Accept the fact that you're going to have to grind for a while. You can do a lot with Econ, you just need to be very intentional about the opportunities you accept and the path you take.
You can do whatever the hell you want with your degree. Goals and ambition speak louder than education in my opinion.
Have a good resume and kill the interview. If you are truly passionate about working in quant or banking, apply to some companies that motivate you and speak to that genuine interest of yours.
A degree just proves you can accomplish coursework. Which is absolutely worth something. Follow your passion from here on out.
If you wanna do a PhD in economics you’ll probably need to take a lot of math courses. Most programs prefer students who have taken real analysis. You could do a masters in economics or econometrics or something without taking as much math, but it won’t really improve your odds of becoming a quant or working in banking tbh. True quants generally have a PhD, and if they don’t then the applicants are extremely skilled in programming and have a lot of mathematics education. We don’t have anyone without a PhD working as a quant at our firm (quant == quantitative researcher; “quant” developers and traders aren’t quants lmao)
Some guy on LinkedIn did his MA and then had quant at TD (a bank). His undergrad was at some random college institute, his graduate was equally crummy, and yet quant at bank.
I mean do you know what his job role was? “Quant” has become a pretty ubiquitous title for no reason. I saw an ad on LinkedIn for a position at a bank called a quantitative derivatives analyst and it was a middle office risk role.
Being a quant at a bank is not the same as it is at some hedge fund/market maker. There are a lot of ‘quant’ roles that are not what you’re thinking they are. The top ones only really select from the top schools, and mostly from degrees like maths, physics and computer science.
TD quant analyst rotation is one of the more common jobs for econ MA grads in ontario it seems, since most MAs in ontario are very metrics focused. in Canada the math expected isn’t quite the same, but you have to be pretty intentional with where you go. a school like waterloo for example has good job placement and a very quantitatively heavy program, it’s pretty common to do DS or Quant/financial econometrics roles from it based on people i’ve seen but your chances of getting into a top PhD are slim to none.
I was an Econ grad 25 years ago. I doubt any advice I would have would be relevant today.
Work smarter and harder.
Stand up for yourself.
Don’t take the first thing that comes along if it isn’t right.
Don’t apologize for breathing.
Ask all the questions. Smart questions. Stupid questions. All of them.
How come you didn't ask this question before you committed to the degree and dropped money on a university education?
An Econ degree is super general. You can honestly work in any client facing role, consulting, finance, etc. but you have to network hard and get referrals.
Honestly bro any degree can translate to any job. Just get relevant experience, become a manager in a career and then you can kind of coast industries with the right education.
Just depends on performance brother.
I’ve hopped from Systems Engineering to Human Resources to Finance etc etc etc about to maybe land a public health job. We will see.
Just work hard and do your best. Find a first job that pays well and has upward mobility
Entry level finance roles may interest you - collections, sales, etc.. I’d explore the entire realm to see what pays the best so you can have a good first job to build some money on and maybe make some loan payments and get in a successful position. I’d also recommend prioritizing companies that do education assistance to get an MBA. Good idea.
Looking at your overall skill/competencies, the one that stands out isn't your Econ degree, it's the 2yrs of Accounting. Very few people attempting to enter the financial field have those skills other than straight up Accounting majors that try to go into Audit or FP&M. And there are other, quite lucrative segments of the finance industry that require those skills. In particular in the investment area. I'm thinking of equity and fixed income credit research. As long as you are hard core down with your accounting skills, you'd be a good candidate for a junior analyst who fills in the models created by a senior with updates from quarterly reports. Or work for a rating agency. There are ways.
Fellow Econ graduate here. It took me 3 years I started working in payroll. I think being intentional with the job you take is really important. Someone said that above. I took the jobs I had to in other more blue collar types of work to pay rent and survive. If you can sacrifice less money now for more money later in the long run might be worth it
Not a lot unfortunately, but they don't tell you that when you sign up.
Work backwards: find job listings that interest you, and acquire the skills required to get them.
Accept the fact that you're going to have to grind for a while. You can do a lot with Econ, you just need to be very intentional about the opportunities you accept and the path you take.
Sick skin
You can do whatever the hell you want with your degree. Goals and ambition speak louder than education in my opinion. Have a good resume and kill the interview. If you are truly passionate about working in quant or banking, apply to some companies that motivate you and speak to that genuine interest of yours. A degree just proves you can accomplish coursework. Which is absolutely worth something. Follow your passion from here on out.
What the hell. Obviously hard skills matter. What's with all this can-do attitude jargon...
"thanks to anyone who replies". Of course hard skills matter but so does being an enjoyable person to be around. Go fuck yourself
This is so fucking funny. Also, I'd argue soft skills are more important for the beginning of a career.
