Department of Economics
Department of Economics

Career Planning Outline for Economics Majors

ECO Career Office

Economics Major Career Planning Outline Last Updated on 4.3.23

(To be used with the Personal Strategic Career Plan)

The mission of the Economics Career Office (ECO) is to provide Economics majors with the necessary tools to successfully manage their professional development throughout their careers.

This timeline will help you organize your career planning as an Economics major. You may consider this document your syllabus, and, therefore, this is a 1 to 3-year class that you manage, depending upon when you declare your major. This document is to be used in conjunction with other resources so that you may effectively take control of your job and career research in a timely manner. Ideally, by following the timeline, and doing the bulk of your self-assessment, research, professional material design and presentation preparation early, you will be well on your way to a successful job search during your fourth year. Please be aware that, given the diversity of our student body, each student will want to tailor these activities to his or her personal strategic career goals. Enjoy the process! This "course" is all about you!

Basic Steps: Assess your interests, build your network, design your professional materials, and experience different work environments and job functions to enable you to find enjoyable work and build lifelong job search skills. 

Assessment: Inventory your knowledge, skills ability, interests thoroughly and honestly 

  • PathwayU - Quick Online assessment, which will give you a great place to start. Review with the ECO Career Counselor when complete.
  • ECO Self-Assessment (link)
  • MBTI Indicator- available through UVA Career Center
  • Strong Interest Inventory- available through the ECO
  • Holland Inventory from http://personality-testing.info/tests/RIASEC/

Pursuing Experience: Externship/Internship/Summer Job (During any year while on Grounds and summers of 2nd and 3rd year. A short “internship” or “experience” may be conducted during any break):

  • Ensure that your voicemail is professional and ready to take messages from employers, alumni, and other contacts who may be calling you
  • Ensure that your online identity is professional
    • Use privacy protections for social networking sites
    • Make sure content is appropriate for public viewing
  • Create/ Update your profile on LinkedIn   
    • Indicate that you are attending U.Va
    • Join the U.Va Alumni Association and University of Virginia Alumni Students and Friends groups
    • Add any recent work experiences
    • Connect with at least 5 friends
    • Connect with your favorite professor!
  • Create/update your profile in Handshake
    • GPA (optional)
    • Recent work experiences
    • Modify job alerts to meet your current interests
    • Choose preferences (industry, geographic region, job function)
    • Join at least one professional community at U.Va through your Handshake profile
    • Allow employers to review your online resume (optional)
  • Register for On Grounds Interviewing
  • Read the Hoos Career Guide (link)
  • Familiarize yourself with other resources
    • What is “Career Shift”?
    • What is “Vault”?
    • Interested in internships in Washington, D.C. focusing on public policy, think tanks, non-profit organizations, and media? Research MetroLink consortium
  • Write a draft resume and cover letter for a job that interests you
    • Have your resume and cover letter critiqued by the career office (ECO or Career Center)
      • Make the edits!
      • Attend Resume Marathons
      • Attend Career Fair Simulation
      • Attend Mock Interview Marathons
  • Schedule a mock interview with the ECO or career services to practice your interviewing skills
  • Attend career events. Keep a lookout for:
    • Economics Undergraduate Career Forum
    • ECO How I Got This Job series
    • Commerce Career Fair
    • Women in Economics Symposium
    • Employer Info Sessions through the ECO or Handshake
  • A workshop to create and practice your 30-second pitch/how to tell your story
  • A workshop about preparing for a career fair or view the PowerPoint  
  • The Consulting and Strategy Conference
  • Careers in Finance, Fall Finance Night, Spring Finance Night
  • Economic and Litigation Consulting Night
  • Global Week and Humanitarian and International Development Job panels
  • Fall and Spring Job Fairs
  • Think Tank Trek 
  • Finance Bootcamps
  • Hire Virginia and BioLink
  • Humanitarian Aid and International Development Day
  • Public Health and Non-Clinical Healthcare Career Events
  • Other Career Community Programs
  • Government and Non-Profit Career Expo in Washington D.C. (February)
  • Metrolink (February - applications due in January)
  • Spring Internship and Job Fair
  • Career Treks
  • Attend the UVA Career Center Professional and Graduate School Fair (September)
  • Arrange an informational interview with an alum in a field that interests you
  • Speak about salary negotiation with a career advisor

Grad School:

