Career in Economics

What are the careers and skills required for the economists?

What is Economics ?

American Economic Association states that “Economics can be defined in a few different ways. It’s the study of scarcity, the study of how people use resources and respond to incentives, or the study of decision-making. It often involves topics like wealth and finance, but it’s not all about money. Economics is a broad discipline that helps us understand historical trends, interpret today’s headlines, and make predictions about the coming years.

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Economics

Economics ranges from the very small to the very large. The study of individual decisions is called microeconomics. The study of the economy as a whole is called macroeconomics. A microeconomist might focus on families’ medical debt, whereas a macroeconomist might focus on sovereign debt.” (https://www.aeaweb.org/resources/students/what-is-economics )

Economics is a field of study focusing on the implications of resource scarcity. Economics is broad in scope because economic concepts apply to any situation where a choice is made.

Examples include:

choices made by individuals to work, to play, to buy and to sell;
choices made by firms to purchase productive inputs (labor, capital, and raw materials), to carry inventories, to move to a new location, to develop new technology, and to sell products;
choices made by governments to tax, to spend, to change laws, and to regulate (University of Nevada, Reno – https://www.unr.edu/business/departments-and-disciplines/economics/careers

Economics is a unique discipline that allows you to understand how the world works as an intricate system. Studying Economics helps you develop integral skills such as complex problem solving, critical and logical thinking, strong numeracy and analytical skills. (https://economics.adelaide.edu.au/your-career-in-economics )

Job Search Titles/Keywords

What Economists Do

Economists collect and analyze data, research trends, and evaluate economic issues for resources, goods, and services. (https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/economists.htm )

Employment Areas/Fields/Industries for Economists

Economist as Analyst:-

Appraisal Specialist	Fraud Analyst/Investigator
Analytics Consultant	Healthcare Economics Analyst
Asset Liability Analyst	Investment Analyst
Business Analyst	Market Risk Analyst
Commercial Analyst	Marketing Data Analyst
Compensation Analyst	Operations Analyst
Cost Analyst	Policy Analyst
Credit Analyst	Pricing Analyst
Data Analyst	Quantitative Trade Analyst
Economic Development Analyst	Rental Housing Analyst
Financial Analyst	Risk Analyst

Employment Area/Industries for Economist

Anthropology	Consulting	Law
Banking	Financial services	Nonprofit
Business	Government Agencies	Public policy
Research	Real Estate and Urban planning	The Private Sector- Consulting firms Private banks Pharmaceutical companies Biotechnology companies Startups Tech companies
International Organizations	Entrepreneurship	Healthcare
Law	International Trade	Marketing and Retail
Agricultural companies	Analysis/forecasting firms	Computer/telecommunication companies
Economic research institutions	Environmental protection agencies	Financial information firms
Manufacturing firms	International trade companies	Management consulting firms
Market research houses	Newspapers	Oil companies
Statistical research firms	Stock exchanges	Trust companies

Skills of an Economist

Economists use and apply their understanding of micro and macroeconomics, econometrics, and mathematical and financial economics, to business situations. A wide range of employers value economists’ skills of numeracy and analysis and their ability to understand and communicate broad socio-economic and political concepts to a wider audience. (The London School of Economics and Political Science- https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/careers/information-and-resources/employment-sectors/economics )

Critical thinking	Numeracy
Problem-solving	Quantitative communication and analysis
Deductive and inductive reasoning	Written communication
Research ability	Skills of numeracy and analysis
Software and/or programming language	Knowledge of statistical procedures
Mathematical or statistical modeling	Analyze and interpret statistical data
Ability to conduct/explain scientific research	Interpret qualitative and quantitative data
High proficiency in written/oral communication	Use of computer software to prepare reports, graphs and brochures, and conduct research
Ability to explain complex theories or concepts	Word, access, Excel (VLOOKUPS, Pivot Tables, Macros), Powerpoint
Background in economic theory/econometrics	R, Stata, Gretl, Python
	Mathematical modeling, statistical modeling, pivot tables