What’s one of the most popular questions asked in this office? It’s “What can I do with a major in economics?” And the answer? Practically anything and everything.
Yes, it’s true. Your career options as an economics major are endless. Yet, this is why many students struggle to figure out what to do after college. Don’t worry. The ECON undergraduate office is here to help you.
One of the reasons that economics majors can pursue almost any career is because of the skills gained through economics coursework. As an economics major you should:
- Be able to analytically and critically solve complex problems,
- Be skilled in observation and inference from data, and
- Be adept in presenting ideas in compelling writing and speech.
Additional Skills Include:
| Research/Analysis Generating/developing ideas Organizing materials Designing projects Analyzing results Applying statistical methods Testing an idea/hypothesis |
Financial/Data Maintaining accurate records Tabulating data Manipulating numerical data Developing budgets Cost analysis/projections Preparing financial reports/statements |
| Problem Solving Assessing needs Defining problems Reviewing/evaluating goals Relating theory to practice Applying quantitative analysis Generating solutions Evaluating policies Projecting/forecasting results |
Communication Writing reports/articles Reading/interpreting relevant reports/statements Summarizing data Writing grant proposals Analyzing data Sizing up an audience Speaking clearly Presenting proposals reports |
Looking for an internship or Job? This tab contains links to resources for students at various stages of career exploration and job searching.
Career Fairs
Career Fairs are on campus recruiting events that enable you to personally meet recruiters from participating organizations and companies. Illinois has several major career fairs throughout the year. All career fairs on our campus are open to all enrolled students. To learn how to prepare for a career fair please click here.
All Campus Career Fair information
Business Career Fair Information
Engineering Career Fair Information
The Career Center
The U of I Career Center is a great resource for all things career, from early career exploration to resume writing, job searching and company research, grad school prep, interview prep, and job posts and internship info. They also have descriptions of some career paths for statistics majors and links specific to careers in statistics available on-line. (Note: Some of the “paths” and “links” info predates the recent “big data” boom, but there is a nice simplyhired blog post about big data careers and skills.)
They offer many materials on their website, have a steady stream of workshops and other events, and are conveniently located just down the street from Illini Hall if you’d like to set up an appointment or take advantage of their drop-in services. You can sign up for their Career Connections weekly newsletter to keep up to date on upcoming events and opportunities, as well as other newsletters geared toward international students, freshmen, and students interested in health careers. The previous link will also get to social media (like Twitter and Facebook) connections to the Career Center as well.
INTLConnect (for international students)
INTLConnect is specifically for international students. The website contains information about work authorization, job searching, resumes and interviewing, workshops, and more geared toward the specific needs of international job seekers.
University of Illinois Alumni Association
Networking with alumni is often an excellent way to find out about career paths and opportunities. This is one of the functions the Alumni Association has. They have a Career Center and a Virtual Career Center, and also have a group on LinkedIn (see info on LinkedIn below…) which can all be valuable resources.
You can think of LinkedIn as a social networking site for your career. In addition to being great for maintaining your professional connections, it’s a nice resource for job postings, interest and alumni groups, and articles on career related topics. They also have a website university.linkedin.com full of resources for setting up your profile and using LinkedIn effectively.
Popular Search Engines
One website that I have found especially helpful for researching entry-level jobs is
www.simplyhired.com. Another helpful website is www.indeed.com. For economics positions with our federal government, go to www.usajobs.gov; for positions with the State of Washington, go to www.careers.wa.gov. Also, if you are considering getting a Ph.D. in economics, you can search the publication Job Openings for Economists (JOE) www.aeaweb.org/joe/ for jobs requiring this level of education. Finally, you might consider www.econ-jobs.com for economist jobs in the United States and other countries.