Graduate School and Employment Opportunities
Our graduates’ quantitative skills and policy analysis skills are highly valued by both the public and private sector employers.
Many of our graduates hold dual degrees in areas such as mathematics, political science, computer sciences, labour studies and health sciences.
McMaster’s economics graduates work in all parts of Canada and around the world. Recent graduates have taken positions in many areas of business, especially financial services. Among the public sector positions filled by McMaster economics graduates are those with the Bank of Canada, Finance Canada, and numerous other branches of federal and provincial governments.
Many McMaster Economics undergraduate students have gone on to pursue graduate studies at prestigious institutions in Canada, the United States and other countries.
Over the years we have sent students to just about every recognized University in North America, including the top economic schools in the world such as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, LSE and others. McMaster Economics graduates pursue many different types of graduate study including the MA in Economics, law school, and Master’s degrees in Economic Policy, Business Economics, Business Administration, Public Administration, Health Administration, and Urban Planning. The BA Honours degree is required for some of these options and an advantage in all of them.
Post-graduate work in some graduate fields is possible with a BA degree but an Honours degree is increasingly presumed. A BA degree can also be very effectively combined with many one-year post-degree co-op programs (such as journalism, human resource management, and logistics, to name just three) at community colleges.
The Department of Economics in conjunction with the Economics Society, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Office of Experiential Education offers a schedule of programs and informative workshops, and provides individualized assistance to help you prepare your resume, practice interviews, develop your career network, and create a job-search strategy.
Employment Resources
General
Searching for a job and/or considering graduate or related studies is both daunting and extremely important. As with many activities, although there is some random luck the effort you put in will have a major influence on the quality of the outcome. This page contains a few ideas and leads to get you started, but it is far from a complete listing and it is not a set of instructions. We wish you the very best in your endeavours.
Part-or full-time internships or work-related summer jobs
You should visit the Faculty of Social Sciences Careers & Experiential Education (CEE) website. They are really interested in being accessible to Economics students and helping them explore options. Unfortunately visa students are not eligible for all paid internships in Canada (these require permission to work off-campus in Canada – check your visa conditions) but there are services available to all students, such as a course in career development.
Careers & Experiential Education (CEE)
Experiential Education aims to enrich undergraduate education in the faculty of Social Sciences through fostering unique approaches to learning within the classroom and more actively engaging students in the community, as well as promoting strong relationship between academic studies, career exploration and community involvement.
For more information regarding the various activities and programming offered through CEE, including internships, career placements, grants and awards, please visit the CEE website.
In addition to the placements posted on the Careers & Experiential Education website, there are many other positions on and off campus that could be considered internships. You can also explore opportunities on my list of key job sites. I would note particularly the FSWEP program of the Public Service Commission of Canada. (Usually starts around mid-October each year.)
Career positions after graduation
Most students who stop with a BA in Economics will not obtain jobs as “economists”. (There are very few fields for which there is that kind of direct correspondence.) However a degree in economics does seem to be a bigger help in obtaining employment than many degrees, particularly for those seeking employment relating to the financial industry.
In any case, students pursuing general careers with a BA are well served by using the university employment services at McMaster Career Planning and Employment. You might find these key job sites useful. It is important to apply very early for some jobs. For example, the federal government commonly has application deadlines in September and October for jobs starting the following spring, summer and fall.
At some stage in your job search, you may need references. Do not be afraid to ask your economics professors even if you do not know them that well: most will oblige. We understand that it is difficult to find enough professors who know you really well. Other (not very original) advice is to network whenever feasible (many jobs are obtained by such means) and to try to apply as often as possible (which often means learning how to be efficient in applying for jobs, although you should always take the time to make the first few lines of your cover letter target the job application). Remember also that when you do get a job, it is unlikely to be your last one so it is necessary to keep your eyes open for new opportunities. For example, it is my advice that you always should have a reasonably up-to-date CV to give to a prospective employer.
Graduate Scholarships
Many graduate Economics MA programs, including McMaster’s, provide financial aid such as a teaching assistantship and/or scholarship to help reduce the out-of-pocket cost. If your recent grades are A- or better, you should definitely apply for an Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Applications are due to the Graduate Administrative Assistant KTH 426 by mid-October (please check with her in advance for this year’s exact deadline) and late applications will not be accepted. If you are going to apply, start early. There is also a Canada Graduate Scholarship program for Master’s students.
See the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) website especially the graduate student page. The internal deadline for that one with out Graduate Assistant in KTH-426 is usually early to mid-November (please check with her for this year’s date), again with absolutely no extensions. Although not for everyone, if you are interested in health economics/policy, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) also offers awards for study at the PhD level. (Click “Find Funding” and other links.)
If you are interested in international study, go to Canadian Bureau for International Education. This includes information on the well known Commonwealth Scholarship for study in other Commonwealth countries. There is also information about scholarships for numerous other countries at that site. Deadlines vary by country but can be as early as the October of the academic year in which you expect to graduate. Note that SSHRC also offers an international option, see the above link to the graduate student page.
Other scholarship opportunities exist, so do not view this page as an exhaustive list. Please do your own research. If you have any successes that you think would be valuable to future students please feel free to let me know so I can post the information on this page.
When you apply for a scholarship, you will need reference letters. Even if you don’t know a faculty member very well, he or she will likely help you. You will get better letters if you give the faculty member enough time and if you give the faculty member some information about yourself (ideally a resume and a grade record). If there is a “plan of study” that needs to be part of the scholarship application, ask the faculty member to read it over and give her/him enough time to do it properly. That can make a huge difference in the probability of success.