Dear Hiring Manager,
I am an Independent Consultant based in Bangladesh. I have completed my Master of Science in Applied Economics (MSAE) from BRAC University, with major concentration in Public Policy. I have also done my Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSS) in Economics from the same university.
At present I am working as an Independent Consultant for a Dhaka based research organizations. My primary task is to edit and proofread any research papers and reports that are waiting for submission to the press for printing. I am also working with a Dhaka based firm, who work as a back office for their UK counterpart. My duties include collecting news related to political, economic, social and cultural risks of several Asian countries, and list them on their data base.
As an Independent Consultant I concentrate on proofreading reports and research papers, writing academic articles and chapters, report writing, data cleaning, data analysis, data interpretation, econometric modeling, data interpretation and evaluation, questionnaire designing, developing data entry software, business and other software development, website development, logo and banner designing, web hosting. For data analysis I use STATA and SPSS.
I was appointed as a course contract Lecturer at the Department of Economics and Social Sciences (ESS), BRAC University from May 01, 2010 until May 01, 2011, where I had the responsibility to take foundation courses in Economics for the students of the undergraduate level. I have worked as a Research Associate from May 01, 2007 until December 31, 2008 in a South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) research project on "Valuing the Impact of Diarrhoea on Child Health in Slums: Evidence on Water and Sanitation", and from January 01, 2009 until September 30, 2010 under a Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) Academic Partnership Program project at Research Cell, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, BRAC University. I have also worked on other research related to Environment and Development Economics, namely on water and sanitation, adaptation and mitigation strategies of extreme events in climate change, and the impact of climate change in the energy sector.
I was also appointed as a consultant for a period of two months by BRAC Development Institute (BDI) for three of their existing projects titled Food Security for the Ultra Poor Program, Strengthening Social Safety Net Programs for the Extreme poor in Bangladesh and Improving Bangladesh's Response and Recovery Activities in the Aftermath of Disasters.
My main responsibilities included developing questionnaire, field visits, data collection and cleaning, statistical analysis, developing methodology, report writing, assistance in developing curriculum for a minor in Investment Management, organizing workshops and seminars, undertaking a survey on needs assessment of BRAC University faculty members, assisting the faculty members in their ongoing research, associated secretarial support and monitoring and evaluation. During my tenure as a Research Associate I was exposed extensively to the statistical analysis and econometric models along with designing the research and the questionnaire as well as managing the research team. Apart from normal OLS regression, I have the gained expertise in econometric models specially Logit, Probit, Tobit and Count Data models, specifically the Negative Binomial Hurdle model.
I have also co-authored a paper titled "Determinants of Willingness to Pay for Safe Water and Hygiene Sanitation in Rural Bangladesh: A Contingent Valuation Approach" which was published in the Departments working paper series. I am currently involved in two research projects - "Demand for Weather Index Based Micro-insurance in Coastal Areas of Bangladesh" and "Household Willingness to Pay for Improved Electricity services in Dhaka: A Contingent Valuation Study".
I believe my educational qualification coupled with my work experience makes me eligible for this post.
Looking forward to hear from you soon.
Thanks
Fahim S Chowdhury
