Careers in economics

• Banks – institutions such as the Bank of England have an economist stream within their graduate development programmes. To find out more about the banking sector, visit our Careers in banking and investment page.
• Other financial services companies – including insurance and accountancy firms. To find out more about the financial services sector, visit our Careers in financial services page.
• Consultancies – if you’re looking for a role where you can apply your economic knowledge more directly, economic consultancy may be worth exploring. Professional services firms such as Deloitte and PWC have specific economic consulting streams, and within the UK there are many consultancies specialising solely in economics, including CEPA, Frontier and Cornerstone Research. Economic consultancies often specialise in specific sectors, such as financial services, energy, or transport. They will also provide particular kinds of consultancy expertise, such as competition policy, regulation, or market analysis. To find out more about a consultancy career, visit our Careers in consultancy page.
• Government departments – the Civil Service is a major employer for economists and many work within the Government Economic Service, Financial Conduct Authority and HMRC. The Government Economic Service is the UK's largest recruiter of economists, recruiting over 100 new graduates into assistant economist posts each year.
• International organisations – to find out more about international organisations, visit our Careers in international organisations page.
• Research institutes and think tanks – typical employers include, Adam Smith Institute (ASI), CESifo Group, Deutsches Institut fuer Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Centre for Economic Policy Research, Institute of Economic Affairs, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), Overseas Development Institute (ODI), New Economics Foundation (NEF) and RAND Corporation.

There are many different job roles in this sector. We've outlined those that are often of interest to LSE students, with links to where you can find more information. If you can, try to talk to someone who's doing the jobs you're interested in, so you can get a real flavour of what it's like:

• Actuarial analysts – use strong mathematical ability to analyse data and assess risk. As an actuarial analyst, you'll be required to understand and use complex mathematical formulas, particularly in the area of advanced statistics and modelling and use spreadsheets or other specialist software to complete data analysis tasks. Check out the Prospects actuarial analyst job profile here.
• Chartered accountants – give advice, audit accounts, and provide trustworthy information about financial records. This might involve financial reporting, taxation, auditing, forensic accounting, corporate finance, business recovery and insolvency, or accounting systems and processes. Chartered accountants work strategically with the aim to maximise profitability on behalf of their client or employer. You can find out more about chartered accountants here.
• Data analysts – are in high demand across all sectors, such as finance, consulting, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, government, and education. The ability to pay attention to detail, communicate well and be highly organised are essential skills for data analysts. They not only need to understand the data but be able to provide insight and analysis through clear visual, written, and verbal communication. Learn more about what data analysts do here.
• Economists – carry out research and collect large amounts of information that can cover any aspect of economic and social policy, ranging from interest rates, taxation and employment levels to energy, health, transport, and international development. Economists analyse the information using specialist software and advanced methods in statistical analysis to produce forecasts of economic trends and make recommendations of ways to improve efficiency. Check out the Prospects economists job profile here.
• Auditors – examine financial records and other data to provide businesses, their investors and market regulators with a clear picture of how they're performing. They also make recommendations for improvement. Although essentially a qualified accountant, their auditing work will extend beyond financial audit as you are working with clients to help them identify and manage risks across all areas of their business is the norm. Check out the Prospects auditors job profile here.
• Investment bankers – provide a range of financial services to companies, institutions and governments with the aim of helping them to achieve their financial goals and implement long and short-term financial plans. Investment bankers manage corporate, strategic and financial opportunities, including: acquisitions, bonds and shares, initial public offerings (IPO), lending, merger and privatisations. You can find out more about what an investment banker does here.
• Financial risk analysts – identify and analyse the areas of potential risk threatening the assets, earning capacity or success of organisations in the industrial, commercial or public sector. They are responsible for predicting change and future trends, as well as forecasting cost to the organisation. Risk analysts may work in sales, origination, trading, marketing, financial services or private banking, specialising in credit, market, operational and regulatory. Read a full risk analyst job description here. 
• Stockbrokers – Stockbrokers buy and sell stocks, shares and other securities on behalf of private and commercial clients, through a stock exchange or over the counter, in return for a fee or a commission. You can find out more about what a stockbroker does here.
• Financial traders – buy and sell shares, bonds and assets for investors, including individuals and banks. They make prices and execute trades, seeking to maximise assets or minimise financial risk. Some specialise in a particular product, such as shares, fixed-interest bonds or foreign exchange (FX) markets. You can read more about what financial traders do on Prospects.

LSE Careers events programmes:

• Discover | Banking and financial services programme (including careers fair)
• Careers in China programme
• Careers in the US and Canada programme
• Discover | Public sector and policy programe
• Discover | Tech programme

• LSE Department of Economics on Youtube
• What’s changing in the sector?
• Discover Economics website

Podcasts to listen to:

• The Economics Detective
• New Books in Economics Podcast
• Freakonomics Radio

• CareerHub – jobs board targeting LSE students, including events and networking opportunities.
• Jobs.ac.uk – research positions in the UK.
• Econ jobs – economist job vacancies.
• Economist jobs – job vacancies.
• Policy jobs – LSE Careers subscribe to this specialist jobs site and sister sites (including Political jobs) so you can access it for free.
• Working 4 an MP

Societies and bodies

• Society of Professional Economists – useful resource for insights into working as an economist in a business. Includes news and jobs board.
• Economic and Social Research Council
• The International Consulting Economists' Association

Economic consultancies

NERA, Oxera, Frontier Economics, Vivid Economics, RBB Economics, Alix Partners, Cornerstone Research, Oxford Economics, and Compass Lexecon.

Research institutes and think tanks

• Institute of Economic Affairs – includes useful information on a wide range of topics including student competitions and internships.
• ODI fellowship scheme – offers postgraduate economists and statisticians the chance to work in developing country public sectors as local civil servants. 

Green Jobs – for the latest carbon finance jobs, climate finance jobs, consultancy jobs, environmental consultant jobs, sustainability consultant jobs, green finance jobs, sustainable finance jobs, economics jobs, environmental economics jobs, ESG investment jobs, green investment jobs, impact investment jobs, natural capital jobs, responsible investment (RI) jobs, socially responsible investing (SRI) jobs, sustainable finance jobs, sustainable investment jobs please visit The GreenJobs Network of websites.

If you would like to discuss your career plans and ideas, you can book a confidential one-to-one careers appointment with one of our careers consultants via CareerHub.

These appointments are for any stage of your career planning, so don’t feel like you need to have everything worked out before booking an appointment.