Career Placement

The department has a well-organized placement service. Each year a faculty member functions as the Placement Director. He or she is assisted by the Placement Administrator who coordinates the sending of resumes and letters of recommendation and makes available job vacancy information. Each job market candidate gives a regular faculty research seminar on his or her primary research paper. These seminars are typically widely attended by faculty and students and provide a rigorous “test run” for the job market paper. To prepare for the job market convention of the American Economic Association, all students are given mock “job market interviews” by faculty members.

Students also receive extensive help from their primary advisor, who in addition to providing general counsel during the process of job search, often is instrumental in contacting colleagues at other universities, or in bringing the student to the attention of the vast network of former Wisconsin Ph.D.’s employed in universities, colleges, government, and the private sector. Students also benefit from the fact that many government agencies, including the Board of Governors, the International Monetary Fund, and several Federal Reserve banks often actively recruit on campus. Finally, Wisconsin students typically self-organize additional presentations of job market papers, providing one another additional opportunities for practice.