Skills
Economics Professor Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in economics professors, and how to build and show them.
What skills do economics professors need?
Economics Professors need technical skills such as economic theory, econometrics, and statistics, plus people skills like clear explanation and critical thinking. They also use tools such as Stata and R and Python.
Technical (hard) skills
- Economic theory
- Econometrics
- Statistics
- Data analysis
- Research
- Academic writing
People (soft) skills
- Clear explanation
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Persistence
Tools, equipment and technology
- Stata and R
- Python
- Economic databases
- LaTeX
- Learning management systems
- Spreadsheets
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how economics professors put their skills to work:
- How to teach supply and demand with a classroom market
- How to run a regression analysis
- How to write a policy brief
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Economic theory” and “Econometrics.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “clear explanation,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Ph.D. in economics near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our economics professor glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our Economics Professor training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.