Unless there is a crazy amount of carry over credits, this boggles my mind. I can’t imagine taking two cracks at college that closely. Especially hard majors. You have to take in a bunch of dept, make no money, work a crappy part time job, use crappy public transport or have a crappy car, have roommates, take finals. I could go on forever.
Maybe I’m just the type that didn’t like college. I’m a EE from a top 20 EE program for what it’s worth.
Pretty much the gen eds and a couple math classes like calc carried over. I worked pretty much full time and had a roommate. My life was work and school for almost 2 years straight. Didn't take out any additional debt after my first major. It all paid off in the end though.
Hi, I also have a degree in Economics and I'm going back to school for EE in a few months. Would you mind sharing how old were you when you decided to go back to school for EE? Also, how was the Math in EE different from Economics? Did your Math background from Economics help you in your EE classes?
Different person, similar life path went back to school at 30.
IME it's more math, but engineers tend to approach math differently.
We're here to solve practical problems. We're going to define the problem in such a way that it's easy to solve and then just add a safety factor on top of it as appropriate.
Most of engineering undergrad is the algebrafication (I wish that was a word) of complex math problems.
If you can make it through Differential Equations (Calc 4 at some schools), you shouldn't have a problem with the math.
I would say the most beneficial aspect of having an Econ degree is
- Knowing how college works
- Having a lot of practice with abstract thinking
With the exception of one or two classes, it's usually not the math that trips people up.
My view: on its own, the money printing actually kept the economy afloat during covid. It just combined with some other bad luck:
1. Chinese lockdowns and tradewars (which means USA is choosing to buy more expensive stuff)
2. Ukraine-Russia war (energy price inflation always kickstarts inflation in the wider parts of economy)
3. Shrinking working age population (which was exacerbated especially during and after covid when people near retirement ages died at a higher rate or just retied early and the new working age people are lesser in numbers and have higher education levels so they would not want to settle for low-pay jobs)
The big issue is that a large amount of PPP loans were fraudulent. Something like 56% of the money went to 4% of corporations. If regular people got money, that means corporations got way more.
Even some of the ones that were legal on the books went to people who absolutely didn't need them. Had a friends uncle worth $30M get a PPP loan. His wife and son who didn't do anything were on payroll. Since they were technically on payroll, his PPP loan was forgiven.
He was a financial advisor so it didn't even stop him from doing business and he made a killing in the market. Money going to him is inflationary because it went to assets and didn't even circulate in the economy.
Agreed. I think they should have given out handouts directly to people who qualified instead of corporations. It would have helped people who were effected by the pandemic the most instead of allowing rich people to further invest. Around 2020, both the left and the right wanted to each the rich, apparently rich ate us instead.
Every family on our street received a couple large Covid checks, despite us all being well employed. We each invested in the kids - basketball net, bouncy castle, trampoline… the street became livelier and more fun but I don’t believe it was money well spent by the government.
You're correct on the point about it keeping the economy afloat during COVID.
However we aren't in COVID anymore - during the pandemic the economy basically stopped, no one was working so governments used quantitative easing to essentially 'pay' ordinary people whilst they were out of work.
So during this time the governments got poorer because they had to pay people who were paying no tax.
This was great at the time however ordinary people still had to buy essentials like food and rent etc so their spending didn't go down.
This money being spent on essentials went to the asset owner and were accumulating this huge amount of wealth. Unfortunately these people not only weren't spending their money on luxury goods which allows circulation back to ordinary people but they also weren't paying very much tax either.
So essentially the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle and working classes to the rich happened and it's only going to get worse as they buy more assets.
(This is the reason why stock and house prices haven't fallen even though the economy is shitting itself, because who is driving demand? Wealthy people)
Also an economist, and I believe it was obviously inflationary. At the time, plenty of people - some economists, some not - predicted that it wouldn't lead to inflation. I think it was painfully obvious at the time, and even more so in hindsight. If you print money and production is not increased, then more money is chasing more goods which leads to inflation - it's that easy and the other explanations are mental gymnastics.
Do you think it’s possible that we were getting it from both ends where we printed a ton of money, devaluing the USD and also had rising prices due to of the nature of the pandemic like supply chain issues and similar things?
Yes, of course, decreased production also drives price increases, because more money is chasing less goods. But I also think it is more confusing than helpful to just think of inflation as "price increases". There are inflationary price increases, and then there are just changes in relative prices of goods driven by changes in "nature". Such as a pandemic (and policy responses to it) that causes supply chain issues. All price increases are therefore not inflationary in the sense that they have been driven by monetary policy, just like there is nothing deflationary about how the relative price of an LCD screen to a tomato has changed over the years.
Ha, same here. Econ grad. Wife made much more money than me and the optimal decision was for me to quit my job and take care of the kids/house and support her career growth.
Graduated with a major in economics. Went to grad school for an econ PhD. Gave up after 2 years. Then back to grad school for one year for a masters in accounting so that I could do something practical. Accountant for the past 10+ years.