  • Ensure that your voicemail is professional and ready to take messages from admissions and other contacts who may be calling you
  • Connect with faculty in your area of interest to discuss the process
  • Visit/Connect with the Graduate School offices at the schools you’re interested in
  • Determine the timeline for applications and all prerequisites and application materials needed
  • Contact faculty for references and give them plenty of time and all necessary instructions for providing the reference
  • Use the UVA Career Center’s guidelines and suggestions for graduate school applications as general assistance
  • Ensure that your online identity is professional
    • Use privacy protections for social networking sites
    • Make sure content is appropriate for public viewing
  • Create/ Update your profile on LinkedIn
    • Indicate that you are attending UVA
    • Add any recent experiences
    • Connect with your favorite professor!
  • Attend the UCS Professional and Graduate School Fair (September)
  • Arrange some form of communication with an alum in a school that you are interested in (find on VAM or LInkedIn)
  • Consider pre-doc employment and use the ECO's pre-doc spreadsheet in Collab and Wharton's pre-doc listings
  • Prepare for pre-doc interviews with pre-doc.org 
  • Reviews the Econ RA Guide here

Job Search:

  • Ensure that your voicemail is professional and ready to take messages from employers, alumni, and other contacts who may be calling you
  • Ensures that your online identity is professional
    • Use privacy protections for social networking sites
    • Make sure content is appropriate for public viewing
  • Create/ Update your profile on LinkedIn
    • Indicate that you are attending U.Va
    • Join the U.Va Alumni Association and University of Virginia Alumni Students and Friends groups
    • Add any recent experiences
    • Connect with at least 5 friends
    • Connect with your favorite professor!
  • Create/update your profile in Handshake
    • GPA
    • Recent work experiences
    • Modify job alerts to meet your current interests
    • Join at least one professional community at U.Va through your Handshake profile
  • Register for On Grounds Interviewing and be sure you've taken the required tutorial through Handshake so you may submit resumes
  • Take a career self-assessment:
    • Holland Inventory from http://personality-testing.info/tests/RIASEC/
    • Strong Interest Inventory- available through UVA Career Center
    • MBTI Indicator- available through UVA Career Center  
    • ECO Self-Assessment  
    • PathwayU - free for UVA students
  • Read the Hoos Career Guide 
  • Familiarize yourself with other resources
    • What is “Career Shift”?
    • What is “Vault”?
    • RocketBlocks
    • Management Consulted
    • The Forage
    • Interested in internships in Washington, D.C. focusing on public policy, think tanks, non-profit organizations, and media? Research the ImpactLink consortium and attend Think Tank Treks (virtual or in-person).
    • HireVA
  • Write a draft resume and cover letter for a job that interests you
    • Have your resume and cover letter critiqued by the career office (ECO or Career Center)
      • Make the edits!
      • Attend Resume Marathons
      • Attend Mock Interview Marathons
  • Schedule a mock interview with the ECO or career services to practice your interviewing skills
  • Attend career events. Keep a lookout for:
    • Engineering Career Days
    • Commerce Career Day
      • Commerce Career Day Panel Discussions the day before
    • A workshop to create and practice your 30-second pitch/ how to tell your story
    • A workshop about preparing for a career fair or view the PowerPoint  
    • The Consulting and Case Strategy Symposium
    • Economic and Litigation Consulting Night
    • Fall Finance Night
    • Tech Night Takeover
    • Fintech Panels
    • Other UVA Career Communities programs
    • Government and Non-Profit Career Expo in Washington D.C. (February)
    • Impactlink (February - applications due in January)
    • Spring Internship and Job Fair
    • Attend the UVA Career Center Professional and Graduate School Fair (September)
  • Arrange an informational interview with an alum in a field that interests you
  • Speak about salary negotiation with a career advisor

For Everyone at Any time:

  • Attend Treks organized by UVA Career Offices, ECO, CIOs, Forge, etc.
  • Attend conferences like Uncubed or Kayo Investing or Tom Tom Founders Festival
  • Take advantage of Boot Camp Programs like these:  
    • Finance/Wall Street Prep (Sometimes offered at U.Va.)
    • ManagementConsulted Consulting Bootcamp (Sometimes offered at U.Va.)
    • Hackathons
    • Careers in Finance (UVA Career Center-Commerce School)
  • Take Skills-training courses such as by Lynda to add to your toolkit of skills, which may make you more knowledgeable and competitive in your field of choice:

Go for it!