This page gives career information of relevance to Imperial Economics, Finance and Data Science students.

You can find out how the Careers Service supports Imperial students on our Services for students webpage. You can also explore our What's on webpage for career events, book an appointment and sign up for our weekly newsletter, sent every Thursday, by checking the relevant box on your personal profile on JobsLive. Whatever stage you are at with your studies, we're here to help, from first year undergraduates right through to PhD studies - you don't even have to know what you want to do to make use of our services!

What can you do with Economics, Finance and Data Science?

The interdisciplinary nature of the BSc Economics, Finance and Data Science programme offers students the flexibility to explore various fields, equipping them with a diverse skill set highly sought after in today's job market. This adaptability empowers graduates to carve out their own unique career paths.

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Develop your skills

It's good to reflect on your abilities and consider what skills you can evidence and which skills you may need to enhance. Use our Self-reflection webpages to help you understand and document your abilities.

Through a unique combination of subjects on the EFDS course, you will develop the analytical skills and coding capabilities required by the next generation of economists, policy experts, business leaders and researchers to address the big issues of our time. You will be developing skills all the time in your degree, which was carefully designed by academics with employers to ensure you are building up a portfolio of skills that are highly valued in the graduate labour market. For example, you will be developing team working and leadership skills every time you work with peers in class and for assessed group coursework. Through the Essential Skills programme, running from first to final year, you will develop a strong understanding of design thinking, emotional intelligence and ethics. Across different modules, you will be producing a mix of outputs including reports, live presentations and videos which ensure you are developing written and oral communication skills. This is of course of top of the technical knowledge and skills you will be developing, including highly quantitative economics and finance theory, using programming languages including R, Python and SQL, and exploring how to learn and work with Generative AI with a critical eye. You will therefore be well placed to combine the theory and the data science skills to solve business and policy problems.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, economies and the future job market, meaning that the development of specialised skills are of high importance for graduates. According to Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC (a global non-profit association of leading business schools): "As AI becomes more integral in a company's decision-making and strategy development, employers continue to turn to business school graduates for their versatility and strategic thinking, along with growing appreciation for their ability to innovate and navigate the challenges and opportunities of technological disruption."

Employers will want to see what you have been doing to develop your skills and knowledge outside your course while you have been a student. Experiences such as student societies, part-time work, volunteering and sports can develop your skills and will be valuable additions to your CV. Work experience can also help develop skills and help you decide what career direction you want to follow. These experiences also make you more competitive in future job or further study applications as they show a breadth of experience beyond pure academic study.

As an Imperial student you can participate, or take a leadership role, in a wide variety of Students’ Union activities where you’ll develop many skills. You also have free access to LinkedIn Learning and can use this to develop or improve your knowledge and abilities with software tools and skills through instructional videos taught by industry experts skills.

You can learn and develop the skills required to be successful in the job or internship market. For example, you will need to know how to create a strong CV, write a good cover letter and perform well in interviews. We can help you to learn these skills. Start with the Applications and interviews section of our website, and by attending our skills training and workshops.

Explore career ideas

Once you understand your skills through self-reflection, it’s a good idea to then learn about the range of career areas that might be of interest. 

You could work in areas such as technology, finance, consulting, central banks, regulatory bodies, think-tanks, international organisations and more:

Nine of the top ten jobs held by economics graduates in employment in the UK are related to business, finance and marketing. These include finance and investment analysts and advisers (16%), chartered and certified accountants (11%), management consultants and business analysts (7%), actuaries, economists and statisticians (6%), taxation experts (3%), financial admin occupations (3%), business sales executives (2%), financial accounts managers (2%) and brokers (2%). This information is taken from Graduate Outcomes survey data from HESA, via Prospects.

In addition to our resources, you may wish to look at efinancialcareers' Careers in Banking and Financial Markets 2526 guide and the following Prospects webpages to help with your career exploration:

LSE and University of Strathclyde both have excellent sector resources aligning to the above career areas, including on careers in economical and statistical services, regulation, financial services, investment banking, consultancy, government, insurance, data science and more. The Careers in Economics webpage from LSE is particularly relevant; as is the Using your degree: Economics webpage from Cambridge.

Targetjobs also have a guide to graduate careers in financial technology (FinTech).

There is never just one linear route into the various career areas. Whilst it is true that completing Spring Weeks and Summer Internships are excellent opportunities and can help towards securing a graduate scheme place with a large finance/consulting firm or equivalent, you can also develop skills through other ways. Part-time work, virtual work experience, networking and attending events, extra-curricular activities (e.g. society participation/leadership) and even your degree itself can be meaningful career experiences. If you are able to articulate the skills and knowledge gained through these experiences clearly and thoughtfully, this is highly valued. In addition, you may have different priorities to others (e.g. some of you may wish to continue with further study), which may mean that different experiences and routes will suit you better. For example, if you are interested in further study after the course, you may wish to investigate doing a UROP or IROP in the summer. The important thing is being open to getting involved with a variety of careers opportunities and engaging with these with an open and curious mind – you never know who you may meet, what you may discover, and where the opportunity may lead!

Professional bodies

A professional body, association or society seeks to further a particular profession and the interests of individuals engaged in that profession. The body maintains an oversight of the knowledge, skills, conduct and practice of that profession and can offer accreditation or chartership. You can often use professional bodies to access training or networking events and explore related career options.

Consulting

Economics and statistics

Finance

Association of British Insurers
Association of Consulting Actuaries
The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers (AIRMIC)
Association of Professional Financial Advisers
Chartered Banker Institute
Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA)
Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI)
Chartered Insurance Institute
Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters
Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)
The Institute of Asset Management
Innovate Finance
Institute of Certified Forensic Accountants (ICFA)
Institute of Risk Management (IRM)
Institute & Faculty of Actuaries
Insurance Institute of London
The Investment Association
The London Institute of Banking & Finance
Personal Finance Society
Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association
Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics

Other

You can find even more financial related professional bodies on this webpage from the Directory of the Professions.

Industry links

Consulting

Firms that run consultancy graduate schemes include:

Data Science job websites

Economics and Statistics job websites and employers

Economic consultancies

Finance

The 'Big Four' accountancy and professional services firms are:

Note - all of these have economics consultancy areas within them too.

Many well-known high street brands can be found among the UK's retail banks and building societies, including:

In investment banking, large companies that employ graduates include:

Hedge funds that employ graduates include:

The main insurers operating in the UK are:

Trackr is a key resource for those looking for finance spring weeks, internships and graduate schemes.

efinancialcareers is another job website to look at and CW Jobs for more tech-focused financial roles.

Government organisations/public sector/regulation

UK:

International:

Next steps

Career planning often takes time and can sometimes feel overwhelming. It’s a good idea to set aside a small amount of time on a regular basis to maintain momentum. Below are some things to get you started:

  • Sign up to the Imperial Careers Newsletter by checking the relevant box on your personal profile on JobsLive
  • Learn about the application timelines for applying for further study, work experience and graduate employment. Finance and Consulting firms have been seen to be bringing forward application deadlines for Spring Weeks, Summer Internships and Graduate Schemes, so it is important that you begin searching for opportunities and applying early. This may be over a year in advance of the opportunity starting!
  • See our What's on webpages to find out about the different types of events that we run, including: workshops, careers fairs, career talks  - and hear from alumni and employers about different types of work.
  • Learn the skills that will help you succeed on the job market in the Applications and interviews section of our website, and by attending our skills training and workshops

If you feel stuck with your career planning, you could book a one-to-one appointment to talk it through with a careers consultant. Amy Knott is the careers consultant for EFDS but you can see any of our consultants for your first appointment.