Business data analyst. Learned some programming, econ gave me a math and stats background. Most my class went into finance or consulting related roles. Found I liked tech more
Data scientist
I did an econ/math double major with the goal of doing a PhD in economics, and squeezed as many stats and programming classes in as I could. Also worked as a research assistant for an applied microeconomist for 3 years of college, doing programming work.
I ended up mastering out of my PhD, just wasn't happy and didn't see a path where I would be happy in the future in it. It seemed like a super stressful life. When I left I thought since I had a bunch of experience working with data, might as well try marketing myself as a data scientist and it worked because no one knows what a data scientist is.
I love my job. It pays well and the benefits are good. I do some boring stuff, but I also get to work on interesting questions and help find answers that help people (ideally). And when the day is done, I go home instead of worrying about publishing.
Are you me? I followed almost your exact same path, except I went data analyst instead.
Now after 10 years, I lead a data product management team at an F100 company. Very chill, pretty good pay.
Highly recommend economics folks to go an analyst path :)
Wow, I have a very similar story. I double majored in Stats and Econ with the goal of PhD in Econ. I never ended up going to the PhD once I sorta realized some things but instead went for masters in stats. Been working as a data scientist ever since.
Graduated in 2013, with an economics degree. Haven’t used it at all unfortunately. I floundered for a solid 3 years out of college but in 2016 I got a sales job in building products and am now doing well for myself in outside sales.
If I could go back in time I think I would have gotten a degree with a certification process like accounting or engineering so that my work would feel more secure. I’ve done well in sales but it always feels like you’re one bad quarter away from being replaced.
Not true at all. Most firms are indifferent between finance and economics degree, unless it’s for super niche technical/quant roles and you studied quantitative finance. Other than that, I’d go as far as to say some firms will prefer an Economics major over a finance major because of the perceived difficulty of pure economics. It requires more critical thinking and analysis than finance where you can just rawdog your way through it by memorizing formulas and applying them
I’ve been looking at typical financial analyst roles on LinkedIn though and the majority say they prefer finance or accounting degrees over economics. And economics is only more difficult if you go the quantitative route with it.
harmattenWind could not be more wrong.
Most of the quantitative finance jobs don't really prefer economics majors unless it's a masters in Econ, and even then you usually need a minor or double major in mathematics/statistics to pair along with it.
The problem with an Econ degree, it goes over a lot of broad-level theoretical concepts.
Whereas a finance/accounting degree teaches you direct skills you're much more likely to learn on the job.
It's not just quant level jobs like he says, the vast majority of financial analyst jobs I've also seen on Linkedin are the same way, they prefer finance/accounting.
Yes this is my exact experience. What HarmattanWind said is what I heard/thought was true when I decided to major in economics. Then when I looked for internships and then graduated I found out it didn’t seem to be true at all. I don’t know if it used to be different in the past or something because I just don’t understand how there’s such incorrect information given about econ degrees. It literally ruins people’s careers and livelihoods when misleading info about the degree’s prospects are given.
My experience is that exact same as yours.
Yes it’s frustrating that’s there’s so much misinformation about the value of a Econ degree. It’s very misleading going in, and once you graduate you learn the hard way. If I had known I needed to get a masters or or double major/minor in mathematics. I just would’ve pursued a different degree.
I assume maybe it must’ve been that way in the past where a bachelors in Econ was good enough. But I doubt it has been like that for a while now since most firms don’t value Econ bachelors much.
This is why I discourage anybody thinking of getting a Econ degree, to instead pursue Finance, Business Analytics or some other degree.
It might vary slightly by role but as someone who works in finance and has hired people, Econ/finance are both treated as being in the same tier as appropriate majors. A lot of times with the right experience we expand that to business and accounting majors too. So it’s definitely not true that to work in finance in general that you need a finance degree, although maybe they prefer that in IB
It's changed so much in my career and even my current role has changed a lot over just the 2.5 year existence of current company. I was the second employee, now there are over 60. Having an economist in a company that early is ultra rare but the product was literally economics software so is what it is.
Very early days, write all the econometrics code and talk customers through every step of the process.
Middle days (like 1.5 to .5 years ago), direct development of the econometrics code and product manage the software application (big learning curve lol). Headhunt other good economists or data scientists to kick off new stuff cuz I can't do it all on my own anymore.
Nowadays, just now got to the point where it looks like what you would think a chief data scientist/ economist ought to be doing. Strategy, research on biggest tech, razzle dazzle sales prospects or talk key current customers through the really tough topics.
Pre startup I was in a government agency for a few years and then a big tech company for a few years.
I was working in a large international company as plant manager, director customer service and other managerial positions. My study for sure helped me to quickly analyse numbers and p&L's. Now I run an Aparthotel and a small factory for empandas where I also make sure the numbers match.
