Tough Job Market

We all know that jobs are difficult to come by these days - the "official" unemployment rate is 10%, but if you include the "underemployed" or "discouraged" workers the unemployment rate reaches the high teens.

There are a few job openings out there, but given the current economic climate employers can be very picky.

For example, one of my favorite blogs is economistmom.com, which is written by Diane Lim Rogers of the Concord Coalition. I try to read her stuff everyday, as it is very helpful to me in trying to figure out the whole budget process in Washington.

In any event, Ms. Rogers posted a job opening on Twitter this morning. As I looked at the job qualifications, I thought how talented you would have to be in order to even qualify to apply for the job, much less land a post. In addition, since I am of an age where technology does not come naturally to me, I was struck by how much the applicant would have to know in terms of blogging, posting, etc. in order to qualify for this job.

Would you meet these standards?:

Careers & Internships
Research Assistant

The Concord Coalition seeks a Research Assistant who will be tasked with basic research for the weekly Washington Budget Report (WBR) -- a joint publication with the Bipartisan Policy Center -- designed to keep readers informed about the latest developments in Washington related to fiscal policy. The research will include:



* Monitoring the appropriations process and keeping Appropriations Tracker up to date
* Monitoring daily media reports (CQ, National Journal, BNA, etc.) and discussing with the author of the WBR which budget, spending, and tax items should be reported on and analyzed
* Monitoring CRS, CBO, and GAO reports for items relevant to fiscal policy
* General production of the WBR, including hyperlinks to pertinent budget documents and sites
* Proofreading the report, integrating comments from Concord staff, and sending the report out electronically
* Maintaining the WBR mailing list

The research assistant will also support Concord's general policy work, publications, and grassroots messaging.

Qualifications

* Familiarity with fiscal policy issues and the federal budget process
* Excellent writing and communication skills
* Capitol Hill experience
* Comfortable and capable operating in a non-partisan environment

Preferred Skills

* Familiarity with Microsoft Office (especially Word and Power Point)
* Familiarity with Google's suite of applications (gmail, docs, spreadsheets)
* Experience with managing websites (HTML, CSS, Javascript, CMS's like Drupal a plus)
* Video editing through Final Cut and/or publication layout through Adobe's suite of software a plus

Compensation

Commensurate with experience.