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Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

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Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#1

Post by katiemerrin »

I am in second year studying Economics and am looking into options for when I graduate. The typical roles for Economics tend to be in banking, finance and consulting. However, I think that I could develop a better career and be far happier in the tech industry. I am not that interested in going down a super technical route involving software development so this post is me trying to work out what other options are available.

So far I have really enjoyed microeconomics, marketing, environmental economics, finance (I like the concepts, not the idea of the finance industry), statistics, data science and policy issues. I know this is quite broad, but this is why I am trying to explore different options.

I would be very interested in hearing peoples experiences, and seeing what roles are out there for a non-technical role at large, medium and start-up companies.

What are my options?

edited:

Thank you for your comments so far. I may have been misunderstood but I am not interested in a Computer Science based role. I am thinking more along the lines of marketing, analytics, sales, business development, corporate finance etc. or other roles that I may not have heard of.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#2

Post by nonrandomstring »

Aristotle had a view of the good life as a middle path between excesses of virtue and vice. I hope you are not offended (by identifying with economics too strongly), if I tell you I share the view of Varoufakis that economics is currently so drained of human values it really requires a complete reboot. It must be tempered to keep it on a middle path. If you choose to go "into Tech" in the way you describe then studying computer science and politics might be of benefit. Knowing what you're doing and why may avert the tragedy of elevating models above the reality they are intended to help manage, or becoming a tool of those with less than benevolent plans for humanity.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#3

Post by samh748 »

Look into the options your school provides in terms of Computer Science. If you plan on finishing your Economics program, then perhaps you could enroll in a 2-year advanced degree designed for graduates to fast-track into CompSci. I haven't done this myself, but my school offers this.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#4

Post by GianFabien »

In my experience, domain specific skills together with technical knowledge will get you further than technical skills alone.

My suggestion is to complete your economics course. Along the way take any electives that allow you to gain some technical proficiency. If your institution doesn't make it possible then you might have to acquire some tech skills through self-study or other means.

Once you graduate look for jobs in banking, finance or insurance that are loosely aligned with your interests and values. I would suggest avoiding consulting firms. Once you have a job on the strength of your recent economics qualifications actively watch for and seek out opportunities where your technical skills add value. That way you differentiate yourself from both your peers and any technical only staff. Currently data science combined with expertise in some niche, e.g. environmental economics, should give you a huge advantage.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#7

Post by formerkrogeremp »

The SEC is expected to announce ESG rules for companies this year for Type I, Type II, and Type III emissions. You might find opportunity there down the road. Nonprofits like the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) currently fulfill the role of emissions reporting to an extent, but the SEC rules may standardize and may add more value to their reporting even if it changes the nonprofit's operations. These accounting rule changes will require public companies to report their climate change risks and emissions, and to provide assurance regarding those risks and emissions. By assurance, I mean that auditors will need to come and audit their environmental reporting. You might try looking into that.

I honestly can't recommend going to work for a Big 4 accounting firm, because you'll find better hours and pay elsewhere. You might want to check out cloudaccountingjobs.com. A lot of small and growing firms are offering SMB consulting with a financial team to do cash flow projections and financial modelling that you might find interesting at places like High Rock accounting. Product or project managers are non-technical roles that are adjacent to technical roles that you might find interesting. Business analysis is always hiring. I'd suggest doing a couple of internships to explore your interests.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#8

Post by huitzitziltzin »

Actual economics professor here…

Take as much econometrics as you can possibly stomach. Augment it with classes from the stat department but econometrics will teach you about making causal inferences in situations where experiments are impossible, unethical, or extremely expensive (or all of the above). Modern empirical economics is 99% about making causal inferences. That’s basically the only thing we care about.

Methods (at the undergrad level) you will want to be familiar with include: difference in differences, regression discontinuity, event study, synthetic control, and the like. Ask your professors in what classes this material is taught.

There is tremendous, enormous demand for this inside tech companies. Amazon has about 400 PhD economists for example. Many other firms are trying to catch up. Jobs are plentiful and extremely lucrative.

If you have any interest in a PhD in the field, a whole new universe of opportunities will open up but I recognize this is not for everyone. There are methods not listed above which you could learn in grad school but that’s enough to get started.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#9

Post by t_mann »

You are already taking marketing and finance classes and want to work in the marketing or finance department of a Tech firm. You're taking exactly the classes preparing you to do the job that you want to do, so what are you asking about?

Yes, Tech firms have marketing, HR and finance departments, like all large companies, and a good way to enter is to do an internship or apply for junior roles, like everywhere.

Re: Ask HN: I am studying economics and want to work in Tech. How?

#10

Post by hongloumeng »

I'm a professor of machine learning and I also work for a large tech company. I've worked for startups in the past. My PhD is in stats.

Large tech companies hire economists. Go to Linkedin and search "economist Amazon" or "economist Microsoft." Find some early or mid career people. Then you can look at roles and titles they took after school and extrapolate from there.

Make sure you can talk a good game about causal inference. As an economist, you ought to know about econometrics-flavored causal inference ideas like instrumental variables, propensity scores, regression discontinuity, etc.

And, though you don't want "computer science based" roles, make sure you have the skillset to pass a data scientist interview. I suggest online exercises to prepare for those skills rather than course for credit at your school. I like Datacamp.

Small tech companies hire data scientists. They don't care if your degree is in physics, economics, or math, so long as you can do what's needed. When an early stage tech company is hiring for a data science role, they care more about the technical skill set and the ability to learn than exactly how good they are at whatever domain they come from. This is because early stage startups tend to have more fluid role definitions because much work needs to be done. Most of that work is technical.

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