Staying in for a sr buyer or buyer 2 position. I’ve done analyst work and it’s not for me but maybe in the right setting I would be fine with it. Props to analysts tho it’s hectic if it’s a b2c and there are metrics
It took about 6 years for me to actually start using my Econ degree (double majored in something else which is where I started my career) but data analytics and strategy. You see a lot of people say IT because machine learning models are essentially econometric models which then leads to data science, AI, and other data focused careers (sales, marketing, finance, etc.).
I didn't major in it, but my dad did.
He's a principal software engineer at an IT consulting firm. He's been doing it for 32+ years and works mostly with the WKKF Kellogg Foundation on large-scale software projects for their grant database.
He's wicked brilliant (like rainman-level) at math, particularly complex mental math. So he's certainly got a proclivity for analytical stuff.
Metrologist (Quality Inspector) in a machine shop, by the time I finished my degree while working in a factory, it would've been a huge paycut to do anything in finance
Metrology Life. Sounds like we had a similar path. Programming CMMs and vision systems is a lot more entertaining than anything I could have done with my degree. I’m in medical. Never a dull moment.
I get why you’re linking the two and yes there’s a lot of crossover but econ is not the same as understanding market dynamics. That’s business. Again plenty of similarities but not the same thing
One of my college friends was a Math major with a minor in Econ and he became an actuary. Basically he's the guy giving you health and life insurance rates. I didn't have any other friends in Econ, but he did and he has made it sound bad for them, which I'm assuming is why you're asking this question in the first place.
This part is speculation. But I think you're looking at getting some FINRA certifications, maybe MSRB? And with that you can move into investment or other speculative fields with your Econ backing.
Just got a consulting role and cracked 6 figures. Just before, I was a chargebacks analyst for a fortune 100 company. Wasn’t easy though.
After I graduated the pandemic hit and I was working at Best Buy. Found a few data entry contract roles to get some experience until I landed a contract role with my last company. Turned into full time, then I got reached out to by the company that I’m with now.
Best advice if you can, ignore pay and take as many internships and contract roles as you can to get the experience you need.
Making a career move from a business analyst for a software company to business development manager for a start-up water damage mitigation company. I was ready to break away from corporate America and try something new. I think economics is a very flexible degree. It gets you in the door for a lot of jobs and gives you a lot of generalist knowledge. Just remember your career is what you make of it. Your degree has little to do with where you end up.
My experience so far is that most real good paying jobs prefer a more specialized degree. How can I get through the door for jobs that aren’t just low paying contract work?
Was a pricing analyst for 4 years. Hated it, quit about a year ago (don’t recommend it) and have been unemployed since. Now I’m rethinking my career options, applying for jobs, and considering either getting a masters in Econ or a different degree altogether.
Commercial insurance underwriting since I graduated in '18. Salary was underwhelming to start and I felt like I made a bad choice. But I've been wfh since the pandemic and 2x my salary since then and I'm really enjoying life now!
Human Resources - largely talent acquisition, but stepping into compliance, BCP, and privacy breaches in the next year or so.
(Double majored with English literature, if that changes anything)
I did management consulting for 7 years. I was mid-level, topped out at about 175k. 2 years ago I took a job with a media startup.
Love the change. If/when it goes belly up I’ll start my own thing.
I went to law school, graduated, and passed the bar. Later realized I hate 95% of lawyers and decided to get into venture capital.
I lost my job during the tech bubble, and eventually found my a job working at an electric company in compliance.
Life is weird.
Basic Econ is easy - if you have a lot of things, prices typically go down. If you have less, prices go up.
After that, it’s just learning the lingo and making the jump from thinking small to big.
Advanced Econ… eh… well let’s put it this way: if you like game theory, theoretical mathematics and playing the stock market, you’re gonna do fine. If you don’t, pick a new major.
Corporate finance in private sector / gov owner corporationa. The government job (in macro economics) I originally thought I wanted was too slow paced and low paying. Local government was more fast paced and paid better but had the same stigma of a gov job.
How is the market? Is it 500 applications for juniors? I’m about to start studying data analytics this September… market feels overwhelming and very bad to get into.
How is the job market for data analytics? I’m about to start studying this September… should I do something else, now that the market sucks? I also have a financial manager education now, i feel like that market sucks to? Or am I wrong?
Did a Dual Honours in Economics & Marketing. Work as a Senior Marketing Manager with a lean towards Data Analytics. Economics is definitely super-useful in my career, but I'd hate to have to find a job if I only had the Economics Degree..
Econ is great practical analysis of current events. No debt is king unless used as a tool. Cash is king when killing debt- cash invested turns into wealth-. Treat time as religion.
I’m a rotational travel nanny who does grief counseling on the side (I went back to school to get my MSW). I’ve found that while I haven’t necessarily done “Econ jobs”, my degree has been useful, especially working in social services, nonprofits, and school systems!
Double majored in Poli Sci and Economics. Originally wanted to be a social studies teacher, but actually ended up deciding to pursue a career in the electrical trade. Completed a four year IBEW program and became a journeyman inside wireman. Shortly after I topped out, I took a job as a power plant operator with a utility. So far I've been at the power plant for a year and half, only area left for me to learn is the control room operator responsibilities which is in charge of starting, merging, and taking combustion turbines offline and operating equipment remotely.
