March 23, 2021

By Jade Thompson

Economics graduates often seek employment within research institutes, the banking and finance sector or within the government. It is a fact that these types of companies are the top employers of economics students, but there is so much that you can accomplish with an economics degree. An economics degree gives you many transferable skills, including hard skills like data analysis as well as soft skills like giving presentations, all of which can be useful in landing you a job. This means that having a degree in economics can open the door to a variety of career paths and a plethora of employers are seeking the skills that you possess.

One of the most overlooked employers desiring economics graduates are small-to-medium businesses.  As a current student with large ambitions, I’m sure you have already heard of some of the larger and well-known companies such as EY, KPMG, and PwC that recruit economics majors. While there is the obvious appeal of working at such a widely known and established company, I implore you to learn about the benefits of working at smaller and lesser-known organizations. 

Last month at the Department of Economics Employer Pop-Up Shop, we interviewed Hunter Tice, a recruiting manager at Buckeye International, to hear his perspective on why he values working at his company. 

Hunter was a junior Economics student at the University of Virginia when he was approached by a representative of Buckeye International at a career fair about a sales management program with Buckeye. (Buckeye International is a chemical manufacturing company that offers an extensive line of high-quality cleaning and maintenance products, equipment, and a wide assortment of custodial supplies.) 

Hunter had never heard of this company, and had little interest in sales, but the recruiter had expressed to him that there were many promotional opportunities and leeway for him to eventually have the managerial role he desired. With the reassurance from the recruiter, Hunter decided to work with Buckeye when he graduated in 2017.  His first position was as a field sales representative, and with zero prior experience, Buckeye provided hands-on training and was able to facilitate his growth as a strong salesperson and leader.  

As his recruiter had promised, Hunter was quickly promoted to his current position of recruiting manager, doing what he loves.  When asked why he stayed with Buckeye, he responded “They are a family company, with good people.  They believe in their employees and provide training where you lack in experience. They hire internally for upper-level positions, and it’s a good place to grow.” He expressed that while in college, Buckeye was definitely not somewhere he had envisioned himself working, but he is glad that he did make the choice to take a risk to apply for his job.

Buckeye International is representative of so many smaller and less known companies that have family values and take the time to invest in their employees.  Many of these companies seek talent from within and use their resources to allow their employees to reach their career aspirations.  Unlike more well-known companies, who can easily replace their employees, lesser known ones make sure that employees are given the opportunity to grow and evolve. 

Work roles at small companies are also often less specialized than at large firms. That means If you’re unsure about what field to specialize in when you graduate, often within lesser known businesses employees have the opportunity to explore different roles and can gain multiple skills and areas of expertise. Working at a smaller business can afford a larger view of company-wide operations. 

Whether you are interested in working at a lesser known or small business for the duration of your career, or if you simply want to use it as an entry point into your desired industry, I recommend researching more about the pros and cons of working with these organizations.  Expand your horizons, and realize that your economics degree is very valuable, and if used wisely, can lead you to almost any career path you desire.

Make sure to attend our next Pop-Up Shop or other career events, to directly speak to representatives and learn about these wonderful companies who are interested in hiring you!