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From the end of the last century to this day, the profession of economist remains the most fashionable. The crisis has made some adjustments to the popularity of this specialty. Is it easy to find out whether graduates should enroll in universities in this area?
Many applicants strive to enter economic institutes, but not everyone knows exactly what functions an economist performs and what the meaning of his work is. What is it? Let's look into this in more detail.
Who is this economist?
Generally speaking, economists can be classified as specialists who ensure that enterprises and companies operate efficiently. Most often, this profession is related to marketers, financiers, accountants, and managers.
Economists are people who are always in high demand at those enterprises where it is necessary to conduct a constant analysis of economic activity, it is necessary to correctly calculate finances, and control the expenditure of funds. This profession is always needed, it can confidently be classified as highly paid. Due to the fact that there are many related areas, the scope of activity is quite wide. For example, an economist-manager is someone employed in the areas of business administration. Back in the last century, the concept of a manager appeared, when assistants (managers) began to be invited to enterprises. The manager had to clearly plan and organize all the work at the enterprise, teach people, distribute responsibilities, in general, know everything necessary for the coordinated work of the team. Now in a large organization there are managers in every department; they are responsible for some narrow area, for example, an advertising manager, a sales manager or an economist manager.
What do you need to know?
An economist is a profession, the basis for which is higher education. Further, for a specific direction, it is necessary to have an appropriate set of knowledge. For statistics you need one thing, for statistics - another, for financial management - a third. In general, any economist must have an analytical mind, have mathematical thinking, be diligent and scrupulous in work, and be able to quickly concentrate in any situation. Often, for career advancement, an economist needs to know foreign languages. And certainly fluent English will have a positive effect on your salary level.
What should economists know?
Economists are professionals who are well versed in complex legal acts, regulations, orders and instructions. They are simply obliged to study all the new methodological materials on auditing, accounting, and analysis of economic activity. Must:
- Understand the intricacies of planned economic work.
- Know the procedures for developing financial annual plans for the future and various business plans.
- Understand the maintenance of all accounting documentation.
- Know the procedure for developing materials, financial and labor costs.
- Know all methods of statistical accounting and economic analysis.
- When introducing new technologies and techniques, the economist must determine them
- When drawing up contracts, know the rules for drawing up materials, methods and techniques for carrying out computational work.
- Clearly know and comply with reporting times and procedures.
- Study foreign and domestic experience in the rational organization of economics in production under market conditions.
- Know market farming methods, production technologies, operating techniques for equipment.
- Study the basics of labor legislation, rules and regulations on labor protection.
Economists are workers who must be guided in their activities by developed job descriptions. The head of the enterprise appoints and dismisses the economist in accordance with the order.
Main responsibilities
The responsibilities of economists cover a wide field of activity, because the profession intersects with accounting, management, and financial activities. Specific responsibilities depend on the specifics of the enterprise, the distribution of functions between departments, and other features of doing business. In some companies, economists work on business plans, in others they act as accountants, conduct cost feasibility studies, and determine expense levels. It even happens that economists engage in investments, calculate business prospects, and solve strategically complex problems. There are seemingly many directions - this is complexity. But on the other hand, higher economic education provides an opportunity to build a career in many areas of business.
Prospects, salaries of economists
Economists are people who look far ahead. Each of them starts with an ordinary position, but many successfully move up the career ladder, subsequently becoming department managers or enterprise managers. A beginner specialist can easily expect to earn from 800 to 1000 dollars. Often the salary depends on the specifics of the company’s activities: in the food and construction business, salaries reach up to $1,500. Income increases when you gain experience and move up the career ladder. Experienced economists earn income from the enterprise from 1500 to 3800 dollars. Although much, of course, depends on the specifics, size and profitability of the company (much more modest amounts are possible). If you have analytical thinking, working with numbers is your strong point, you are diligent and scrupulous, then the specialty of an economist will definitely suit you.
27.09.16/00:50
The whole essence of the Russian economy in one graph. Very soon we will all become 6 times poorer
A year and a half ago, I wrote an article “The whole essence of the Russian economy in one graph. The collapse of the Russian economy in the next few years is inevitable.” It's time to update that same chart, check those conclusions for lice, and meditate on the future.
Did you read that article? Are you impressed? Now admire the updated graph “Russian GDP and oil price.”
Visually, the graphs for gross domestic product (GDP) and oil prices are very similar to each other. How similar? There is a mathematical term that allows you to understand this - correlation (correlation coefficient, correlation dependence). It shows how much one quantity depends on another quantity. The correlation coefficient can take values from -1 to +1. In this case, a value of -1 will indicate a negative correlation between values (when one graph falls, the other graph grows, and vice versa), 0 – about the absence of correlation, and +1 – about a complete correlation of values. That is, the closer the correlation coefficient is to +1, the stronger the relationship between two random variables. With a correlation coefficient equal to +1, the graphs of the two quantities coincide completely.