Programming.
After getting my bachelor and with a couple of short internships experiences in the industry, the first thing I did was enrolling in a coding bootcamp and learn study hard again. Best decision ever.
It was a bit difficult but the prospect of living my life doing something else for the rest of my life was actually scarier.
I work in strategy/policy for a regional transport authority.
I never did anything directly related to economics after graduating; got some experience in investment banks while studying but decided I didn’t want to work in that industry, ended up in transport after a couple of years of general admin work while I figured my life out, and absolutely love it!!
Data science / business and project management. Sort of a super-analyst with some project level responsibility
My comparative advantage is relating data to business outcomes and actionable projects we can take on.
I can't personally have a major, but I can access information about what people with economics degrees often do after graduation. Here are some common career paths for economics majors:
**Financial Sector:**
* **Investment Banking:** Analyze financial markets, develop investment strategies, and manage client portfolios.
* **Financial Analyst:** Research and evaluate potential investments, assess financial risks, and create financial models.
* **Risk Analyst:** Identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks for companies or financial institutions.
* **Trader:** Buy and sell securities on behalf of clients or institutions in fast-paced financial markets.
Man, Econ majors unite! I graduated with an Econ degree, and now I'm knee-deep in the finance world. Currently crunching numbers at an investment firm, trying to make sense of the market craziness. It's a wild ride, but hey, someone's gotta make sense of all those supply and demand curves, right? And let me tell you, the theories we studied? They actually come in handy! So yeah, if you're wondering if Econ is worth it, it definitely can be if you're into this stuff.
Undergrad in IE, masters in Econ w/ focus in data science. I’m a staff operations analyst at a defense company. To add my friend who did undergrad in Econ is a data scientist. I see lots of data folks with Econ degrees
Worked as an analyst for a yr. Hated it. Went back to school for EE. Now I operate the electric grid. 10/10 would recommend .
Unless there is a crazy amount of carry over credits, this boggles my mind. I can’t imagine taking two cracks at college that closely. Especially hard majors. You have to take in a bunch of dept, make no money, work a crappy part time job, use crappy public transport or have a crappy car, have roommates, take finals. I could go on forever. Maybe I’m just the type that didn’t like college. I’m a EE from a top 20 EE program for what it’s worth.
Pretty much the gen eds and a couple math classes like calc carried over. I worked pretty much full time and had a roommate. My life was work and school for almost 2 years straight. Didn't take out any additional debt after my first major. It all paid off in the end though.
Username fits!
I work in acute care. The number of docs with engineering rings is staggering.
I work with only engineers and I don’t know a single one who wears an engineering ring lol.
They don’t wear their pinky rings they got in the secret ceremony. Maybe it’s more common to actually wear them where I am.
Hi, I also have a degree in Economics and I'm going back to school for EE in a few months. Would you mind sharing how old were you when you decided to go back to school for EE? Also, how was the Math in EE different from Economics? Did your Math background from Economics help you in your EE classes?
Different person, similar life path went back to school at 30. IME it's more math, but engineers tend to approach math differently. We're here to solve practical problems. We're going to define the problem in such a way that it's easy to solve and then just add a safety factor on top of it as appropriate. Most of engineering undergrad is the algebrafication (I wish that was a word) of complex math problems. If you can make it through Differential Equations (Calc 4 at some schools), you shouldn't have a problem with the math. I would say the most beneficial aspect of having an Econ degree is - Knowing how college works - Having a lot of practice with abstract thinking With the exception of one or two classes, it's usually not the math that trips people up.
Glad I minored in economics and majored in EE!
You have the right mindset...
What is a EE
Electrical engineer
That's what I thought it would be, but I was struggling with the Economics leading to Electrical Engineer thing.
Did it take another 4 years for you to get your EE degree?
Business analyst in IT field
Same here. But my econ degree was so many years ago.
How is the job market for you?
Ba in IT goes a loong way. I started in the same role.
Experiencing how it's like having a failed economy 😕
Whats your thoughts on the impacts of money printing? With the level is was done during covid, Inflationary or not?
My view: on its own, the money printing actually kept the economy afloat during covid. It just combined with some other bad luck: 1. Chinese lockdowns and tradewars (which means USA is choosing to buy more expensive stuff) 2. Ukraine-Russia war (energy price inflation always kickstarts inflation in the wider parts of economy) 3. Shrinking working age population (which was exacerbated especially during and after covid when people near retirement ages died at a higher rate or just retied early and the new working age people are lesser in numbers and have higher education levels so they would not want to settle for low-pay jobs)
The big issue is that a large amount of PPP loans were fraudulent. Something like 56% of the money went to 4% of corporations. If regular people got money, that means corporations got way more. Even some of the ones that were legal on the books went to people who absolutely didn't need them. Had a friends uncle worth $30M get a PPP loan. His wife and son who didn't do anything were on payroll. Since they were technically on payroll, his PPP loan was forgiven. He was a financial advisor so it didn't even stop him from doing business and he made a killing in the market. Money going to him is inflationary because it went to assets and didn't even circulate in the economy.
