Work Options after Economics Honours

Audit

A lot of audit firms require risk analysts at the entry levels to perform basic tasks. Some of the most prestigious names in the industry such as Deloitte or EY are among regular recruiters from top campuses and packages can be really high for the best of them. While a lot of jobs at this stage would undoubtedly involve repeated mundane number crunching, an early start in a big company paves the way for natural progression at the work place. 

Economic Research & Analysis

A lot of Economics graduates naturally veer towards a career in Statistics or the Actuarial Sciences. These are fields which use numbers and stats to solve economic problems and study theories. This can be the perfect career move from Economics grads who hope to do a Masters from the top universities in India or abroad. Professionals must make sure that they get some involvement in hands-on field study as well to accompany with the secondary research.

Business Consulting

Consulting is the dream career move for a lot of management professionals. Thus economics graduates whose aim is to do an MBA from some of India’s top colleges or even go abroad, this is the best move. They will start at the entry level but will get an overview of how consulting works before venturing off for their higher education. It is popularly known that if any student is considered as good enough for BCG, then its immediate rivals- McKinsey and Bain- naturally go headlong to recruit the student. This works vice-versa as well.  

Media

Specifically the field of economic or financial journalism is what attracts economics graduates. Students may get recruited by business newspapers such as Economic Times, Business Standard or Business Line or for the business sections of other general reading papers. They may even get recruited for top business channels such as CNBC India or NDTV Profit. 

Academics

This is one field where talented professionals are always required. While a Master’s degree and / or a B. Ed. Are desirable for teaching at higher levels, fresh graduates could take up a stint teaching at schools, large tuition centres or coaching institutions. A lot of people prefer to take up a distance learning Master’s or B. Ed, along with their academic work as it complements well. 

Non-Profit

The non-profit industry is forever in search of professional executives or managers. Economics graduates could help in teaching of underprivileged sections or in managerial positions. Fund-raising is one activity at which a lot of them have a knock for. 

Marketing Research

As opposed to economic research, this does not hypothesize economic or macro problems. Instead, this field looks into issues to do with the respective markets. Firms such as Nielsen, Synovate or IPSOS look to recruit young analysts with a flair for numbers. Anyone keen on a career in marketing must explore this option. In addition to economics and numbers, the applicant must have good computer skills as specific softwares are used for this. 

Think –Tanks

These are organizations that work towards social policy or economic strategy. They perform studies on several fields which are submitted to key stakeholder organizations or the government for taking further action. This kind of work is often termed as applied research. There are several Indian think-tanks for economic research such as ICRIER or NCAER. Internships are the best way to penetrate into such prestigious bodies before permanent positions may be offered. 

Business Analytics

This is another field where a flair for numbers helps immensely. An equal flair for IT skills is needed. This is one of the hottest and fastest growing fields in the country right now. Major players in this include the likes of WNS, Mu Sigma and Absolut Data.