Careers for Economics Majors

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Careers for Economics Majors
GENERAL COMMENTS
The best-selling job hunting book in the world is
What Color is Your Parachute, by Richard Nelson
Bolles. In the 2007 edition, Mr. Bolles outlines
the best way to hunt for a job (based on an 86
success rate)

• You need to inventory and identify what skills
  you have that you most enjoy using. These are
  called transferable skills, because they are
  transferable to any field/career that you choose,
  regardless of where you first picked them up.
  (p. 15)

• You need to decide where you want to use your
  skills, where you would thrive, and where you do
  your most effective work. (p. 16)

• You need to decide how to get where you want to
  go. This has to do with finding out the names of
  the jobs you would be most interested in, and the
  names of organizationswhich have such jobs to
  offer, and the name of the...person there who
  actually has the power to hire you. You then
  show that person how you can be of help to that
  organization. (p. 16)

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Careers for Economics Majors
GENERAL COMMENTS
To summarize What you are taking to market when
you look for a job is you your skills, your
personality, etc. And employers will hire you if
they believe that you can help them solve their
problems. If you are a successful economics
major, by graduation you will have developed the
following highly marketable skills

• Strong analytical ability

• Ability to manage time and priorities

• Critical thinking

• Ability to apply various research techniques to
  real-world problems

• ECON 4090 (Econometrics) Course Description
  Instruction is given on the design and conduct
  of economic research and the analysis of economic
  data...In addition to examinations, the student
  conducts in-depth research, gives an oral report,
  and submits a written report.

• ECON 4090 is the capstone course of the major.
  Many employers will be interested in the skills
  you learn and develop in that class!

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Careers for Economics Majors
USING THE SKILLS YOUVE DEVELOPED
There are a large number of career paths you
could pursue with the skills youve
developed/will develop here at WMU. Lets think,
for example, about analytical ability, and all of
the job titles that have the word analyst in
them e.g.

• Credit analyst

• Banks

• Bond rating agencies

• Financial analyst

• Business firms of all kinds

• Market research analyst

• In addition to developing general analytical
  ability, economics majors learn content that is
  directly applicable to market research e.g.,
  elasticity, research techniques, etc.

• Securities analyst

• Wall Street, here I come!

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Careers for Economics Majors
BUILDING A SKILL-BASED RESUME
This is the type of resume employers want to see,
and creating it can be a fun and rewarding
exercise.

• In a skill-based resume, one lists the skills he
  or she possesses that are relevant to the target
  employers needs -- along with the specific
  course work, experience, etc. that demonstrate
  those skills.

• But how to find out which skills a given employer
  needs?

• Answer Go out and do some preliminary
  interviewing at various firms, in various
  industries, and ask! In addition to learning
  what the relevant skills are, its a great way to
  learn whether this is the right firm/industry for
  you!

• While designing an eye-catching resume is an
  important and rewarding part of career planning,
  remember that your mission is to get job offers!
  

• Networking is a crucial part of this process.
  Career planning books like Parachute can help you
  to develop your networking ability.

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Careers for Economics Majors
CAREERS AS AN ECONOMIST

• While the knowledge and skills learned in
  economics courses are useful in many different
  occupations, including business management and
  investing, you may want to specialize in
  economics i.e., we now focus on the idea of
  becoming a professional economist. Economists
  work both in and out of academia.

• Academic economists teach economics courses at
  the college level. Professors who are tenured
  (or on the tenure track) also serve on various
  committees and are usually expected to publish
  original research.

• If youre thinking about becoming an academic
  economist, it would be a good idea to talk to
  your favorite economics professors. They can
  give you first-hand information on what is
  involved in working your way into an academic
  position.

• If you want to be in academia, its probably best
  to think about eventually getting a Ph.D.

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Careers for Economics Majors
CAREERS AS AN ECONOMIST

• Non-academic economists are also known as
  business economists, but this is a bit
  misleading, since business economists dont only
  work in the for-profit sectorthey also work in
  government, and in the not-for-profit sector.

• Business economists apply their knowledge of
  economic theory and statistical techniques to
  help solve problems that are often immediate and
  profit-affecting. Its this results-oriented
  focus that many business economists find both
  challenging and exhilarating.

• For example, an auto manufacturer might base its
  decision on whether or not to design a smaller
  SUV on business economists forecast of gasoline
  prices. Or a bank might base its decision on
  whether to relax its mortgage lending standards
  on business economists forecasts of home prices
  and consumer incomes.

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Careers for Economics Majors
WORKING FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

• The WMU economics major lines up well with the
  entry-level requirements for economist positions
  in the federal government, which are as follows

• 21 hours of economics courses

• 3 hours of statistics, accounting, or calculus

• NOTE Superior academic performance can increase
  your starting grade and salary.

• Sources of federal government job leads

• www.usajobs.opm.gov -- Click on SEARCH JOBS,
  enter economist in the Keyword Search window,
  then scroll down and click on the SEARCH FOR
  JOBS button. Clicking on Salary will sort the
  openings by starting salary.

• www.federalgovernmentjobs.us -- Enter economist
  in the search window.

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Careers for Economics Majors
FOR MORE INFORMATION...
Please feel free to contact Dr. Edward Van Wesep,
Undergraduate Advisor for the Department of
Economics, for information, advice, to declare
your major, etc. Dr. Van Weseps e-mail address
is edward.vanwesep_at_wmich.edu