So, the correlation coefficient between the Russian GDP and the price of oil is 0.956. That is, we see an almost complete dependence of the Russian GDP on the price of oil. If the price rises, then GDP also rises. If the price falls, then GDP falls.
Let's also update the same graphs for Norway, Canada and Australia, and calculate the correlation coefficient for these countries. The correlation coefficient between “Norwegian GDP and oil price” is 0.963. The correlation coefficient between "Canada's GDP and the price of oil" is 0.939. The correlation coefficient between "Australia's GDP and the price of oil" is 0.919.
But the charts of other countries are of purely academic interest to the vast majority of Russians. What difference do we make to how distant Canadians and Australians will feel when the price of oil drops to $10 a barrel? No. Therefore, let's return to our schedule.
Now that we are once again convinced that Russian GDP depends solely on the price of oil, we can understand a lot and predict a lot. It becomes clear why “Real Estate Prices in Moscow” behaves this way. “The graph of the average price of real estate in Russia and the price of oil,” just like the graph of GDP, repeats the graph of the price of oil. With less accuracy, but repeats.
Therefore, if we predict the price of oil, we can learn (at least approximately) a lot. And the GDP of our country, and the price of real estate, and even our own salary. Not down to the penny, of course. Very approximate. But estimating it in dollars, at least approximately, is very useful.
How can you predict the price of oil? In this extremely important matter, the main thing is to find the right expert or the right technique. All Russian officials disappear immediately due to their absolute professional unsuitability (see the article “Alexey Ulyukaev does not believe that in 2017 the price of oil can fall to $30. You should not believe Ulyukaev himself. He is not able to make real forecasts”). Analysts from banks (commercial and investment) and investment companies go where government officials go, for the same reason. Their predictions come true only by chance. There is no systematicity observed. Simply because their main method is to approximate the current trend. If the price has been rising for the last six months, they stupidly add 5-10-15% to it, and give out the resulting figure as the result of their incredibly complex calculation. Analysts act similarly when prices fall in the last six months. If the price fluctuates for six months in a narrow range (in the slang of stockbrokers - it is sideways) - analysts give the current price. These actions of analysts have nothing to do with the analysis.
But if someone, based on the previous paragraph, thought that the price of oil cannot be predicted, he is mistaken. There is one method that gives very good results. This is Elliott's theory. The problem is that not everyone can understand this theory. In it you need to learn to recognize graphic images. But, in any case, studying this theory is not a quick task. And you can find out the forecast right now if you find out the opinion of an expert who has studied this theory very well. There is such an expert in Russia. This is Stepan Demura. He predicts that over the next twelve months the price of oil will be $10 per barrel (see the article “The process of getting up from your knees is ending. Also about the dollar and ruble, pound, RTS, default of the banking system, oil, gold and silver.”
There is a complexity to Elliott's theory. It defines levels well, but says nothing about timing. So for Stepan, deadlines are a bottleneck. He practically makes no mistakes in levels. But quite often he makes mistakes about the timing. So oil will cost $10 a barrel. Maybe not in 2017, but in 2018, but it will happen.
When this happens (not “if”, but “when”), our country’s gross domestic product will return to the level of early 1999. Then, judging by the graph, quarterly GDP was approximately $45 billion. That is, annual GDP will be approximately $200 billion. Let me remind you that now the quarterly GDP is approximately $300 billion, and the annual GDP, respectively, is $1,200 billion. It turns out that Russia's GDP will shrink by about six times in the near future. GDP per capita will decrease by exactly the same amount. And this is an approximate indicator of the income of the average resident of the country. Thus, the income of every resident of Russia, expressed in dollars, will in the near future be reduced by six times. Six times, Karl! Not everyone necessarily has six times. Not everyone will experience reductions. But on average across the country this will be the case.
We look at the graph of real estate prices in Moscow around 1999 and see the average price of $1,000 per square meter. According to statistics, when a bubble bursts in any market, the price in that market drops by 80%. That is five times. At its maximum in Moscow, the price was slightly more than $6,000 per square meter. Divide this figure by five and we get $1,200 per square meter. This figure is close to what was obtained according to the graph of GDP and oil prices.
For a long time I could not understand why the price of real estate in Moscow could fall to the level of the late 90s. Now for me personally it has become completely transparent and obvious. But a new problem appeared - somehow getting used to the fact that my income in dollars would very soon decrease by six times. Over the past two years they have already decreased greatly in dollar terms. And I have a hard time getting used to their current level.
