Private Sector Jobs

[econsgirl]

Hey guys, so here's the situation. I have talked to some of my professors and they frankly told me that chances to get into Top 20 programmes are slim. (because I am an international applicant and I am not from a very reknown university in Economics plus I have not done anything that drastic to impress anyone yet)

 

However, my professors have told me that if I'm not aiming to become a professor, then I don't have to worry about not getting into top 20 programmes. My concern here is that lets say I get into top 20 to 50 programmes, what kind of career options are available for me in the private sector/institutions? I know people hire Econs PHD to do research in institutions like IMF/Fed/Banks, consultancy... what are other widely available jobs?

 

Will it be easy to get these jobs if I graduate from top 20 to 50 schools? I'm not aiming to make lots of money... But say get an 80K-100K job for starting pay in private sector? Is it gonna be tough?

[YoungEconomist]

You will have many opportunities outside of academia, such as, consulting, banking, insurance, transfer pricing, other corporate economist jobs, the FED, IMF, World Bank, Local/State/Federal Government, thinks tanks, and probably many more. I don't know about the public sector or think tank jobs above, but I think you can definitely make between $80K - $100K in the private sector (in fact, in some jobs you'll probably start out in excess of $100K).

 

You can take a look here, as Econ PhDs are qualified for some of these private sector jobs: Analytic Recruiting - Major Job Search Categories

 

However, I hope you realize that you can still be an academic if that's what you truly want. I got the sense that you think you cannot be an academic coming from a school in the 20 - 50 range, which is simply not true. Sure, your chances of landing a job in a school in the top 30 is almost nil, and even getting a 30 - 50 placement is pretty slim. If you're willing to work at a school outside of the top 50 though, you'll likely have a shot at some places. And then there is small state schools, small private schools, and liberal arts colleges; you can be competitive at many of these schools coming from the 20 - 50 range. As far as pay goes, I think the average starting salary at a research university with a PhD program that's outside the top 30 is approximately $80K. At the other types of schools I mentioned, I think the average starting salary is about $65K.