Jibbi
Finance or Economics As a major
Hello, for undergrad I definetly want to take international relations but I would like to combine it with another major, and I was thinking economics or Finance, does anyone know the best major to partner up with that for me to get a job in an NGO or an International organization/Bank? #college #finance #economics #double-major #international-affairs
3 answers
David Xu
David’s Answer
I mostly agree with the above by Eric but it's largely dependent on your career goal.
if you goal is to start as a researcher/scientist in international organizations, a BA in Economics is a great place to start but I strongly recommend you to get a PHD (i.e. international economics/finance) after that. Most of the international organizations requires researchers to have advanced degree.
If you'd like to start as an assistant/coordinator, finance/other relevant majors would be good depending on which fields you are more interested in (international orgs like Worldbank have a lot of different units focusing on different fields/industries). Some NGO intern experience would also be helpful.
Eric Leung
Eric’s Answer
Finance is probably the better option for you.
An undergraduate degree in Economics is designed for you to pursue further graduate or doctoral studies. Not many organizations will hire you to do economic analysis with just a bachelor's.
On the other hand, Finance can be a terminal degree and many employers specifically want Finance majors since that degree contains practical, commercially applicable knowledge. Economics is more theoretical. Things like Keynsian macroeconomics or the Laffer Curve have very little practical use if you want to work in an international bank.
Gary Petito (Veteran)
Gary’s Answer
http://www.investopedia.com/
The Difference Between Finance And Economics
By Stephen D. Simpson, CFA\
Hi, Good question...I am not an expert in either but I did find a good article for you in the link above...investopedia.com
While I do not have a definite answer for you, I will suggest looking at the specific agencies you are interested in working for and see if you can find out what they are hiring for. I would also suggest maybe considering some courses in International/Political Science or possibly majoring in one interest area and minoring in another.
Good luck!