Best & Worst Things About This Career
As reported by people currently doing the job
"Some of the best things about my career are that I am constantly learning something new and interacting with new people, and this allows me to really let my extraverted side shine. But at the same time, due to the cyclical nature of the job, it's hard for me to feel a real sense of accomplishment. The work is never done, and there are no real final deadlines when everything is done. I am working on several deadlines at once, and I am never without at least two full assignments to work on."
School : BA in Political Science with a minor in Latin American Studies, University of Notre Dame MA in International Political Economy & Development, Fordham University MA in Economics, Fordham University Advanced Certificate in Emerging Markets and Country Risk Analysis, Fordham University
Career: Economist, currently based in New York.;
"The best part of my job is that I get to learn about new things all the time. To discuss a topic with a colleague, I need to read some background materials, which often introduce me to issues I knew nothing about. The worst part is that project work is the priority for my organization and my colleagues, because that is how the institute makes money. So working with me on papers sometimes becomes a low priority."
School : BA, Economics, Stanford University MA, International Development Policy, Stanford University Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
Career: Social Science Researcher, currently based in North Carolina.;
Tips for Succeeding in This Career
Helpful Info From Insiders
"If you want to work for the government or in a similar position to mine, make sure you take a lot of economics and statistics courses. Also, it can be helpful to try to get part time work with the government to get your foot in the door and obtain status for your applications. For my particular position, excellent interviewing skills are key - if you don't sound confident in person or on the phone, the interviewer will probably not want to hire you and if you're speaking with a respondent, they may not want to provide you with data."
School : BA in Political Science with a minor in Latin American Studies, University of Notre Dame MA in International Political Economy & Development, Fordham University MA in Economics, Fordham University Advanced Certificate in Emerging Markets and Country Risk Analysis, Fordham University
Career: Economist, currently based in New York.;
"1. Try to think up independent research projects and work on them until you have a completed paper. This will give you a feel for all the stages involved (designing research question, reading background literature, gathering data, analysis, writing). You may like some parts more than others, but you need to be able to do all these things. 2. Submitting papers to conferences is a great way to push yourself to finish a paper and then improve it. If it gets accepted, you won't want to embarrass yourself in front of an audience! 3. Be prepared to spend a lot of time revising. Papers go through countless drafts before they get published. 4. Take at least a few statistics classes, even if they don't come naturally to you. Statistics have made inroads in all social sciences, and you need to at least understand the analysis, even if you don't plan on carrying it out yourself."
School : BA, Economics, Stanford University MA, International Development Policy, Stanford University Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
Career: Social Science Researcher, currently based in North Carolina.;
