Econ majors- is it easy to find a job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

[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?

NP. In parent times, I had an internship with a small World Bank contractor that put on thematic conferences about international development and an internship with a labor union headquarters working on benefits negotiation and bankruptcy cases.

There actually are consulting firms that specialize in economics. They hire BAs. I don't know if they offer internships as part of a campus recruiting effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

PP. This has happened a bunch of times in my working lifetime and they usually blame something ridiculous like young people's work ethic.

I don't believe it's AI. There's a ton of political and economic uncertainty right now and business leaders would rather not spend hard to get money on people. Tech is floundering trying to figure out a new, new thing so they are spinning hard on AI while not hiring because money isn't so cheap anymore.

I read something today about how middle managers are disappearing also. Apparently top management has discovered what Dilbert identified years ago...extra management doesn't always help. Should we blame that on AI also?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell Econ. = easy to find a job making $100k
GMU Econ. = easy to find a job selling insurance

This is such BS. My DC graduated from Cornell with a degree in Econ. DC is still looking for work in the past six months.

[Anonymous]

I thought many ppl chose econ as a back door to business.

[Anonymous]

My recent college econ grad has a job at the Baltimore Morgan Stanley office

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My recent college econ grad has a job at the Baltimore Morgan Stanley office

doing what?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought many ppl chose econ as a back door to business.

why do you need a backdoor? Econ is a tougher major than business. If you can’t do econ you do business

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell Econ. = easy to find a job making $100k
GMU Econ. = easy to find a job selling insurance

This is such BS. My DC graduated from Cornell with a degree in Econ. DC is still looking for work in the past six months.

Her issue; not Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was a finance major that took a lot of economics classes and then went to law school. The econ background was actually extremely helpful. There are a fair number of legal theories highly tied to economic theories.

Broadly speaking, I believe that the “how to think like a lawyer” mindset that law school really teaches (much more than the substance of the law) tracks well with “thinking like an economist” in that you need to follow the precedent, information and data before coming to a conclusion (as opposed to having a personal opinion and framing your writing around that opinion, which a lot of humanities majors come in with). Business and technical writing skills are actually closer to what’s required for legal writing skills than the types of writing skills from a history major.

A history major's research and writing is exactly the same as law. Business and technical writing do not translate to legal writing. Glad it worked for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cornell Econ. = easy to find a job making $100k
GMU Econ. = easy to find a job selling insurance

This is such BS. My DC graduated from Cornell with a degree in Econ. DC is still looking for work in the past six months.

Her issue; not Cornell.

"It's the economy, stupid"

(although some people on here would have you believe it's AI)

[Anonymous]

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

DP. No chance. None. Zero. They can only pick degrees where they can show they can support themselves financially immediately after graduation.

"Pick your own major" only works for rich folks, not for average folks, and DC are being told this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought many ppl chose econ as a back door to business.

why do you need a backdoor? Econ is a tougher major than business. If you can’t do econ you do business

It's not about what you can do, both are fairly easy majors, it's about the signaling value of being able to get in to the business school vs not being able to get into the business school and thus needing to major in econ. Funny enough, signaling is a pretty fundamental econ concept.

[Anonymous]

I thought many ppl chose econ as a back door to business. why do you need a backdoor? Econ is a tougher major than business. If you can’t do econ you do business It's not about what you can do, both are fairly easy majors, it's about the signaling value of being able to get in to the business school vs not being able to get into the business school and thus needing to major in econ. Funny enough, signaling is a pretty fundamental econ concept.

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In my experience if you don't have the intellectual aptitude and work ethic for the sciences or engineering, you switch to economics which is easier, and if you can't handle economics, you major in business. I might exclude some accounting and finance degrees in making that statement. There are a lot of weak undergraduate business degrees. Does not have to do with whether it is hard to be admitted into the business school -- that is just supply and demand. Has to do with how hard it is to get through the major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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In my experience if you don't have the intellectual aptitude and work ethic for the sciences or engineering, you switch to economics which is easier, and if you can't handle economics, you major in business. I might exclude some accounting and finance degrees in making that statement. There are a lot of weak undergraduate business degrees. Does not have to do with whether it is hard to be admitted into the business school -- that is just supply and demand. Has to do with how hard it is to get through the major.

Or there are plenty of people with just no interest in STEM, hard as that may be for you to believe.