Vicky Pryce FAcSS is Chief Economic Adviser at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, previously Director General for Economics at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Joint Head of the UK Government Economic Service, and Partner and Chief Economist at KPMG, after senior economic posts in banking and the oil sector. She is Visiting Professor at BCU and KCL, Fellow and Council member of the Academy for Social Sciences, Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists and Companion of the British Academy of Management. She sits on the Advisory Board of the central banking think-tank OMFIF and on the advisory group of Better Statistics CIC. Her books include: 'It's the Economy, Stupid'; 'Economics for Voters'; with Ross and Urwin, 'Greekonomics: The Euro crisis' and Why Politicians Don't Get It'; 'Prisonomics'; 'Redesigning Manufacturing', with Nielsen and Beverland; and 'Women vs Capitalism'. She is co-founder of GoodCorporation, formed to advise on business ethics.

(Visiting) Professor Andy Ross FAcSS is an academic and practitioner economist best known for his time as a Deputy Director and Head of Professional Development in the Government Economic Service (GES). For many years Andy was Chief Adviser to the GES for their recruitment assessment centre and regularly trained their recruitment assessors. He was an employer representative on the QAA subject benchmarks for economics and one of two employer representatives for the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework pilot for Social Science.
He is a Visiting Professor and part-time lecturer at Birkbeck, University of London and at Loughborough University. He is also Economist Advisor to High Oak Enterprises and a patron of the Economics Network. His previous posts include Visiting Professor at the University of Reading, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and Trustee and Director of the Academy of Social Sciences, where he serves as Chair of the Practitioner Fellows Nominations Committee.

Professor Alvin Birdi is a leading authority on how and what economics is taught in UK universities.
He is a Professor of Economics Education in the School of Economics and Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Undergraduate) for Education Innovation and Enhancement at the University of Bristol. He is also Director of the Economics Network, a national body that provides professional development for economics lecturers and promotes high quality and innovative teaching practice in the discipline within the higher education sector. Alvin was a member of the QAA subject benchmarks panel for economics and a lead panelist for economics in the Teaching Excellence Framework pilots. He is also the Director of the Bristol Institute for Learning and Teaching (BILT) and a regular commentator and author on the teaching of economics.

Ian Harwood FAcSS is a leading and award-winning practitioner in the City, specialising in global economic and financial analysis. In recent years he has undertaken a wide range of economics, investment advisory, non-executive, and educational roles. He is currently Economic Adviser at Redburn, a stockbroking firm providing research advice to institutional investors, and is also Investment Adviser to a number of pension schemes and insurance companies. He is a Fellow of the Society of Professional Economists, having served on the Society's Council from 2008 to 2017 where he advocated substantive changes in the way economics is taught in British universities. He also led the creation of the Society of Professional Economists' Continuing Professional Development programme and is the Society's Book Reviews Editor. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Greenwich University and is currently a member of the Management Board of the South-Western Universities' Doctoral Training Partnership.

• Part One: Before You Start


• 1: Why be an economist?


• 2: Jobs you can do as an economist: Planning your career


• 3: University and practitioner economics


• 4: How useful are economics degrees?


• Part Two: Skills For Success


• 5: Communicating complexity simply


• 6: The importance of quantitative skills


• 7: The importance of broader and 'soft' skills


• 8: Towards a broader economics and a more diverse body of economists


• Part Three: Planning For The Future


• 9: Applying for and passing interviews for economist posts


• 10: How to stay a successful economist