Terd Ferguson Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Do you guys know of ACTUAL private sector jobs for Economics PhDs? People always say that there are lots of jobs, but what are they? I'm looking for responses like "Company XYZ has ABC position". I know that there is litigation work, but that doesn't sound that great to me. What do econometricians do? Why is it that companies like Bain, BCG, and McKinsey don't really use PhDs in Economics? Even there research departments use more MBAs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constrainedoptimizer Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Check this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terd Ferguson Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 Thanks. It seems like almost all jobs involve litigation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 It seems like almost all jobs involve litigation. I think there are probably a lot of private sector jobs outside of litigation. Companies like Deloitte & Touche and Price Waterhouse Coopers hire PhD economists (I think in their transfer pricing department). Also, if you're interested in finance there's tons of private sector jobs. Sometimes on school placements I also see companies (like Sprint) although I don't know what economists do there. Here's also a website which has some private sector jobs that Econ PhDs can get: Analytic Recruiting - Major Job Search Categories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notacolour Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I don't see how you get out of JOE that almost all jobs involve litigation. Looking at the November release, I see: government contract-based consulting firms like Abt and RTI government positions--which I know aren't private sector, but they are non-academic--in places like the CBO, the Fed, and the FDA positions for health economists at organizations like the AMA think tanks/research institutes like the Urban Institute and the Heritage Foundation banks and financial institutions what appear to be more business-based consulting firms And then there are companies I don't recognize. I guess some of those could be litigation-based positions, but I don't know. Regardless, there are plenty of other opportunities available in just this one month of listings. Actual job possibilities would depend more on your area of interest, but there are all sorts of private-sector jobs out there for economists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Do you guys know of ACTUAL private sector jobs for Economics PhDs? People always say that there are lots of jobs, but what are they? I'm looking for responses like "Company XYZ has ABC position". I know that there is litigation work, but that doesn't sound that great to me. What do econometricians do? Why is it that companies like Bain, BCG, and McKinsey don't really use PhDs in Economics? Even there research departments use more MBAs. Last year some job market candidate from Purdue went to work at Bain, and the thesis title sounded like it was applied micro kind of paper. A year before then, someone went to work at Federal Express. One of 2007 job market candidates from MSU accepted a position with an insurance company that was specifically looking for an expert in panel data analysis. Rice had placed some applied micro people at Deloitte & Touche, and Ernst & Young. Also, the finance industry (both private and investment banks) are a HUGE source of private sector employment for qualified economists. Almost every school that trains people in macroeconomics, time series, financial economics often sends some of its job market candidates to work at those places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheng75 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 These 2 companies come to mind for now (will post later when I think of more): Economics Research, Economic Planning, Economic Analysis, Policy Welch Consulting - Expert Services in Economics & Statistics (reputable in LA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terd Ferguson Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 these replies were exactly what i was looking for. thanks guys. do you know what position the guy at bain went into from purdue? this leads me to another questions: In some circumstances can a PhD be less helpful than a Masters. For instance, my school's PhD program is ranked 20-25ish and their undergrad is probably 40ish or something. I know that places like bain hire from their undergrad all the time and other school alike, but it seems like phd's are only hired from top 10 schools. is getting a phd at a non-top 10 school going to make you over qualified for entry positions that undergrads or masters can get, but underqualified for higher positions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungEconomist Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Is getting a phd at a non-top 10 school going to make you over qualified for entry positions that undergrads or masters can get, but underqualified for higher positions? I don't think so. I have searched numerous economic consulting firms websites, looking for the schools their consultants went to. There are people who have high positions in top consulting firms with just a masters in econ (from the same US schools that people keep saying aren't very strong). Furthermore, you see a lot of consultants who went to top 30 schools and received an Econ PhD. Then you also see some people who went to lesser known schools. I think in the private sector, you can land some good jobs at top notch places even without a PhD from a top 10. Once you're hired I think people mainly get promoted (and fired) based upon the quality of their work (just like in academia). IMHO, I honestly believe that the private sector is not as picky about where you got your degree. Don't get me wrong, they still like people who went to top schools, it's just that I think they're more likely to give someone from a lower ranked school a chance and see how it works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina 07 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 IMHO, I honestly believe that the private sector is not as picky about where you got your degree. Don't get me wrong, they still like people who went to top schools, it's just that I think they're more likely to give someone from a lower ranked school a chance and see how it works out. I can sorta see that. There's a weekly seminar here for first-years which basically exposes them to all the profs in the department and when some of the international people were speaking a student asked whether anyone new would be hired in the near future, and the profs' response basically was "once we find someone we really, really, really like. But we're picky. So we'd rather wait for a while, wanting to find someone, than hire someone not up to par." Okay, that was a really random statement but I'll share it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weary Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 There are also media companies for your econometric skills to apply in quantitative marketing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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