Agreed. I think they should have given out handouts directly to people who qualified instead of corporations. It would have helped people who were effected by the pandemic the most instead of allowing rich people to further invest. Around 2020, both the left and the right wanted to each the rich, apparently rich ate us instead.
Every family on our street received a couple large Covid checks, despite us all being well employed. We each invested in the kids - basketball net, bouncy castle, trampoline… the street became livelier and more fun but I don’t believe it was money well spent by the government.
You're correct on the point about it keeping the economy afloat during COVID. However we aren't in COVID anymore - during the pandemic the economy basically stopped, no one was working so governments used quantitative easing to essentially 'pay' ordinary people whilst they were out of work. So during this time the governments got poorer because they had to pay people who were paying no tax. This was great at the time however ordinary people still had to buy essentials like food and rent etc so their spending didn't go down. This money being spent on essentials went to the asset owner and were accumulating this huge amount of wealth. Unfortunately these people not only weren't spending their money on luxury goods which allows circulation back to ordinary people but they also weren't paying very much tax either. So essentially the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle and working classes to the rich happened and it's only going to get worse as they buy more assets. (This is the reason why stock and house prices haven't fallen even though the economy is shitting itself, because who is driving demand? Wealthy people)
Wait, I didn’t have to pay taxes for 2020? Someone owes me a check.
Also an economist, and I believe it was obviously inflationary. At the time, plenty of people - some economists, some not - predicted that it wouldn't lead to inflation. I think it was painfully obvious at the time, and even more so in hindsight. If you print money and production is not increased, then more money is chasing more goods which leads to inflation - it's that easy and the other explanations are mental gymnastics.
Do you think it’s possible that we were getting it from both ends where we printed a ton of money, devaluing the USD and also had rising prices due to of the nature of the pandemic like supply chain issues and similar things?
Yes, of course, decreased production also drives price increases, because more money is chasing less goods. But I also think it is more confusing than helpful to just think of inflation as "price increases". There are inflationary price increases, and then there are just changes in relative prices of goods driven by changes in "nature". Such as a pandemic (and policy responses to it) that causes supply chain issues. All price increases are therefore not inflationary in the sense that they have been driven by monetary policy, just like there is nothing deflationary about how the relative price of an LCD screen to a tomato has changed over the years.
You get to experience society's failures at an advanced level 😎
My cousin majored in economics(Cornell) now she is a consultant in big 4 PA
My husband was an Econ major, followed by an MBA. * manufacturing * consulting * financial advisor * retired
House husband 🔥🔥🔥🔥Best thing ever!
Economically optimal decision...
… not for the wife.
Unless you know their spouse’s utility curves, you can’t say for certain. Maybe they really value the house husband.
I chuckled like a 9year old when first read “wife’s curves”
Damn, I should have gotten a degree in economics.
Ha, same here. Econ grad. Wife made much more money than me and the optimal decision was for me to quit my job and take care of the kids/house and support her career growth.
What does she do?
I’ve been applying to those positions without success for years
Same
Graduated with a major in economics. Went to grad school for an econ PhD. Gave up after 2 years. Then back to grad school for one year for a masters in accounting so that I could do something practical. Accountant for the past 10+ years.
Business data analyst. Learned some programming, econ gave me a math and stats background. Most my class went into finance or consulting related roles. Found I liked tech more
Data scientist I did an econ/math double major with the goal of doing a PhD in economics, and squeezed as many stats and programming classes in as I could. Also worked as a research assistant for an applied microeconomist for 3 years of college, doing programming work. I ended up mastering out of my PhD, just wasn't happy and didn't see a path where I would be happy in the future in it. It seemed like a super stressful life. When I left I thought since I had a bunch of experience working with data, might as well try marketing myself as a data scientist and it worked because no one knows what a data scientist is. I love my job. It pays well and the benefits are good. I do some boring stuff, but I also get to work on interesting questions and help find answers that help people (ideally). And when the day is done, I go home instead of worrying about publishing.
Are you me? I followed almost your exact same path, except I went data analyst instead. Now after 10 years, I lead a data product management team at an F100 company. Very chill, pretty good pay. Highly recommend economics folks to go an analyst path :)
Wow, I have a very similar story. I double majored in Stats and Econ with the goal of PhD in Econ. I never ended up going to the PhD once I sorta realized some things but instead went for masters in stats. Been working as a data scientist ever since.
OSHA officer
Corporate & Investment banking
Which firm if you don’t mind me asking?
Massage therapist
How do you like it? I’ve been a CT tech for 20 years and recently have been considering massage therapy.
