Company

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Project Name: OCR Processing of Historical Data on the American Economy
To support research about the development of the American economy and determinants of economic inequality, the intern will create a database of county-level information from historical economic census documents and historical motor vehicle registries. The historical documents are available as PDFs and need to be transformed into usable data using image processing and OCR software. The intern will write computer code that captures, cleans, and assembles a complete data product, as well as conducts quality assurance and control on the data. The intern also will write a report that documents the data processing decisions and, if time allows, will collaborate on an internal report that analyzes the processed data. The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in research department seminars and meetings of the regional economics group.

NOTE: This opportunity may work up to 10 hours per week.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is one of the 12 regional Reserve Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System. It helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and bank and savings and loan holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia serves eastern and central Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is seeking a Junior, Senior college undergrad, and recent college graduate student for an internship in the Bank's Research department. Students majoring in Economics, Math or Statistics will be considered.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The intern will be working on the OCR Processing of Historical Data on the American Economy project.
The intern will support research about the development of the American economy and determinants of economic inequality.

The intern will create a database of county-level information from historical economic census documents and historical motor vehicle registries. The historical documents are available as PDFs and need to be transformed into usable data using image processing and OCR software.

The intern will write computer code that captures, cleans, and assembles a complete data product, as well as conducts quality assurance and control on the data. The intern also will write a report that documents the data processing decisions and, if time allows, will collaborate on an internal report that analyzes the processed data.

The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in research department seminars and meetings of the regional economics group.

Required technical skill set:

Comfort with standard Windows programs, competency with Python or R, strongly preferred: experience with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and database creation.

Candidate should demonstrate strong attention to detail, organizational skills, initiative, and substantive communication skills in both written and oral.

Flexible and able to effectively plan and manage ones own time to work on multiple projects.

Preferred competencies or soft skills:

Attention to detail, written communication skills, ability to solve problems independently.

Physical Requirements:

Sitting at a computer for long periods of time.

To apply: Please upload both a resume and a cover letter to be considered for this position. Also, please provide an example of code (preferably in Python) for which you were the primary author. This code should demonstrate your strengths as a programmer. You may upload your files/documents to the Attachments tab.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia believes that diversity, equity and inclusion among our employees is essential to our success as an organization, and we want to recruit, develop and retain the most accomplished people from a diverse candidate pool. To support a workplace culture of belonging, we offer eight employee resource groups (ERGs) and a 100 percent rating on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We have eight employee resource groups (ERGs) to support a diverse workforce. Abilities (supporting disabilities and allies), African Heritage, Asian-Pacific, Freedom (supporting LGBTQ+ and allies), Talent Forward (supporting career growth), Women United, Working Families and Veterans. ERGs are open to all employees.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job responsibilities, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment.

A requirement of this position is that you will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or qualify for a medical or religious accommodation.

All Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia employees must comply with the Bank's ethics rules, which generally prohibit employees, their spouses/domestic partners, and minor children from owning securities, such as stock, of banks or savings associations or their affiliates, such as bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies. If you or your spouse/domestic partner or minor child own such securities, and would not be willing or able to divest them if you accepted an offer of Bank employment, you should raise this issue with the Recruiter for this posting, who can provide you contact information for our ethics officer if necessary. You should review the Bank's Employee Code of Conduct to ensure compliance with conflict of interest rules and personal investment restrictions.

Background investigations and drug testing are required for all new hires as a condition of employment, after the job offer is made. Candidates for positions deemed as "safety sensitive" will also be screened for the presence of marijuana. Employment may not begin until the Bank accepts the results of the background investigation.

All employees will be subject to FBI fingerprint / criminal background and Patriot Act/ Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) watch list checks at least once every five years.

Certain eligibility rules apply. Applicants must be able to provide work authorization to prove their eligibility to work in the United States.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature, level of work and the requirements of this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities associated with this position or the personnel so classified. While this job description is intended to be an accurate reflection of this position, management reserves the right to revise this or any job description at its discretion at any time.

This is not a 100% remote opportunity. You will be available to work on-site in at least a hybrid capacity.

Learn more about the Philly Fed and its culture. Learn more about working for the Philly Fed.

Full Time / Part Time

Part time

Regular / Temporary

Temporary

Job Exempt (Yes / No)

No

Job Category

Work Shift

First (United States of America)

The Federal Reserve Banks believe that diversity and inclusion among our employees is critical to our success as an organization, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. The Federal Reserve Banks are committed to equal employment opportunity for employees and job applicants in compliance with applicable law and to an environment where employees are valued for their differences.

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