Career prospects
The Alumnitool on LinkedIn can help you gain insight into possible careers after you finish your degree. It can also help you get in contact with an alumnus or alumna of your degree programme or other programmes. Nearly all graduates have a LinkedIn profile and can answer questions about your future career. They’re often more than happy to share their experiences with you. The video belows explains how the alumnitool works, and how you can use search criteria to find career information that is relevant to you.
Would you like to know more about how you can use LinkedIn to expand your network and put the new information into practice straight away? Take the LinkedIn workshop from Career Services. The workshop Exploring the job market & networking is also useful if you'd like to improve your networking skills, using LinkedIn and other ways.
Whether you wish to work in the private sector or in the public domain, you will find that there is always a need for well-trained graduates with the skills – and the interest – to look beyond the boundaries of economics. Thanks to its multidisciplinary, wide-ranging content, as well as its unique emphasis on the interplay between economics and social change, the MSc in the Economic Policy offers the ideal preparation for a career in a wide range of companies and institutions.
Below you find a list of possible professional careers after graduating from the Master Economic Policy.
Policy advisor at parliamentary group
As a policy advisor (in Dutch: ‘fractiemedewerker’) for a member of parliament, you must be able to process large amounts of information, to summarise the main issues, and translate it into policy recommendations. With your focus on socio-economic policy-making, you are sensitive to all kinds of trade-offs in choosing one policy rather than another. Your training in public economics and your expertise in quantitative economic research enables you to quickly grasp the quality and the outcomes of studies produced by advisory government bodies and policy notes produced by government departments.
Economist at advisory government bodies
As an economist working at an at advisory government body, you will make use of quantitative models to support socio-economic decision making, for instance to analyse and predict the demand for public services. Because most projects are multi-disciplinary and you work together in a team, you are able to communicate with colleagues with a different educational background. You combine a strong theoretical background in public economic policy-making with expertise in quantitative methods.
Consultant in economic policy
As a consultant in economic policy, you use your knowledge of public economics to advise decision-makers e.g. city counsellors. You are strongly policy-oriented and familiar with the organisation of the public sector, varying from public administration, health care, education to social security. You have strong communication skills and like to be regularly in touch with clients. Over the years, you will become an expert in specific policy fields and act as project leader.
The School of Economics and LEG Faculty have an average of 12 PhD students who are working under the supervision of a professor towards a doctorate. While studying for your PhD, you will write and submit a thesis, and we also encourage you to establish yourself as a researcher by publishing articles and contributing to seminars and conferences. Graduates of the Master in Economic Policy programme have also found their way into PhD programmes elsewhere or into combining a non-academic career with writing a doctoral dissertation under the supervision of one of Utrecht’s professors. If you wish to find out more about openings for paid PhD positions, please go to the UU vacancies-page.
Our school sometimes offers positions as junior faculty to recent graduates. These positions are aimed toward teaching activities and provide young scholars with an excellent start in their careers.
In previous years, graduates from this programme have found positions with:
- government agencies;
- pension funds;
- insurance companies;
- economic consultancy firms;
- multinationals;
- research institutes.
Are you considering starting your own business? Now is a good time to prepare. Utrecht University can offer you a number of opportunities to explore entrepreneurship.
You could, for instance, take electives from Master's degree programmes that cover entrepreneurship in their curriculums:
- If you’re interested in becoming an expert at creating the prerequisites for running a successful business, take an elective at the Master’s programme Business Development and Entrepreneurship of Utrecht School of Economics.
- If you have a background in Economics and Business, and wish to do a Master’s programme in Entrepreneurship: check out the Master’s programme Business Development and Entrepreneurship.
- If you have a background in Science or Medicine, you can take classes Science and Business Management classes.
- If you're interested in sustainable business practices and sustainable innovation, take an elective at Sustainable Business and Innovation.
The Utrecht Center for Entrepreneurship (CE) also organises Spring schools, Summer schools, Winter schools, Honours classes and short seminars on entrepreneurship for non-Dutch students. All courses are offered in English except when the entire group is Dutch.
StudentsInc
Would you like to run a business while still at university? Do you want to graduate on running your own business? StudentsInc (Dutch language website) is home to a number of student businesses and offers programmes to develop your entrepreneurial skills.
UtrechtInc
Have you (nearly) graduated and do you want to start a business? UtrechtInc is the place to find financing, office space, expertise and coaching. UtrechtInc is there for
- starting entrepreneurs and alumni, doctoral candidates, and researchers (preferably from Utrecht University, Hogeschool Utrecht, UMC Utrecht)
- who are still in the ideas phase OR further along (less than five years) and have
- and have a (IT) start-up focusing on health, environmental sustainability, or education.
Would you like to know more? Visit the UtrechtInc site, register your idea, and drop by for a cup of coffee.
Enactus
Would you like to know whether entrepreneurship is right for you? Are you driven, socially conscious, and ambitious? Are you willing to spend a year working on a business for at least 8 hours a week? Enactus Utrecht (Dutch language website) offers you the opportunity to run a business and provides workshops and professional coaching.
Useful links
- Register at the Chambers of Commerce.
- You can read about all the other things you need to take care of on the Revenue Service (Belastingdienst) website.
- Join relevant groups on LinkedIn to share knowledge online and expand your network.
- Will you run an especially sustainable, innovative, and/or internationally oriented business? The Netherlands Enterprise Agency can support you with subsidies, knowledge, regulation, and more.
When you complete your Master's degree programme, if you enjoy doing research in your area of expertise, perhaps you should pursue a PhD. You will start out as a research assistant or trainee research worker. Check the two-years Master's Programmes of Utrecht University.
The best way to find a research traineeship is to contact the professor in the field you want to specialise in. Another option would be www.academictransfer.nl.
If you'd like to pursue a PhD at Utrecht University, your PhD programme will fall under the auspices of one of the Graduate Schools. For more information, consult the Prout | PhD Network Utrecht website.
Upon completion of your current Master's degree programme, you can follow a one-year (Dutch language) teacher training programme. This will grant you a first degree teaching qualification for secondary education. That means you will be able to work in the upper and lower years of vmbo, havo, and vwo in the Netherlands.
Take a look at UU's Master's degree programme selection site.
Facts and Figures
Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) has plotted the careers of all U.S.E. alumni in a chart to give an insight into possible careers after your graduation.