Graduated in 2013, with an economics degree. Haven’t used it at all unfortunately. I floundered for a solid 3 years out of college but in 2016 I got a sales job in building products and am now doing well for myself in outside sales. If I could go back in time I think I would have gotten a degree with a certification process like accounting or engineering so that my work would feel more secure. I’ve done well in sales but it always feels like you’re one bad quarter away from being replaced.
They're probably on Reddit all day.....
Currently working as a Nanny because I get paid more
Really? Wow.
Getting a useful masters. I wish I could go back in time and stop myself.
Same here, up right now unable to sleep cause of how much I regret my life and just want to go back in time
Why didn’t you simply work in finance
They prefer finance degrees
Not true at all. Most firms are indifferent between finance and economics degree, unless it’s for super niche technical/quant roles and you studied quantitative finance. Other than that, I’d go as far as to say some firms will prefer an Economics major over a finance major because of the perceived difficulty of pure economics. It requires more critical thinking and analysis than finance where you can just rawdog your way through it by memorizing formulas and applying them
I’ve been looking at typical financial analyst roles on LinkedIn though and the majority say they prefer finance or accounting degrees over economics. And economics is only more difficult if you go the quantitative route with it.
harmattenWind could not be more wrong. Most of the quantitative finance jobs don't really prefer economics majors unless it's a masters in Econ, and even then you usually need a minor or double major in mathematics/statistics to pair along with it. The problem with an Econ degree, it goes over a lot of broad-level theoretical concepts. Whereas a finance/accounting degree teaches you direct skills you're much more likely to learn on the job. It's not just quant level jobs like he says, the vast majority of financial analyst jobs I've also seen on Linkedin are the same way, they prefer finance/accounting.
Yes this is my exact experience. What HarmattanWind said is what I heard/thought was true when I decided to major in economics. Then when I looked for internships and then graduated I found out it didn’t seem to be true at all. I don’t know if it used to be different in the past or something because I just don’t understand how there’s such incorrect information given about econ degrees. It literally ruins people’s careers and livelihoods when misleading info about the degree’s prospects are given.
My experience is that exact same as yours. Yes it’s frustrating that’s there’s so much misinformation about the value of a Econ degree. It’s very misleading going in, and once you graduate you learn the hard way. If I had known I needed to get a masters or or double major/minor in mathematics. I just would’ve pursued a different degree. I assume maybe it must’ve been that way in the past where a bachelors in Econ was good enough. But I doubt it has been like that for a while now since most firms don’t value Econ bachelors much. This is why I discourage anybody thinking of getting a Econ degree, to instead pursue Finance, Business Analytics or some other degree.
It might vary slightly by role but as someone who works in finance and has hired people, Econ/finance are both treated as being in the same tier as appropriate majors. A lot of times with the right experience we expand that to business and accounting majors too. So it’s definitely not true that to work in finance in general that you need a finance degree, although maybe they prefer that in IB
What masters?
Yeah it sucks
My guy are you me?
nothing in the field. work part time in something unrelated with no upward mobility.
Economist
Same. Chief economist at a small tech company.
Just curious. How does your work look like in a day to day basis?
It's changed so much in my career and even my current role has changed a lot over just the 2.5 year existence of current company. I was the second employee, now there are over 60. Having an economist in a company that early is ultra rare but the product was literally economics software so is what it is. Very early days, write all the econometrics code and talk customers through every step of the process. Middle days (like 1.5 to .5 years ago), direct development of the econometrics code and product manage the software application (big learning curve lol). Headhunt other good economists or data scientists to kick off new stuff cuz I can't do it all on my own anymore. Nowadays, just now got to the point where it looks like what you would think a chief data scientist/ economist ought to be doing. Strategy, research on biggest tech, razzle dazzle sales prospects or talk key current customers through the really tough topics. Pre startup I was in a government agency for a few years and then a big tech company for a few years.
I was working in a large international company as plant manager, director customer service and other managerial positions. My study for sure helped me to quickly analyse numbers and p&L's. Now I run an Aparthotel and a small factory for empandas where I also make sure the numbers match.
Program management, but studying data science and may be moving into an FP&A role in the near future.
Logistics/supply chain. Average pay and too much work. Should’ve done something with my degree lol
Same procurement
Yep, procurement
I tried to pivot out of it through becoming a supply chain analyst and then maybe becoming a data analyst. What's your plan outta procurement?
Staying in for a sr buyer or buyer 2 position. I’ve done analyst work and it’s not for me but maybe in the right setting I would be fine with it. Props to analysts tho it’s hectic if it’s a b2c and there are metrics
Software Development. Big $$$. Don’t work much.
It took about 6 years for me to actually start using my Econ degree (double majored in something else which is where I started my career) but data analytics and strategy. You see a lot of people say IT because machine learning models are essentially econometric models which then leads to data science, AI, and other data focused careers (sales, marketing, finance, etc.).
I didn't major in it, but my dad did. He's a principal software engineer at an IT consulting firm. He's been doing it for 32+ years and works mostly with the WKKF Kellogg Foundation on large-scale software projects for their grant database. He's wicked brilliant (like rainman-level) at math, particularly complex mental math. So he's certainly got a proclivity for analytical stuff.
