Econ majors- is it easy to find a job?

[Anonymous]

My DS just graduated from a T25 and finally got a job (after 2 Econ internships), but is slumming it at only $70K. Brutal rn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d live to hear from people who actually graduated with an Econ major in 2015 or later, or from their parents. What was your/their first job out of college?

Most econ departments will also have a career section on their websites that provides this information. Some with more detail than others.

[Anonymous]

As long as you do the statistics and mathematics and don’t shy from the harder economics courses, Econ is a great degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d live to hear from people who actually graduated with an Econ major in 2015 or later, or from their parents. What was your/their first job out of college?

I'll answer this one for you. Son graduated from Michigan State (the horror! Not a top 10, the poor guy. /s) in 2022. First job was with a Tier 2 Business Defense Contractor in Business Dev. Spent some time overseas and in US plants, then working military sales. After 1.5 yrs applied for sales position in Federal Team at a FAANG. First job paid $75k no commission, now base is $80k but big commission so making quite a bit more (I'm not sure exactly how much although I could ask him).

Full disclosure: father and I have long carriers as execs in tech (him) and defense (me). So while we didn't get him the jobs, he got lots of help and coaching behind the scenes.

Thanks for sharing a specific example. I find these types of posts more helpful than generalities. And I’m thrilled for your son - what a great outcome!

Thanks, and glad you found it helpful. Fingers crossed for DS#2 still in college

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Can be hard to get a job especially if not from a top school. Take the math version of Econ plus some accounting and finance. There is huge supply of Econ majors and a lot of mediocre undergrad Econ programs.

What is the math version?

This, absolutely. Make sure he gets a BS in economics, not a BA. Big difference in starting and projected salaries.

Big difference is where you get the degree not BS/BA. Top school is matters not. Many top 20 schools only have the BA. Still get those jobs. The 100k jobs are going for the smarts not the expertise.

What are these 100k jobs? Management consulting?

Investment banking/analyst, topmost jobs only available to top schools for the most part, but some companies hire outside the T20 for regional analyst roles.

For which you don't need an Econ degree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Economics is a solid degree.

Job and career opportunities are enhanced by having a solid understanding of statistics, knowledge of the R programming language for statistics, and Python programming. Those are the tools that let one analyze economic data - which is a typical entry-level role.

Not always but often enough, have see students who can't do math switch to business major.

Taking remedial courses to be better in college level math is sometimes needed for many students honestly. Statistics if they haven't already done a few of those courses in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let your kid pick their own major for God’s sake

Sure, like I have $60- $100 grand to throw out every year for a teaching, etc. degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let your kid pick their own major for God’s sake

Sure, like I have $60- $100 grand to throw out every year for a teaching, etc. degree.

Then send your kid to a state school or community college first. They should still be allowed to pick their own major. It's their life FFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, FWIW when I was in law school I thought that econ majors had a much easier time than I did as a history major....

History is probably the best major for law school. Not sure why you thought econ majors had an easier time. Econ is a fine major but the history skills are a direct transfer.

What about Philosophy for law school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS just graduated from a T25 and finally got a job (after 2 Econ internships), but is slumming it at only $70K. Brutal rn.

What is an Econ internship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, FWIW when I was in law school I thought that econ majors had a much easier time than I did as a history major....

History is probably the best major for law school. Not sure why you thought econ majors had an easier time. Econ is a fine major but the history skills are a direct transfer.

My husband is a judge and told our prospective-law-school-student son to major in economics over history. Said it was a more valuable major for would-be lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Was great for my DS 10 years ago. Worked at Fed etc. Now at Nvidia.

[Anonymous]

No it's brutal job market right now. Hard to get a job as a "dime a dozen" male college grad with a B. Econ degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS just graduated from a T25 and finally got a job (after 2 Econ internships), but is slumming it at only $70K. Brutal rn.

What is an Econ internship?

Local examples in the past included at Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the Fed. Not sure about 2025 though.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Economics is a solid degree.

Job and career opportunities are enhanced by having a solid understanding of statistics, knowledge of the R programming language for statistics, and Python programming. Those are the tools that let one analyze economic data - which is a typical entry-level role.

Aren’t data analysts of every stripe ripe for AI replacement?

Somebody needs to tell the AI what to do (choose the task), modify the task depending on AI results, and monitor or interpret the AI's results. AI is wildly overhyped right now AND if it does achieve productive time savings as a tool that means employees can specify more tasks and analyze more things. If AI really is going to be a massive job killer, do you think people will just say "Oh, I guess I won't do any work then". Or will they say "I will find new and different ways to be useful with the set of tools I have"?

Have you ever used a fully automated chatbot that accomplished what you wanted? I haven't. Chatbots suck! That is what a lot of AI is like right now.

AI has already started to kill entry level jobs. Young people have a higher level of unemployment rate because companies are pulling back on entry level positions.