Federal Reserve Board Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – Smart dedicated colleagues, lots of data and research support

Cons – The Fed is very hidebound in the way it approaches policy and economic issues.

Advice to Senior Management – No really, it's true: you don't know everything.

Former Employee – worked at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – Professional environment. Good training opportunities, benefits, and time off. Prestigious organization; very good on your resume. Work opportunities (based on your position) may allow travel to the 12 district Reserve Banks throughout the country.

Cons – Not many cons; overall very satisfied. Job satisfaction varies from department to department, as does the quality of the IT systems; but this can be the case in many orgs. Culture is long standing, so changes are slow going or impossible. If you like it, you like it; if you don't, don't expect things to change.

Advice to Senior Management – I don't have any specific advice to management. Prospective employees need to keep in mind that this is a government agency, so the culture is deeply ingrained.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – The job offers excellent benefits, a flexible work schedule, and optional telecommuting options. Job security is also extremely high with this arm of government.

Cons – As with any government agency, there are times when things and projects get slowed down by red tape and bureaucracy.

Advice to Senior Management – Management should guide some of the younger managers so that they are more effective at their jobs. It seems that the managers that seem to have highly effective units and projects are the older managers who don't seem to be intimidated or worried that they might lose their jobs.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – The job benefits and lifestyle is much better than similar opportunities in the private sector. Educational subsidies and a generous thrift plan.

Cons – The pay is not as strong as offers in the private sector. It's a tradeoff between lifestyle and pay.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep doing what you guys are doing. There are some great people and hard workers that make the Fed a great place to work.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – The people at the Federal Reserve are brilliant and hardworking. You can take classes here, or even be reimbursed for classes elsewhere.

Cons – Sometimes the people here are a little too nerdy. Other than that it is really a great place to work.

Advice to Senior Management – I think that management could ask lower level employees more about what they think could be done to improve things in the workplace. In general, more communication would be better.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – Pretty cushy job, very lax about hours as long as you get the work done, can learn a lot from economists

Cons – The kind of work you get really depends on the section that you work for. Some RAs get some real responsbilities and will learn a lot staying at the Fed for two years. Some, will learn absolutely no transferable skill and end up leaving a lot earlier than others.

Advice to Senior Management – The section I worked for had terrible management. They took no responsibility in training the RAs and gave them no serious responsibilities, which is probably why my section has had such a terrible history of RA retention.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – People are really nice. Deadlines are soft. Work can be interesting since IT is open to new technologies. Quality of life is probably the best thing about working here.

Cons – Review process is only once a year so it varies manager to manager on whether or not you get good feedback.

Advice to Senior Management – Just make sure you give your staff clear objectives to get promoted, especially once they get to level 25. Also, implement a true 360 review for management and senior management.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – -good on-the-job training in SAS, STATA, MATLAB and other statistical software
-good opportunity to pursue research interests
-smart co-workers
-tuition reimbursement
-good to have on a resume
-great prep for grad school or future employment in private sector; especially in financial industry

Cons – -can be monotonous at times
-experience completely depends on what section you work in

Advice to Senior Management – -focus less on internal promotion and politicking, focus more on research
-get competent HR people

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – You get to do some interesting economic analysis looking at data. You can do an AWA (Alternative Work Arangement) that almost everyone does, where you work 9 hour days rather than 8, but you get 1 day off (most people pick a Friday) every 2 weeks (without counting against your leave time). The benefits are really great and lots of vacation. Also, everyone gets an office (although some people share large offices with one other employee). Almost no career advancement without advanced degrees. To move up you have to apply for completely different positions in another division.

Cons – The federal reserve, like most government organizations, is very lazy. There are entire weeks myself and colleagues have absolutely zero work and just sit in our offices with nothing to do. This makes it tough when looking for a different job when 80-90% of your time you are literally not doing anything productive. People get too comfortable and used to this setup and end up staying forever.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop being so old fashioned and scared of any changes. Sometimes, change and new ideas are good. Recognize talent and reward talent much more quickly so it doesn't all leave.

Former Employee – worked at Federal Reserve Board

Pros – Really friendly work environment. Research assistants are involved in research across the board.

Cons – Degree-tocracy - You need more degrees to advance. No PhD; no promotion. Not really a con, but very little upward mobility unless you go back to school.

Advice to Senior Management – Doing well

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend