Policy Analysis interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about a piece of policy or analytical work you're most proud of.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why federal policy — vs state / local, a think tank, congressional staff, or consulting?
5. Why agency name?
6. Why public service? / Why government rather than private sector?
7. What recent work from agency name have you been following — and what's your view on it?
8. What does agency name actually do for the public, and where do you think its highest-leverage work sits?

Technical concepts to master

• Cost-benefit analysis (BCA / RIA) — the federal regulatory analyst's core toolkit

  Regulatory baseline + counterfactual · Monetised benefits + VSL · Discount rates (3% + 7%) · Sensitivity + uncertainty analysis · Distributional + equity analysis

• Program evaluation — measuring whether federal programs work

  Logic model / theory of change · Counterfactual + comparison group · Outcome measurement + data quality · Evidence Act + Learning Agenda

• Policy writing — memos, briefs, preambles, decision memos

  BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) · Decision memo structure · Plain language + statutory accuracy · Nonpartisan tone + analytical voice

• Federal rulemaking + administrative law fundamentals

  Administrative Procedure Act (APA) §553 notice-and-comment · OIRA review + significant rules · Judicial review standards · Congressional Review Act (CRA)

Practical drills

• Draft a one-page decision memo for a senior principal on a policy issue we'll give you. You have 30 minutes. The memo must include: Issue, Background (4-6 lines), Options (2-3 genuinely distinct, with pros + cons + estimated cost + risk), Recommendation, and the Decision line for the principal to sign. Example issue: 'Whether to advance an NPRM on regulatory topic on the current proposed schedule, or to delay six months to gather additional analytical evidence.'
• A proposed rule would require regulated population to adopt compliance action starting in year 2. Compliance capital cost is estimated at $400M total + $50M annual operating cost. Estimated benefits: 80 statistical lives saved per year + $200M annual productivity gain. Sketch a 10-year RIA: monetised costs, monetised benefits at standard discount rates, sensitivity, distributional considerations, and your bottom-line recommendation.
• Your principal asks you to map the stakeholders + clearance path for an upcoming significant rule on regulatory topic. Identify the internal clearance chain, interagency stakeholders, external stakeholders, congressional touchpoints, + likely litigation risk. Where will the analytical work be load-bearing, + where will it face the toughest scrutiny?

Smart-question anchors

• Portfolio mix in the first 12-18 months — what regulatory + evaluation + memo work the candidate would touch
• Career path + grade ladder — typical promotion timing + breadth-vs-depth choices for analysts in the office
• Office analytical posture — how the office uses cost-benefit analysis, evaluation, or qualitative policy analysis as its dominant mode
• Recent landmark work — ask about the analytical dynamics behind one publicly-cited rule, report, or evaluation
• Relationship with political leadership — how the office navigates analytical independence under changing administrations

Sourced from

OMB Circular A-4 (Regulatory Analysis) · OMB Circular A-94 (Discount Rates for Federal Programs) · Presidential Management Fellows + federal hiring guidance · Congressional Research Service writing standards + analyst handbook (publicly available reports) · GAO methodology manuals (program evaluation + designing evaluations) · Administrative Procedure Act + federal rulemaking process guides · Policy school career-services interview prep materials (HKS, Princeton SPIA, McCourt, Ford School)