This guide contains only a partial list of occupational titles and career fields that may be of interest to students considering an economics major. In addition to the skills and knowledge gained through your college course work in this major, you may also need to acquire career related work experience, additional work related skills and/or additional education. Some of the occupations require an advanced degree to enter the field.

After you have identified possible occupations of interest to you, it is important to investigate the nature of work; education and training requirements; skills and special talents needed; types of employers; future trends and employment outlook related to each of these careers. We have set up links to internet sites which provide detailed descriptions of these occupations.   You may want to research these occupations by reading the books and literature available in the Philadelphia House Career Resource Library, by contacting related professional associations and by talking to individuals working in the career field.

This guide also provides information about obtaining related work experience including links to possible internships. However for the best information on current, local internships contact Sally Cardenas, Director of Internships and Community-Based Learning at 562-464-4533 or email her at scardenas@whittier.edu.

Career Options

Note: (2) refers to second information link for occupational title

Typical Employers

Accounting firms, banks, business and industry, chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, consulting firms, finance and investment companies, fund raising firms, government agencies, insurance companies, international organizations, labor unions, market research firms, regional planning councils, research institutes, stock/securities brokers, utilities.

Liberal Arts Related Occupations
(click here for additional options)

Marketable Skills Associated with Economics Major

• Ability to precisely examine, analyze and interpret data
• Oral communication and public speaking skills
• Ability to write clear, concise reports and illustrate them with charts, tables and graphs to represent statistical data in an easy-to-grasp way
• Ability to design surveys and plan methods for collecting data
• Ability to gather information about the economic conditions of a geographic area; the production, prices, qualifications of workers; or the income levels and product preferences of consumers
• Using mathematical, statistical and computer methods to deal with and interpret data
• Problem solving abilities

Getting Career Related Work Experience

To be competitive in today's job market and to improve your qualifications for graduate school, gaining career related work experience while you are a college student is very important.  Career related work experience can include various forms of paid and volunteer experience (i.e. internships, some work study positions, summer or part-time jobs in your career field of interest, possibly fellowships, and some volunteer positions)

Economics Related Internships

Sources of Career Information

Career Information Links on the Internet

• Business Information Links
• Social Sciences Information Links
• Links to Professional Associations

Graduate School Resource Links

• General Graduate School Information Resources
• Business Programs
• Social Science Programs