,170 per month plus an accommodation allowance (see further information section)
Role specialisation
Economics and Monetary Policy
Working time
Full time
Place of work
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Closing date
26.11.2020
Your team
We are seeking recent graduates – or students who are close to completing their studies – for our 2021 traineeship programme. You will be assigned to one of the following two divisions within the Directorate General Economics according to business needs and the candidate’s preference.
The Business Cycle Analysis Division analyses and forecasts real macroeconomic developments in the euro area and its largest countries. This includes business cycle monitoring, the development and use of forecasting tools, and the analysis of the main domestic demand components. The Division also assesses the euro area sector accounts and prepares external communications on business cycle developments. Together with other business areas, the Division is currently conducting the Consumer Expectations Survey (pilot), which collects high-frequency information on the economic and financial behaviour of households in the euro area.
The Prices and Costs Division monitors, analyses and forecasts nominal macroeconomic developments in the euro area and its countries and sectors, and makes assessments of inflationary pressures from both a cyclical and a structural perspective. It also assesses inflationary pressures from the external environment and from domestic wage and profit developments, as well as the associated prospects, risks and uncertainties. It provides input into internal decision-making processes and external communications on inflation.
In your role as trainee, you will be part of our data support team, responsible for preparing charts and presentations, conducting empirical analyses and enhancing analytical tools. You will work closely with our experienced economists.
The ECB is an inclusive employer and we strive to reflect the diversity of the population we serve. We encourage you to apply, irrespective of your gender, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability or other characteristics.
Your role
As a trainee you will:
- contribute to the divisions’ regular internal and external products, for instance by preparing tables and charts for reports or for PowerPoint presentations, in collaboration with other business areas;
- process, consolidate and transform datasets, and maintain and develop databases, in order to monitor nominal and real economic developments, also using microdata;
- conduct empirical analyses using databases, Excel and econometrics software;
- contribute to enhancing analytical, econometric and forecasting tools;
- if you are assigned to the Business Cycle Analysis Division, you may contribute to the Consumer Expectations Survey, in particular by organising and visualising complex household survey data;
- if you are assigned to the Prices and Costs Division, you may contribute to the Price-setting Microdata Analysis (PRISMA) research network, working with large datasets on prices from different sources including from web-scraping.>
These positions offer you excellent opportunities to enhance your quantitative skills, work on analytical tasks and collaborate with experienced central bank economists. They also provide a unique opportunity to gain insight into analysis and policy within a central bank, as well as to further develop your career. You will be part of a multicultural team that strives for continuous innovation to make a positive impact on the lives of European citizens.
Qualifications, experience and skills
Essential:
- a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics or another relevant field (for details on degree equivalences);
- practical experience in working with databases, including preparing charts and tables for reports and presentations;
- practical experience in working with statistical software, such as EViews, MATLAB, Python, R, Stata and VBA for Excel;
- an interest in conducting applied economic analysis to underpin policy advice;
- an advanced (C1) command of English and an intermediate (B1) command of at least one other official language of the EU, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Desired:
- a master’s degree or equivalent in economics, statistics or another relevant field, as well as a broad knowledge of macroeconomics;
- a solid background in econometrics (in particular, time series econometrics, econometrics of panel data and microeconometrics), or statistics and data science;
- practical experience in working with relational databases, using SQL on Hadoop or similar big data frameworks;
- practical experience in using visualisation tools such as Tableau and/or creating interactive web applications using R Shiny;
- a good understanding of the economic issues related to the household sector and/or price and wage developments.
You are curious and eager to learn, and want to further develop your ability to analyse complex information. You are keen to collaborate with others, pursue team goals and learn from other people’s diverse perspectives. You strive to know and anticipate stakeholder needs, and will signal any need for change and propose alternative solutions.
You are motivated to contribute to the ECB’s mission, to serve the citizens of the EU as a member of a public institution and to work with colleagues from all over Europe. You are keen to be part of our team and to use your skills and competencies to achieve the objectives of this position.
Further information
Traineeship of between 3 and 12 months in total.
Application and selection process
The recruitment process for this position will include an online interview via WebEx.
