What Can I Do with My Economics or Political Economy Major?

The mission of the economics program is to teach students a deliberate method of reasoning and to apply this method to the exploration of economic issues throughout the world. Students in Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences may major in either economics or political economy. The economics major includes coursework in microeconomics, macroeconomics, economic theory, and econometrics. The major in political economy emphasizes the intersection between economics and politics. While both economics and political economy both teach formal modeling, quantitative methods, and comparative case study methods, political economy also analyzes how international and domestic political factors interact with macro and micro economic factors. This allows students to explore a wide variety of areas including globalization, international trade, international finance, regulation, development, taxes, institutional design, and income distribution.

Graduates of these majors are prepared for the study and practice of domestic and international economy. It is common for graduates to explore jobs in consulting and finance upon graduation. In addition, students are well prepared for advanced study in economics as well as fields such as law, management, and public policy

The study of economics or political economy facilitates the development of a core set of skills sought after by employers in a wide range of occupational settings. Throughout your experience in the program, you will obtain the following skills:

Critical Thinking Skills

  • Reasoned approach to problem solving
  • Critical evaluation of economic problems
  • Integration of domestic and international economic thought

Effective Communication Skills

  • Explaining economic phenomena
  • Writing effectively
  • Conveying complex information
  • Speaking to groups

Research Skills

  • Applied statistics
  • Conducting research on economic policy
  • Presenting research findings
  • Critically evaluating research
  • Utilizing creativity in problem solving

You can use the examples above, and experiences from classes or research projects to enhance your resume. Try plugging in some of your experiences or skills gained into this formula: Accomplished (X) as measured by (Y) by doing (Z).

Economics:

Sample Resume Class 1, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Member of Class, taught by Prof. _____

  • Developed understanding of theory and applications of regression analysis and techniques for estimating economic relationships and testing economic hypotheses by (insert course projects/assignments) in Econometrics course 
  • Explored concepts of balance of payments, exchange rates, and macroeconomic tools in an open economy by (insert course projects/assignments) in International Finance course 
  • Grasped the classical and modern theories of the determination of the pattern of commodity trade between nations by (insert course projects/assignments) in International Trade course 

Political Economy:

Sample Resume Class 1, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Member of Class, taught by Prof. _____

  • Studied the social, political, and economic factors that affect and are affected by systems of production, exchange, and distribution by (insert overarching tasks involved in your deliverables from major such as assignments/projects/thesis relevant to your interests)
  • Utilized quantitative methods, such as formal modeling, econometrics, and comparative case study methods, to explore the nature of political and economics preferences, the problems of preference aggregation, and the link between policy preferences and policy outcomes, problems of collective action, and strategic interaction in Analytical Tools for Political Economy course
  • Applied analytical techniques and authored research paper on (insert research topic) to determine (insert research findings)

Georgetown Alumni have taken their economics and political economy degree across multiple different industries and have applied the skills they learned in economics across multiple disciplines.

Economics: 

Political Economy:

Additional information about these outcomes can be found in Cawley’s Post Graduation Outcome Report

“An underrated benefit of majoring in econ is the critical thinking skills you will get. Also, economics exposes you to many different sub-topics that are extremely useful, like statistics, trend analysis, Excel work, and looking analytically at both qualitative and quantitative data. Also, economics is a challenging major, but broad in scope, it allows you to have great problem solving skills and ability to learn quickly for whatever job you pick.” – 2020 Georgetown College Graduate, Economics

“What I enjoyed most about majoring in economics was learning about the intricacies of the economy we currently live in but also understanding the limitations of studying economics in a classroom as a lot of the knowledge will come from looking at real life data and continually educating yourself on the topic outside of the classroom.” – 2020 Georgetown College Graduate, Economics

“There’s a wide variety of upper-level elective courses in the Economics department, allowing you to pursue individual areas of interest. In addition, Introduction to Econometrics was the class that best prepared me for professional work. It covered both the theoretical and practical elements that serve as a basis for further economics-related work.” – 2018 Georgetown College Graduate, Economics

Helpful Keywords to Improve Searches
There are lots of ways to find good keywords to help your job or internship search process, or even just to learn more about the types of jobs you can do within a specific major. One way to explore this is by checking out the job search tool on Google. 

