E-Portfolio Project: Assessing a career in Business

E-Portfolio Project: Assessing a career in Business

Hector Hernandez

Salt Lake City Community College

Professor Cindy Briggs

April 28th, 2017

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Abstract:

Economists conduct research, gather and analyze data, monitor economic trends, and

construct forecast on multiple issues, including energy costs, interest rates, inflation, exchange

rates, business cycles, employment and level, and taxes. An Economist is a practitioner in the

social science discipline of economics Economist. (2017, April 28). Retrieved April 29, 2017,

from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist.

An economist is also focused to the study of specific markets, macroeconomic analysis,

microeconomic analysis or financial statement analysis, involving analytical methods and tools

such as econometrics, statistics, economics computational models, financial economics,

mathematical finance and mathematical economics.

Although many economists work on their own in their office, there can be situations

where they can sometimes work in collaborations with other economists, they usually work full

time during regular business hours, but occasionally work overtime to meet deadlines.

A Ph.D. or Masters degree in economics is mandatory for several private sector

economist positions and for advancement to higher positions. Entry-level economist positions

require a bachelors degree with a minimum of 21 semester hours of economics and 3 hours of

statistics, calculus or accounting. Some entry-level jobs, primarily in the federal government are

available for workers with a bachelors degree. Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017,

from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/economists.htm.

The median annual wage for economists was $101,050 in May 2016. But it used to be of

$83,590 before, so with this information we can tell that the job of an economist Is becoming

more required and better paid, because as we all know, money and businesses are everywhere,
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and it is very important to know where are we situated especially business owners, and that is

why economist are there for. The middle fifty percent makes between $59,390 and $113,590. The

lowest ten percent makes less than $44,055 and the highest ten percent makes more than

$149,110.

Main Body:

Employment of economists is projected to grow 14 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as

fast as the average for all occupations. Job prospects should be best for those with a masters

degree or Ph.D., strong analytical skills, and related work experience.

Popular skills for Economists consist of: Statistical Analysis, Data modeling, Policy

analysis, Data analysis and Research analysis, according to Payscale.com, Houston is the best

city for job opportunities as an Economist, followed by Washington and Seattle, where the least

one is Chicago.

As we all know, every job has its own Pros and Cons, which are:

Pro: You will almost definitely have a job when you graduate. Con: Theres a good

chance that the job wont be in your field.

Pro: You are learning valuable skills. Con: You need to get a graduate degree.
You are learning interesting things. Con: It has a bad wrap.
Pro: This is a great major for indecisive people. Con: You will have to take more math

classes than many of your friends.

Pro: It is one of the up-grossing majors.

Important Duties that an Economist must do are: Researching and analyzing economic

issues, conducting surveys and collecting data, analyzing data using mathematical models and

statistical techniques, prepare reports, tables, and charts that represent research results, interpret
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and forecast market trends, advise businesses, governments, and individuals on economic

problems, and write articles for publication in academic journals and other media sources.

Economist. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from https://www.truity.com/career-

profile/economist.

Nearly half of all economists work in federal, state, and local government, Federal

government economists collect and analyze data about the U.S. economy, including employment,

prices, productivity, and wages among other types of data. They also project spending needs and

inform policymakers on the economic impact of laws and regulations, Economist. (n.d.).

Retrieved April 29, 2017, from https://www.truity.com/career-profile/economist.

One of the very important things to know is the fact that many economists work for

corporations and help them understand how the economy will affect their business, specifically,

they may analyze issues such as consumer demand and sales to help a company maximize its

profits.

Very important Qualities that an Economist needs to have to be successful at his job are:

Communication skills, Critical-thinking skills, Detail oriented, Math skills, writing skills, etc.

A notable example of a famous Economist is Paul Krugman, who left his mark in three

distinct ways: Through the power of ideas through the art of public persuasion, and through the

shaping of historic changes. He was once called an all-purpose pest to the Bush administration.

He has been recognized for many as a brilliant and prescient analyst and, more important, a man

of courage who stepped up to the plate in the aftermath of 9/11, when his journalists became

derelict in their duty to question, probe, and dissent.

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Krugman was one of the first economists to incorporate increasing returns and imperfect

competition explicitly in trade models. In the Macroeconomic front, he developed the first-

generation model, which locates the causes of currency crises in unsustainable governments

policies. Finance and Development. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2006/06/people.htm.

Krugman has written over 20 books, and published over 200 articles in professional

journals and edited volumes, which all consist of a wide range of economic issues including

income distribution, taxation, macroeconomics, and international economics.

Overall, I do believe that my fit with this career is not the best to be honest, I did choose

it because it is in fact a great career, it provides a great learning about the economic world and

how businesses works, as well as a great pay, it makes you a very skillful and competent person

for the world but I do believe it is not what I am mostly going for, I have offered myself to learn

about the characteristics of many majors and careers and now that I know better this one in

specific I can honestly and definitely tell that it is not my best option when deciding for my

major but I do believe it is a great career.

References:
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Economics Job Description. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from

http://jobdescriptions.net/business/economics/

Economists. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-

physical-and-social-science/economists.htm

Economist. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from https://www.truity.com/career-

profile/economist

Economist. (2017, April 28). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist

Economist Salary. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from

http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Economist/Salary

Finance and Development. (n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2006/06/people.htm

Paul Krugman. (2017, April 27). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Krugman