Networking is a concept which is somewhat alien to many academics – you may well have heard how important it is to create an interactive network with other researchers in your field, but it's hard to know how to get started. Some people have a negative view of networking; thinking that it involves being deceptive or finding a way to turn every conversation around to yourself. But it needn't be that way! Successful networking is all about putting you in touch with other like-minded academics or professionals with whom you share interests. These networks help you both by supplying information (for example, finding someone with an expertise in a statistical technique which you are interested in using) and by providing you with a way to share your research (for example, sending your recent publications to other researchers who could find it useful). Networking can be a fun and rewarding way to build up your profile within your discipline.

It can be hard to stay motivated surrounded by chocolate, festive lighting and tinsel garlands. With the prospect of overseas holidays, dinners with family and friends, gift-giving and an abundance of food fast approaching, whether you work or study, maintaining focus can be an issue.

With the start of the academic year come many changes to most university departments – new students, new courses and, every so often, a new department chair. If you happen to find yourself in the lucky position of holding this post, it’s important to be aware of the plethora of responsibilities and advantages that come with the job. In this article, we’ve gathered helpful tips and reminders from a variety of sources to create a comprehensive list of what you need to know to make the most of being a department chair.

With September upon us and campuses around the globe preparing for the coming school year, many recent graduates face a harsh reminder that student life is over and it’s time to plunge headlong into the workforce. Yet, sometimes landing that first career-oriented position can be tough, particularly in today’s economic climate.

A picture speaks a thousand words, an adage that also holds true when presenting data to an audience. Whether to stand out during an academic conference or a class presentation, to share statistics with your customers, to explain a difficult concept to your students or to impress your friends with something funny: if you want to convey the message quickly and clearly an infographic is the tool to use!

If you are interested in working or studying in a French, German or Spanish speaking country, you will almost certainly need to provide proof of language skills. While exact requirements differ between institutions, there are certain exams that are more widely accepted than others. Following up on our recent post on English proficiency tests, in this post we will offer you an overview of the most respected language exams from around the globe for French, German and Spanish.

Pursuing an academic career is very different from working in the private sector in many ways, including in terms of the application and recruitment process, even before you start in your first job!

Whether pursuing a bachelor’s degree in economics or having finished a PhD from a top university, at all stages of the academic pursuits and research careers, young economists have been engaged in the grueling process of finding internships with reputable organizations. While masters and bachelors students aim to gather work experience and transition into full time jobs, PhD candidates attempt to combine their research with the work of relevant organizations.

‘Open Access’ has been a bit of a buzzword in academic circles over the last couple of years. Its rise to popularity has come from a combination of factors including the increased price to access academic journals, as well as increased access to the internet, which has had the effect of speeding up the rate at which information travels.

You've been accepted to give a talk at a conference, you've worked on your presentation, and you're ready to go – now you just need to keep your nerves under control! It's very common to struggle with nervousness when presenting, so consider these tips to help you deal with this.

If you're a current economics student and you've chosen to specialise in environmental economics, then the good news is that there are a ton of job opportunities in this field. With the growing awareness of environmental issues and concern for sustainability, you can find work in all sorts of areas. But what are some of the specific jobs that you could do as an environmental economist? Today we're looking at possible career paths to give you some ideas about the kind of work which you might like to do once you graduate.

Parliamentary Research Administrator, Alexandre Mathis, kindly sat down with INOMICS to discuss his work and call for applications from economists to help advise on the EU Budget. Alexandre explained to us in more detail what he does and what exactly it is the European Parliament is looking for.

As we can all envision, the world of cryptocurrency is most decidedly here to stay! Gone are the days of “we’ll just wait to see how things go” as the words Blockchain and Bitcoin more and more common in everyday conversations with both colleagues and friends. But as we look forward to upcoming trends or even attemp to develop a better understanding of cryptocurrencies and how they work, there comes a time when doing a few random Google searches just isn’t going to cut it any more when expanding your business or making an investment. The good news is that online searches, e-books and lunchtime chats no longer have to be your only source for information.

We spoke to top hiring managers Kalpana Kochhar, Director of Human Resources Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Jordi Roca Solanelles, Head Manager of the University of Barcelona’s School of Economics (UB) and Professor Dr Florian Englmaier, Professor for Organisational Economics as the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), to discover what challenges economics post-graduates should expect from prospective careers in some of the biggest institutions around.

Academia can be a tough environment for women to succeed in. In many departments, men outnumber women in the senior ranks and this can result in a variety of gender-based prejudices and problems that women have to navigate. Here are some tips for women working in male-dominated academic fields: 

The following is an analysis of data taken from the INOMICS Salary Report 2018 - downloadable for registered users here. Specifically, it looks at the average salaries of PhDs, Post-Docs, and Full Professors, working in economics over the last 5 years, in the U.S, the U.K, Germany, and Italy. It is the 4th instalment in a series of insights handling the Report’s findings.

The following is an analysis of data taken from the INOMICS Salary Report 2018 - downloadable for registered users here. Specifically, it looks at the average salaries of economists working in academia and the private sector according to their level of seniority. It is the third instalment in a series of insights handling the Report’s findings.

The following is an analysis of data taken from the INOMICS Salary Report 2018 - downloadable for registered users here. Specifically, it looks at the average salaries of economists working in academia and the private sector across the world.

Microeconomics is one of the most prominent subfields of economics and is one which many people studying economics find themselves drawn to. But if you are studying economics now and you decide to specialise in microeconomics, what kind of career options would be open to you? To assist you in planning your career, we're listing some of the top career paths for different economics specialisations, and today we're looking at the top career paths for specialists in microeconomics. 

One of the great things about studying economics is that it gives you a wide range of skills: from writing to data analysis to critical thinking. With these skills, you are well set for all sorts of different careers. But you might be wondering what the best career path for you is. To help with this, we're producing a series of articles on top career paths for economists. To let you find the right career for your specific skill set, we're breaking the topic down into different specialisations within economics.