Once you are in, type in something generic like your major and the world internship afterward. Once you hit enter, it will give you lots of options to explore, but if you want to explore titles, possible career paths, or keywords, hover your mouse over the ‘Title’ tab on the top of the page. This will give you a ton of ideas and options to explore possible keywords. 

Sample Internship Opportunities

  • Consulting (e.g., Accenture, Public Strategies, Inc.)
  • Financial Services/Economic Analysis (e.g., RGE Monitor, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, CITI, Prudential Securities)
  • Government (e.g., USDA Economic Research Services)
  • Operations (e.g., Dynamic Credit Partners, Goldman Sachs, Thompson McKinnon Securities)
  • Nonprofit organizations (e.g., Higher Education Policy, Association of American Universities)
  • Public policy institutes (e.g., New America Foundation)
  • Tax firms (e.g., Deloitte & Touche, LLP, KPMG, PWC)
  • Trade and business councils (e.g., US-Russia Business Council)

The Georgetown Economics Department Website is rich with additional information on studying Economics and Political Economy.

GU Economics Department 

Professional Associations are a great place to go to dive deeper into the field of economics and learn more about what post grad life might look like. 

Vault is a fantastic resource to learn more about specific career fields in Economics. Vault has information such as salary information, work environment, education and training requirements, outlooks, and specific tips for entering into the field. 

Professors & Academic Deans
Georgetown professors and faculty members can be a wonderful resource for Georgetown students. If you are still curious to learn more about the disciplines of a specific major, we’d encourage you to connect with your professors! Outside of office hours, Georgetown has an online interface called GU360 where students can explore and connect with faculty members that are eager to mentor and support students. You can use this interface to learn more about specific department research, specialties, and areas of study within a major.  

You can also connect with your academic dean or counselor to further discuss opportunities within a given major. 

Lastly, each department has a dedicated Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). This is the individual in charge of coordinating the major program or department as a whole. You can find the Director of Undergraduate Studies by exploring the faculty and staff pages of individual departments’ websites.

Alumni 
Connecting with alumni is a fantastic way to explore a day in the life of any given major student. There are several different ways to connect with Georgetown Alums. Hoya Gateway is Georgetown’s premier networking platform which connects alumni and students to have meaningful conversations and build a strong network of support. This is a platform alumni opt into with the sole purpose of supporting current students, which means there is an extremely high response rate. 

You can also utilize LinkedIn to connect with Georgetown Alum. A simple alumni search on Georgetown’s LinkedIn profile will help you get connected to approximately 130 thousand alumni, which you can then filter to meet the location, major, industry, or skills that you are interested in exploring.

You can also check out our Post Graduation Outcomes to learn more about what Georgetown alumni in specific majors are up to after graduation. We survey our seniors at the end of each year and into the following year to learn about jobs they secured, service opportunities they committed to, or graduate schools they decided to attend. You can filter by first major to get an idea of what life after Georgetown looks like. You’ll see in many cases that alums are using majors in a wide variety of ways, and your major doesn’t always equal your career path. 

Career Center Staff
You can also connect with career center staff to talk through the possible outcomes of one major over another. In short, there are endless opportunities no matter what major you choose. However, connecting with someone might help you navigate your decision making process a little bit easier. 

At the career center, you have the opportunity to meet with either a Career Exploration Counselor or an Industry Advisor. Career Exploration Counselors can help you talk through concerns, goals, the big picture, and strategies to move forward. You can think of them as generalists and a great place to get started. Industry Advisors can help you think through specific questions about a given career path and provide specific industry information and trends. You can think of them as specialists for once you start to narrow down your possible path. If you think an appointment with one of these individuals would benefit you, you can make an appointment on Handshake.

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