What Can I do With a Degree in Economics?

Career Center Library Resources
The Career Center Library has a variety of resources to help students explore potential career fields. These resources include information about typical responsibilities, qualifications, career paths, job outlook, salary, and related careers.

Books Specifically Related to Economics Majors

• Opportunities in Banking
  
• Careers in Business
• Business and Finance Career Directory
• Great Jobs for Economics Majors
• Careers in Renewable Energy
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Careers

Books of General Interest to Liberal Arts Majors

• The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People
• Making a Living while Making a Difference

Vocational Biographies

Vocational Biographies describes the career success stories of 1001 real people. Search by career title, keyword, topic, and career cluster. Username: portland su and pass code: 3w9n

• Labor Economist
• Associate Economist
• State Department Economic Analyst
• Economic Development Director

Professional Associations

• American Economic Association
  
• NABE (National Association of Business Economists); Portland Chapter.
• Society for Computational Economics
• Economic Science Association

Internet Sites with Career-Related Information for Economics Majors

• Economists and Market and Survey Researchers — Occupational Outlook Handbook.
  
• Economics — Lists potential job titles and related skills. From the University Career and Employment Services at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
• College Majors and Career Opportunities — Economics — Lists related occupations and types of employers. From Career Services, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
• What Can I do with a Major in...Economics — Lists and briefly describes job titles related to economics majors. From the Career Exploration Center at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas.
• What Can I Do With An Undergraduate Degree in Economics — Lists related skills, sample job titles, and areas of employment. From the Counselling Service, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
• Major Resource Kit - Economics — Provides general overview of economics major, related skills, sample job titles, and places of employment. From the Career Services Center at the University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware.
• What Can I Do With a Major in...Economics? — From the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
• Careers in Agricultural & Applied Economics — From the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
• Economics: What Can I Do With This Major? — Outlines common career areas, identifies typical employers, and suggests general strategies to enhance employability. From Career Services at the University of Tennessee.
• Careers for Economic Majors — From the University of Colorado

Internet Sites with Job Search Information for Economics Majors

• AAEA Online Employment Center — American Agricultural & Applied Economics Association jobs data base. Majority of jobs posted required Ph.D. or at least a master's degree.
• USA Jobs — Use keywords such as "economist" and "economics".
• League of Oregon Cities — Intern Placement and Referral Service

Places of Employment
Places of employment for economists include: government agencies, businesses (banks/financial institutions, insurance companies, market research firms, consulting firms), utilities, research institutes, and educational institutions.

The following list of employers and job titles was derived from the Career Center's jobs database where the employer specifically requested economic majors. This list does not reflect all potential places of employment or kinds of jobs for economics majors. This list does not reflect current openings.

