What first attracted you to IFS?

After discovering the City wasn't for me (the hours!) I focussed my job search on economic consultancies and research organisations. The IFS had been mentioned a few times in lectures at university, and I had read about it in the press, but I always thought it was open only to those with postgraduate degrees. I was told this definitely wasn't the case at a careers event, and decided to apply. IFS seemed to offer an attractive mix of applied policy-related and more academic work, and seemed a good place to start a career. It has an unmatched reputation and it gives you the opportunity to work with leading academics and evaluate flagship government policy right from the start. I chose it over 3 other job offers (some of which offered to pay much more) and I don't regret that decision at all.

Which projects are you working on at the moment?

At the moment, I'm working on a few major pieces of work. First, I'm working with people at UCL on estimating demand systems for households in rural Mexico with an aim of using this to evaluate the impact of the recent rise in food prices on consumer welfare. I'm also working with two leading economists on estimating a discrete-choice model of labour supply for couples which should have policy relevance. Soon I'll be working on checking government household income statistics which will feed through to the calculation of poverty and inequality statistics used to evaluate the governments targets.

What kind of things do you do during a typical day at work?

A typical day means getting in between 9.30 and 10.00, and then checking my emails to see if anything needs doing (like answering these questions!) and then making a start on the research I'm doing. This will probably involve some data-work (cleaning up the data can be a chore sometimes) and then analysis and interpretation. I might have a meeting to discuss some aspect of the work with colleagues or co-authors, or might have a seminar to attend. Sometimes I'll have to give a presentation, and if there's a big story about poverty, inequality or the tax and benefit system I might need to talk to the press.

What do you particularly enjoy about the job?

I'll start with the part that's least appealing for me: data-cleaning. This can be really tiresome, but it's vitally important in getting reliable results. Once things are all tidy, you get on to the fun part. I like investigating little sub-hypotheses, finding a rationale for unexpected results, and then trying to put this all into plain English. If you're working on something of particular policy relevance, upon publication you may have to deal with the press. It's really good to see your work actually have an impact, particularly if it helps correct the misconceptions about economic issues that you often find in the papers.

How has your career progressed, so far, at IFS?

I've been here almost two years now, and in the last year have started a part-time master's degree at UCL. My skills as an economist, in data-work, in writing reports and in presenting and discussing results have all improved and I feel more confident suggesting new research ideas. I'm now trusted to talk to the media and not make any nasty mistakes!

How would you describe the working environment?

The people at IFS are the best thing about it - helpful, knowledgeable and friendly. There's no unhealthy rivalry or 'office politics', and the atmosphere is relaxed. Provided you get the work done and are around at busy periods, you can work pretty flexibly: some people come in early and leave early, whilst others do the opposite. You're trusted, respected and valued from the start - no overbearing boss here.