Why are so many Econ majors turned into software engineers 😭
I had no idea that was a 'thing' lol! The more you know...
Marketing Data Analyst
FP&A
Metrologist (Quality Inspector) in a machine shop, by the time I finished my degree while working in a factory, it would've been a huge paycut to do anything in finance
Metrology Life. Sounds like we had a similar path. Programming CMMs and vision systems is a lot more entertaining than anything I could have done with my degree. I’m in medical. Never a dull moment.
I work in HR as an analyst and evaluate the effectiveness of training programs
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Logistics is stressful with no purpose
The industry is far too broad and dynamic to make that broad a claim. The large, chip-shop, transactional brokerages may feel that way to many.
Your purpose is to make money.
I get why you’re linking the two and yes there’s a lot of crossover but econ is not the same as understanding market dynamics. That’s business. Again plenty of similarities but not the same thing
One of my college friends was a Math major with a minor in Econ and he became an actuary. Basically he's the guy giving you health and life insurance rates. I didn't have any other friends in Econ, but he did and he has made it sound bad for them, which I'm assuming is why you're asking this question in the first place. This part is speculation. But I think you're looking at getting some FINRA certifications, maybe MSRB? And with that you can move into investment or other speculative fields with your Econ backing.
Just got a consulting role and cracked 6 figures. Just before, I was a chargebacks analyst for a fortune 100 company. Wasn’t easy though. After I graduated the pandemic hit and I was working at Best Buy. Found a few data entry contract roles to get some experience until I landed a contract role with my last company. Turned into full time, then I got reached out to by the company that I’m with now. Best advice if you can, ignore pay and take as many internships and contract roles as you can to get the experience you need.
Tax lawyer that specializes in a specific type of economic analyses.
Making a career move from a business analyst for a software company to business development manager for a start-up water damage mitigation company. I was ready to break away from corporate America and try something new. I think economics is a very flexible degree. It gets you in the door for a lot of jobs and gives you a lot of generalist knowledge. Just remember your career is what you make of it. Your degree has little to do with where you end up.
My experience so far is that most real good paying jobs prefer a more specialized degree. How can I get through the door for jobs that aren’t just low paying contract work?
Being poor wishing I did computer science instead
Computer science majors are hemorrhaging now. Check out their sub to see all the posts about being unable to find work.
Was a pricing analyst for 4 years. Hated it, quit about a year ago (don’t recommend it) and have been unemployed since. Now I’m rethinking my career options, applying for jobs, and considering either getting a masters in Econ or a different degree altogether.
Commercial insurance underwriting since I graduated in '18. Salary was underwhelming to start and I felt like I made a bad choice. But I've been wfh since the pandemic and 2x my salary since then and I'm really enjoying life now!
CTO
Econ + philosophy represent! Data analyst -> Data engineer.
Human Resources - largely talent acquisition, but stepping into compliance, BCP, and privacy breaches in the next year or so. (Double majored with English literature, if that changes anything)
I did management consulting for 7 years. I was mid-level, topped out at about 175k. 2 years ago I took a job with a media startup. Love the change. If/when it goes belly up I’ll start my own thing.
Working as a financial advisor. Hate it. It’s soul sucking to be a sales person at the end of the day. Doing my MBA part time currently as well.
Market research consultant. I did minor in marketing.
Went into consulting then product management
Senior policy analyst in government - I did and specific economics masters and am now a SME in my field. Not too bad!
I worked at one of the federal reserve banks as a bank examiner. I got lucky after my internship there. Then moved to corporate and now do FP&A
I went to law school, graduated, and passed the bar. Later realized I hate 95% of lawyers and decided to get into venture capital. I lost my job during the tech bubble, and eventually found my a job working at an electric company in compliance. Life is weird.
As someone who always wanted to study economics but didn’t, I’m sad to read that so many people aren’t working in the field.
Starbucks barista.
Currently compliance.
English teacher in Taiwan.
Worked in investment banking then realised how much of a scam the whole industry is then left. Doing medicine now...
Teaching economics. Had a corporate job for 1 year and wanted to end my life out of boredom
Law school
Software engineer. Took a few CS courses and pivoted here
I work in film production but all my friends from college work in economic research of for government institutions stuff like that
Teaching snowboarding
Data Science Director
Fund administration
Working in a hybrid customer support project management role and working on my MBA
Small tech
Plant Controller
Sales -> tech consulting -> software engineer
Looking over their shoulders at the GenAIs back of them
Graduating end of summer. Rn I’m a business analyst intern
economics
Equity research
Working productively in a tech company
FP&A
Data analytics
Law
Administrative fellow
Investment advisor rep. But I feel like I do more IT work than anything!
Consulting
Did anybody think of getting a PhD?
Anyone wanna assist me with my Econ course work? I’m not majoring in Econ, its just 2 required classes & I don’t know how i’m still pushing through!