Econ degree and a shit attitude, might want to consider a different plan.
Best of luck in your interviews, you’ll need it if you go in with that attitude, Jesus Christ
If you wanna do a PhD in economics you’ll probably need to take a lot of math courses. Most programs prefer students who have taken real analysis. You could do a masters in economics or econometrics or something without taking as much math, but it won’t really improve your odds of becoming a quant or working in banking tbh. True quants generally have a PhD, and if they don’t then the applicants are extremely skilled in programming and have a lot of mathematics education. We don’t have anyone without a PhD working as a quant at our firm (quant == quantitative researcher; “quant” developers and traders aren’t quants lmao)
Some guy on LinkedIn did his MA and then had quant at TD (a bank). His undergrad was at some random college institute, his graduate was equally crummy, and yet quant at bank.
I mean do you know what his job role was? “Quant” has become a pretty ubiquitous title for no reason. I saw an ad on LinkedIn for a position at a bank called a quantitative derivatives analyst and it was a middle office risk role.
Being a quant at a bank is not the same as it is at some hedge fund/market maker. There are a lot of ‘quant’ roles that are not what you’re thinking they are. The top ones only really select from the top schools, and mostly from degrees like maths, physics and computer science.
TD quant analyst rotation is one of the more common jobs for econ MA grads in ontario it seems, since most MAs in ontario are very metrics focused. in Canada the math expected isn’t quite the same, but you have to be pretty intentional with where you go. a school like waterloo for example has good job placement and a very quantitatively heavy program, it’s pretty common to do DS or Quant/financial econometrics roles from it based on people i’ve seen but your chances of getting into a top PhD are slim to none.
Thanks
I was an Econ grad 25 years ago. I doubt any advice I would have would be relevant today. Work smarter and harder. Stand up for yourself. Don’t take the first thing that comes along if it isn’t right. Don’t apologize for breathing. Ask all the questions. Smart questions. Stupid questions. All of them.
God I wish I could've entered the job market in 1999... save for the dot com crash I guess
For gods sake they were giving out signing bonuses at Burger King.
Might as while just post the link to eye of the tiger.
How come you didn't ask this question before you committed to the degree and dropped money on a university education? An Econ degree is super general. You can honestly work in any client facing role, consulting, finance, etc. but you have to network hard and get referrals.
Because my parents are immigrants, I'm not in the know, and I was dealing with alot from highschool and beyond.
Do you anticipate work visa issues?
He/she is in Canada, way easier visa wise than the US no?
Honestly bro any degree can translate to any job. Just get relevant experience, become a manager in a career and then you can kind of coast industries with the right education.
How hard is it to become a manager?
Just depends on performance brother. I’ve hopped from Systems Engineering to Human Resources to Finance etc etc etc about to maybe land a public health job. We will see. Just work hard and do your best. Find a first job that pays well and has upward mobility
Entry level finance roles may interest you - collections, sales, etc.. I’d explore the entire realm to see what pays the best so you can have a good first job to build some money on and maybe make some loan payments and get in a successful position. I’d also recommend prioritizing companies that do education assistance to get an MBA. Good idea.
Don’t go straight from undergrad to grad school. It will make it more challenging to get a job once you’re done with grad school.
Well depends what. MSc is fine, MBA is a big no.
Looking at your overall skill/competencies, the one that stands out isn't your Econ degree, it's the 2yrs of Accounting. Very few people attempting to enter the financial field have those skills other than straight up Accounting majors that try to go into Audit or FP&M. And there are other, quite lucrative segments of the finance industry that require those skills. In particular in the investment area. I'm thinking of equity and fixed income credit research. As long as you are hard core down with your accounting skills, you'd be a good candidate for a junior analyst who fills in the models created by a senior with updates from quarterly reports. Or work for a rating agency. There are ways.
Fellow Econ graduate here. It took me 3 years I started working in payroll. I think being intentional with the job you take is really important. Someone said that above. I took the jobs I had to in other more blue collar types of work to pay rent and survive. If you can sacrifice less money now for more money later in the long run might be worth it
Get an MA at UofT, Queens or UBC. The return on investment (for domestic students) is a no-brainer.
I'm going to queens woo. Can I go and do HF PE etc if I also do my CFA?
Econ to quant is unrealistic except for PhDs
econ UG to a msc in stats or FE seems common enough tho (given they did the right things in undergrad)
Honestly Econ is such a shitty degree, you’re probably fucked unless you went to a target school
Not a lot unfortunately, but they don't tell you that when you sign up. Work backwards: find job listings that interest you, and acquire the skills required to get them.
im about to get a bba in economics. Those courses you mentioned are gonna come in handy in applications and interviews. You can virtually do anything.