• ABF Freight System, Inc. — Management Trainee
• Anvil Media, Inc. — Account Coordinator
• Beck Group, The — Consultant/Analyst
• Benton County — Administrative Aide (Willamette Criminal Justice Council Coordinator)
• Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) — Industry Economist
• Bureau of Land Management, U. S. Department of the Interior — Economist
• Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Calypte Biomedical Corporation — Business Development Analyst
• Capital One — Analyst, Data Analyst
• Campbell Group, The — Forestry Planning Analysts
• Chase — Credit Examiner
• City of Beaverton — Economic Development (CDBG) Project Coordinator, Economic Development Manager
• City of Hillsboro — Development Project Coordinator, Financial Analyst
• City of Portland — Economic Opportunity Program Specialist, Senior Financial Analyst
• City of Redmond — Budget Analyst
• City of Salem — Labor Relations Administrator, Treasury Officer
• Climate Solutions — Harvesting Clean Energy Organizer
• Columbia Sportswear — Buyer 1
• Columbia Grain International — Management Trainee
• Cornerstone Revolutions, Inc. — Professional Services Associate/Technical Support Analyst
• Cowlitz County — Chief Business-Industrial Appraiser
• Contra Costa County — Junior Appraiser
• Database Marketing Agency, Inc.(DMA) — Market Research Analyst
• Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture — Economist
• Economic Insight - Economic Analysis, Litigation Support and Energy Experts
• Energy Trust of Oregon, The — Planning Project Engineer
• Enterprise Rent-A-Car — Sales/Management Trainee
• EPIS, Inc. — Energy Data Analyst, Energy Modeling Support Analyst
• Farr Financial — Trade Desk Account Executive
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — Financial Institution Specialists through the Corporate Employee Program, a three-year career internship program where participants learn about all aspects of the FDIC's financial institution regulatory program.
• Federal Reserve Board — Economist, Research Assistant
• Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco: Employment Opportunities
• Fisher Investments — Investments Associate, Account Executive, Financial Services Representative
• GE Interlogix — Sales Analyst
• Genesis Financial Solutions — Reporting Analyst, Risk Analyst
• GTS Services, LLC — Finance Manager
• Hobson Ferrarini Associates — Real Estate Development Analyst
• Hollywood Entertainment — Director of Cash Management; Director of Merchandising, Games; Senior Games Buyer, Manager of Customer Analytics, Procurement Data Analayst
• Household International — Senior Credit Risk Analyst
• Housing Authority of Portland (HAP) — Assistant Director of Resident Services
• HSBC Card Services — Senior Financial/Business Analyst
• ICW Group — Surety Underwriter Trainee
• Intel — Finance Analyst, Operations Finance
• Internal Revenue Service — Economist, Internal Revenue Officer, Operations Research Analysts
• Kaiser Permanente — Senior Analyst, Technical Support Analyst, Senior Director, Information Management Strategy
• Kumar & Associates — Senior Analyst, Senior Manager
• Lynx Capital Partners, LLC — Equities Trader
• McCullough Research — Energy Associate
• McKinsey & Company — Organization Survey Analyst
• Mercy Corps International — Agriculture Project Officer, Small Business Loan Officer
• Microsoft Corporation — Test Apprentice Program
• Moss Adams LLP — Financial Analyst
• Metro/MERC — Assistant, Associate and/or Senior Transportation Modeler, Assistant Regional Planner
• Microsoft — Test Apprentice Program (9-month, paid, full-time employment and training for non CS/CE majors desiring to become software developers)
• Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort — Vault/Audit Staff
• NACCO Materials Handling Group — Sr. Financial Analyst
• National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) — Credit Union Examiner
• Nike — Capital Planning Analyst, Logistics Analyst
• NPC Research (Northwest Professional Consortium Inc.) — Project Coordinator/Data Manager, Project Director/Data Analyst
• Oregon Business Development — Economist 3
• Oregon Department of Environmental Quality — Fiscal Analyst 2 - Budget Analyst
• Oregon Department of Revenue
• Oregon Department of Transportation, Financial Services, Financial and Economic Analysis Unit — State Transportation Economist/Chief Analyst
• Oregon Department of Transportation, Transportation Development Division — Planner 3 (Transportation Economist)
• Oregon Economic and Community Development Department
• Oregon Employment Department — Employment Economist 1, Employment Economist 2
• Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) — Accounting Technician, Research Associate/Statistical Programmer
• Oregon Legislative Administration Committee — Economist
• Oregon Lottery — Research Analyst 1
• Oregon Office of Economic Analysis
• Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) — Internal Auditor 3
• Oregon Public Utility Commission, Economic Research and Financial Analysis Division — Utility Analyst (Utility Economist)
• Oregon Secretary of State Audits Division — State Auditor 1
• Paccess — Regional Market Manager, Latin America
• PacifiCorp — Energy Market Trader, Risk Management Analyst, Lead Energy Market Analyst, Trader — Energy Transaction, Risk Analyst, Regulatory Consultant, Energy Portfolio Analyst, Business System Analyst
• Pension Consulting Alliance, Inc. — Financial Analyst
• Port of Portland — Senior Research Analyst, Financial Analyst III
• Portland Development Commission (PDC) — Economic Development Director, Senior Project/Program Coordinator, Senior Budget Analyst, Principal Debt Analyst, Team Division Manager, Principal Budget Analyst, Project Program Manager
• Portland General Electric (PGE) — Business Analyst, Power Analyst
• Portland Public Schools — Data Analyst
• PPM Energy, Inc. — Structuring Analyst
• Precision Castparts Corp — Senior Buyer, Purchasing Analyst
• Regence Group, The — Healthcare Informatics Analyst
• R.V. Kuhns & Associates — Associate Consultant
• Seattle City Light — Strategic Advisor for Integrated Resource Planning
• Seattle-Northwest Securities — Public Finance Associate
• St. Paul Travelers Companies, The — Underwriter Insurance Associate
• State of Oregon — Fiscal Analyst 2 - Budget Analyst, Operations & Policy Analyst 3, Procurement & contract Specialist 3, Internal Auditor 1, Government Auditor 2
• TransCanada — Business Analyst
• Travelers Insurance — Underwriting Trainee
• Tri-Met — Executive Director, Government Affairs, Maintenance Analyst
• Umatilla County — Director of Economic Development
• US Department of Agriculture — Auditor (requires 15 credit hours of accounting)
• US District Court - Oregon — Finance Support Specialist
• US Postal Service — Marketing Specialist
• Waddell & Reed — Financial Planner/Advisor
• Worksystems, Inc. — Director of Community Investments
• World Cancer Research Fund International — Management Development Program

Department of Economics - Portland State University