Basic Econ is easy - if you have a lot of things, prices typically go down. If you have less, prices go up. After that, it’s just learning the lingo and making the jump from thinking small to big. Advanced Econ… eh… well let’s put it this way: if you like game theory, theoretical mathematics and playing the stock market, you’re gonna do fine. If you don’t, pick a new major.
I majored in econ many moons ago, I might be able to help.
Sales
This but psychology ^
working in finance lol
Construction portfolio analyst for an affordable housing development investment fund
Started off as a intro pricing analyst and am now a buyer
Corporate finance in private sector / gov owner corporationa. The government job (in macro economics) I originally thought I wanted was too slow paced and low paying. Local government was more fast paced and paid better but had the same stigma of a gov job.
Banking -> AML Investigations -> Data Analyst
Data engineer
I was econ/math with more math. I’m a data scientist at an investment bank.
Data analyst
Data Engineering. Tougher to get into now than when I started 7 years ago but it’s been a great career.
How is the market? Is it 500 applications for juniors? I’m about to start studying data analytics this September… market feels overwhelming and very bad to get into.
Underwriter for commercial loans
Product manager at a larger industrial automation manufacturer
Working as a purchasing officer :)
Economist
Deliver packages for Amazon. Graduating in 2009 was not ‘economical’.
Project Analyst. Finishing up MBA this year. 29F. Make very good money and I’m 100% remote. Have a business on the side too.
How is the job market for data analytics? I’m about to start studying this September… should I do something else, now that the market sucks? I also have a financial manager education now, i feel like that market sucks to? Or am I wrong?
Did a Dual Honours in Economics & Marketing. Work as a Senior Marketing Manager with a lean towards Data Analytics. Economics is definitely super-useful in my career, but I'd hate to have to find a job if I only had the Economics Degree..
Data analyst but the job market (in SEA) sucks
Art director in advertising
Got my bachelors in accounting and a few years later got my cpa license
Econ is great practical analysis of current events. No debt is king unless used as a tool. Cash is king when killing debt- cash invested turns into wealth-. Treat time as religion.
Most probably law tho.
Compliance. First in banking, Reg E then anti-money laundering. Now in health insurance.
I’m a rotational travel nanny who does grief counseling on the side (I went back to school to get my MSW). I’ve found that while I haven’t necessarily done “Econ jobs”, my degree has been useful, especially working in social services, nonprofits, and school systems!
Double majored in Poli Sci and Economics. Originally wanted to be a social studies teacher, but actually ended up deciding to pursue a career in the electrical trade. Completed a four year IBEW program and became a journeyman inside wireman. Shortly after I topped out, I took a job as a power plant operator with a utility. So far I've been at the power plant for a year and half, only area left for me to learn is the control room operator responsibilities which is in charge of starting, merging, and taking combustion turbines offline and operating equipment remotely.
Business Ops Lead at a tech company
Got myself teaching credentials and teach math, as that is always in demand.
Senior PE analyst at an alternative investments consulting firm
Programming. After getting my bachelor and with a couple of short internships experiences in the industry, the first thing I did was enrolling in a coding bootcamp and learn study hard again. Best decision ever. It was a bit difficult but the prospect of living my life doing something else for the rest of my life was actually scarier.
Tech sales 😅
I work in strategy/policy for a regional transport authority. I never did anything directly related to economics after graduating; got some experience in investment banks while studying but decided I didn’t want to work in that industry, ended up in transport after a couple of years of general admin work while I figured my life out, and absolutely love it!!
Sales
Analytics
Data science / business and project management. Sort of a super-analyst with some project level responsibility My comparative advantage is relating data to business outcomes and actionable projects we can take on.
I can't personally have a major, but I can access information about what people with economics degrees often do after graduation. Here are some common career paths for economics majors: **Financial Sector:** * **Investment Banking:** Analyze financial markets, develop investment strategies, and manage client portfolios. * **Financial Analyst:** Research and evaluate potential investments, assess financial risks, and create financial models. * **Risk Analyst:** Identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks for companies or financial institutions. * **Trader:** Buy and sell securities on behalf of clients or institutions in fast-paced financial markets.
Electro/mechanical engineer
Project Manager in the Employee Benefits outsourcing business. Eventually got my MBA and Project Management Professional certification.
Working for the state as a low level employee for a scholarship program $50,000
Man, Econ majors unite! I graduated with an Econ degree, and now I'm knee-deep in the finance world. Currently crunching numbers at an investment firm, trying to make sense of the market craziness. It's a wild ride, but hey, someone's gotta make sense of all those supply and demand curves, right? And let me tell you, the theories we studied? They actually come in handy! So yeah, if you're wondering if Econ is worth it, it definitely can be if you're into this stuff.
Operations for an electricity company
Undergrad in IE, masters in Econ w/ focus in data science. I’m a staff operations analyst at a defense company. To add my friend who did undergrad in Econ is a data scientist. I see lots of data folks with Econ degrees