Career and Internship Information

Although the department does not provide career services (that is handled by the UH Carreer Services ) from time to time the department does receive information regarding job openings from both the private and public sectors. When we receive these announcements, we typically email them to all of the students on the department’s mailing list of majors (or the students that qualify in regards to their GPA)

In addition to posting the occasional job or internship notices, we can provide you with some general information regarding careers opportunities for economics majors. How an Economics Degree Will Make You Marketable is a brief essay outlining the types of jobs that economics majors typically get and the salaries that they earn. A much more extensive collection of essays detailing the life of a business economist can be found in Careers in Business Economics. This collection is published by the National Association for Business Economics and contains a number of essays written by economists working in the private sector. There is also some information regarding salaries of business economists. Finally there is the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Occupational Outlook Handbook provides earnings statistics and job market prospects for a wide variety of occupations including economist.

If you are already looking for a job then you might want to check out some of the following websites:

• Government
  • Many entry-level positions across a variety of departments.
    • USAJOBS is a search engine for federal government jobs
    • https://www.usajobs.gov/
  • Federal Reserve Board, Research assistant, Internships, Co-ops, others
    • http://www.federalreserve.gov/careers/default.htm
  • State Department
    • http://www.careers.state.gov/
  • Central Intelligence Agency
    • https://www.cia.gov/careers/index.html
  • The World Bank
    • http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTHRJOBS/0,,contentMDK:20522507~menuPK:64262360~pagePK:64262408~piPK:64262191~theSitePK:1058433,00.html

• Private sector
  • Economics consulting firms, Analyst
    •  Description -- Analysts with consulting firms often work with data, develop models of specific markets, and provide testimony in public hearings and in lawsuits. Many graduates find that a few years experience with a consulting firm is a good lead into an MBA, law program, or graduate study in economics.
    • Traditional hirers -- McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Accenture, Charles Rivers Associates, Mathematica Policy Research, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and NERA Economic Consulting.
    • Job listings -- online job applications: company websites.
• Related Fields
  • Finance
  • Insurance, Actuaries, maybe others

• Non-profits
  • One way to learn about employment with non-profits is to go to the Idealist website and look for roles in economic development or other areas of interest. à http://www.idealist.org/search/advanced?search_type=job&prepop=1&all_initial_sort=published_date
  • Graduate Study
    • MAs or PhDs in economics. Students need not major in economics as undergraduates to pursue graduate study. Preparation in mathematics, however, is increasingly important with completion of courses in calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and real analysis usually expected before enrollment.
      • More info -- http://www.aeaweb.org/students/GraduateStudy.php  http://www.aeaweb.org/gradstudents/
• Law School
  • An economics degree is a common path to law school. Econ majors tend to score among the highest on the LSAT.
  • More info -- http://www.aeaweb.org/students/Careers.php#law

More Job Listing Resources

Job Openings for Economists (JOE)

• This is the monthly publication of the American Economics Association. Although most of the jobs listed are for Ph.D. economists there are some listings for BA only positions. These positions are included in the Non-Academic category.

Resources for Economists (RFE)

• This is a comprehensive list of websites of interest to economists that is maintained by the American Economic Association. Included in this list are links to forecasting and consulting firms, news media outlets, academic research organizations and institutes and non-academic research and policy organizations.

National Association for Business Economics (NABE)

• This organization provides both general statistics on employment prospects as well as listing of job openings. Note however that you must be a member of the organization to access the listings of employment opportunities.