Your lifetime earnings will depend on a range of factors, including your own talents and abilities. However, economic analysis tells us that occupation is important.
As an economist you will be open to a range of different jobs and careers. Some graduates will go into finance, as managers, traders, advisors etc, others may go into the public sector with jobs in HM Treasury or as an employee of the Government Economic Service (GES). Economists have flexibility.
For example, the GES is the UK's largest employer of economists. Within the GES there are 30 departments ranging from the Ministry of Defence to the Food Standards Agency. Your job could range from analysing how much salt should legally be allowed to be added to a loaf of bread to developing defence related statistics which allow you to advise on defence issues.
Alternatively you could become an Actuary, applying financial and statistical theories to solve business problems. Actuaries' work tends to be viewed as ‘risk managing’, they assess how likely it is that an event may happen and look at the costs associated with it.
You could be an investment analyst; this involves researching investment opportunities and providing ideas to fund managers. The information you provide as an investment analyst will then help the fund manager with their investment portfolio decisions.
If you feel you enjoy the statistical side of economics you could become a statistician, collecting, analysing, interpreting and presenting quantitative information. This leads you into many areas, education, healthcare, finance, industry, government...
Academia is another option; further study may lead you to a Masters and a PhD and then research. Research is likely to include some aspect of teaching at different levels. This then allows you to focus your attention on specific areas that interest you.
The opportunities for economics graduates are varied with the opportunity for you to pursue your interests, be it agricultural economics or finance.
For example, graduates who enter careers in the field of financial economics tend to earn more than those who choose a career in development economics or academia. However studying economics not only prepares you for employment in some of the better-paid occupations, it also enables you to put into perspective other factors that will determine your lifetime earnings.
