Student Trainee (Energy Industry Analysis)

Summary

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is ranked within the top 5 mid-size agencies as a "Best Place to Work" in the Federal government! Our Pathways Internship Program provides students the opportunity to acquire first-hand experience in the energy industry, while gaining exposure to the Commission's work. This Student Trainee (Energy Industry Analysis) vacancy will be used to fill multiple intern positions in OAL, OEMR and OERA.

Duties

This vacancy is for a Spring/Summer 2027 internship. While the duties of the Student Trainee (Energy Industry Analysis) may vary depending on office placement, some of your typical work assignments may include: In the Office of Administrative Litigation (OAL), Student Trainee (EIAs) assist analysts with the review, summary, and analysis of data to use in the settlement and litigation of cases before Administrative Law Judges at the Commission. This assistance may include preparing spreadsheets to summarize cost, volume, or economic data, managing discovery responses, researching precedent, reading testimony, and attending settlement conferences and hearings. In The Office of Energy Market Regulation (OEMR): Assisting professional staff members in performing analyses of economic and regulatory issues associated with filings for the purpose of identifying trends, problems, or deviations from pertinent regulatory requirements or Commission policies and developing recommendations to resolve issues for use by the team leader or supervisor. In the Office of Enforcement and Regulatory Accounting (OERA), Student Trainee (EIAs) assist in the analysis of electric and gas markets, assessing market fundamentals and trends, as well as complex issues related to market structure, conduct, and performance. Trainees analyze and develop large volumes of data using Python, SQL, R, Databricks, Posit, PowerBI, and/or CoPilot, working independently to summarize anomalous market outcomes and visually present data. A trainee more focused on data engineering may support enhancing data workflows, streamlining operational processes, and improving analytical efficiency by developing data pipelines, automation tools, ETL workflows, cloud based analytics infrastructure, and other technical components that enable OERA's analytical functions. The intern program at FERC is unique in that we post one intern vacancy for multiple offices to make selections. This means you may be contacted by several different hiring managers for different vacancies. See Next Steps section for additional information. Our Internship Program offers students the opportunity to attend networking events, visit regulated hydropower dams, and participate in seminars with career advice and tips from FERC's top management officials. For more information, visit: https://www.ferc.gov/about/careers/student-relations. This appointment is not to exceed 9/30/2027. May be extended if the student continues to meet program requirements. This internship position may confer non-competitive conversion eligibility, if student meets all Pathways Program requirements for conversion, however, conversion is not required or guaranteed. Qualifications

You must meet all eligibility and qualification (experience and/or education) requirements by the end of the fall 2026 semester for spring internships and by the end of the spring 2027 semester for summer internships. Eligibility: In order to be eligible for our Pathways Internship Program, you must: Be accepted for enrollment or enrolled and seeking a degree or certificate in a qualifying educational institution on a half- to full-time basis (as determined by the educational institution); AND Meet the definition of a student throughout the duration of your appointment; AND Meet the qualification standards (e.g., series and grade). You must meet the qualification (experience and/or education) and eligibility requirements by the closing date of this announcement. Qualifications: To view the eligibility and qualification requirements of a/n Student Trainee (Energy Industry Analysis), GS-1199, please visit: Internship Qualifications You can qualify based on your education, OR one full year of general experience at or equivalent to the GS-03 level, OR have a combination education and experience. General experience is defined as: progressively responsible clerical, office, or other work that indicates ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including any volunteer experience. Please do not cut and paste the "Duties" section, specialized experience statement, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume, as this will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position.

Education

This position has an education requirement and therefore, transcripts are required. Failure to submit a copy of your transcripts at the time of application will result in your application being marked incomplete and you will not receive further consideration. PASS/FAIL COURSES: If more than 10 percent of your undergraduate course work (credit hours) were taken on a pass/fail basis, your claim of superior academic achievement must be based upon class standing or membership in an honor society. GRADUATE EDUCATION: One academic year of graduate education is the number of credits hours your graduate school has determined to represent one academic year of full-time study. Such study may have been performed on a full-time or part-time basis. If you cannot obtain your graduate school's definition of one year of graduate study, 18 semester hours (or 27 quarter hours) should be considered as satisfying the requirement for one year of full-time graduate study. How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses to the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics): Attention to Detail Flexibility Interpersonal Skills Learning Problem Solving Self-Management Technology Application Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on an assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. Your application will be evaluated under the Category Rating method based on your assessments. You will receive a score based on the responses to the assessment questions. If you meet the minimum qualifications for this position, your application and assessment score will be evaluated under Category Rating and selection procedures for placement in one of the following categories: Best Qualified - for those who are superior in the evaluation criteria Well Qualified - for those who excel in the evaluation criteria Qualified - for those who meet the minimum qualification requirements The Category Rating Process does not add veterans' preference points but protects the rights of veterans by placing them ahead of non-preference eligibles within each category. Applicants determined to be Best Qualified will be referred for further consideration. Preference eligibles in the Best Qualified category are referred before all other applicants. To preview the application questionnaire, click the following link: https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13098747 Other Information

This internship position may confer non-competitive conversion eligibility, however, conversion is not guaranteed. To be eligible for conversion to the competitive service, you must complete 480 hours of work experience (up to 160 hours may be waived based on successful performance in the position and a 3.0 overall GPA); meet the OPM qualification standards for the target position; and meet the requirements of the FERC Pathways Internship Agreement. Service in the Pathways Internship Program confers no right to further employment. The duty location of this position is Washington, DC. If selected for this position, you will be required to: Complete a Declaration for Federal Employment (OF-306) to determine your suitability for Federal employment. Have your Federal salary payments made by direct deposit to a financial institution of your choice. Go through a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) process that requires two forms of identification from the Form I-9. Federal law requires verification of the identity and employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. FERC also participates in the USCIS Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify). For more information about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities, visit: http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify. Attend a mandatory ethics training. We are governed by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Standards of Conduct, the criminal conflict of interest statutes, and FERC's supplemental ethics regulation, which specifically prohibits FERC employees from holding certain energy-related securities. To comply with these regulations and statutes, divestiture of at least some energy securities is likely to be required after you begin employment. See 5 C.F.R. 2634-41; 18 U.S.C. 201-208; 5 C.F.R. 3401. If selected, you may also be required to file a financial disclosure statement within 30 days of appointment. Receive authorization from OPM on any job offer you receive, if you are or were (within the last 5 years) a political Schedule A, Schedule C, or Non-Career SES employee in the Executive Branch. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a one-year probationary period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.