But the fall in incomes of the Russian population in dollars does not mean at all that they will decrease in rubles. In rubles they will grow significantly. Simply because, simultaneously with the fall in GDP, the ruble will fall sharply. The ruble will fall for many reasons. The main one is filling the federal budget. As oil prices fall to $10, budget revenues will decrease catastrophically. Reserves will quickly melt, so the Russian authorities will have no other option but to stupidly print money. They simply don’t know how to do anything else. Degradation, sir. So, the same Stepan Demura’s forecast about the dollar at 125, 250, 500 rubles has a good chance of coming true (see the article “The first goal of the ruble is 125. Then 250, then 500. About China, sanctions, gold at 30,000, oil 12 each, real estate or deposit, experiment "mice and communism", forget about pensions").
These are the sad conclusions that can be drawn from just one graph, which reflects the whole essence of the Russian economy. This is all you need to know about the economy of our country.
How to correctly create a revenue report in the form of a pivot table?
How to generate reports on costing, commercial and general expenses?
How to generate a management report on financial results?
The appearance of a new employee in the planning and economic department is always an event for the entire financial and economic service of the enterprise. If this employee is a recent graduate of a higher educational institution, then the head of the department and leading specialists have additional responsibility: they must not only bring the colleague up to date, but also fully train him. The curriculum of most educational institutions is designed in such a way that graduates have only superficial knowledge of budgeting, financial modeling and accounting work in an enterprise.
Often, in an attempt to speed up the learning process, the head of a department gives such an employee too much information in a short time or delegates work that a newcomer simply cannot do. Unfortunately, such techniques do not speed up a person’s adaptation in the workplace: mistakes inevitably follow, reports are not prepared, and stress increases, which in itself only aggravates the situation. In this regard, we recommend that heads of planning and economic services and financial departments break down the training program for a new employee who is not familiar with the budget system at the enterprise or has only a vague understanding of accounting accounts into several stages.
A good place to start is by reviewing with a young colleague the financial results statement (profit and loss statement) as the easiest to master.
If a manufacturing enterprise operates on a general taxation system, then at the initial stage it is better to abstract from the intricacies of calculating VAT, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities, and leave the credit situation of the organization outside the scope of discussion. This will make it possible to focus on revenue, cost of production, selling and administrative expenses, other income and expenses, income tax and net profit.
It is important not only to look at the procedure for compiling this report in Excel (possibly in a simplified form), but also to show how the accounting accounts of sections III “Production Costs”, IV “Finished Products and Goods” and VIII “Financial Results” “work” .
It is better to study accounting entries in the context of the documents that form them in the 1C system.
At the second stage, it is worth studying the cash flow statement in conjunction with the accounts of sections V and VI - “Cash” and “Settlements”, respectively. Here you can talk in detail about the credit policy of the enterprise and its relationships with banks.
The next, third stage is the study of the remaining accounting accounts - sections I “Non-current assets” and VII “Capital”. After this, you can begin to draw up the first simplified management balance sheet.
The fourth stage is familiarization with additional enterprise reports, which provide information for the three main reporting forms of the organization.
At the fifth stage, special attention should be paid to the main software tool in the hands of any employee of the financial and economic service - the Excel spreadsheet editor.
Note!
At the moment, we can say with confidence that this is not just a spreadsheet editor, but a powerful calculation and analytical complex, the capabilities of which are significantly expanded with the help of macros (subroutines and functions), as well as integrated add-ons Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View, which are included included in the delivery package for extended business versions of the spreadsheet editor.
Which feature of the spreadsheet editor is best to start demonstrating it with? Our advice is to transform the range of revenue data into an Excel table with a subsequent description of its capabilities.
P. N. Grishenkov,
independent consultant-expert on Excel spreadsheet editor
The material is published partially. You can read it in full in the magazine
Economists are in demand in companies where it is necessary to control costs, correctly calculate funds, and where constant analysis of the economic activity of the enterprise is necessary. Features of the profession, duties and limits of liability They require from an economist a special set of personal qualities, professional skills and knowledge, the presence of which contributes to career success, and the absence of which, accordingly, is harmful.
What personal qualities does an economist need?
Competence in the profession, of course, is more important than the psychological traits of the employee, however, the employer also pays attention to them. A person may know his profession well or even far exceed the required minimum, however, if he does not possess a number of necessary personal qualities, and, therefore, does not work for pleasure, his productivity is unlikely to be impressive. Worse, it can negatively affect the rest of the team.
Let's try to create a generalized portrait of an economist, formulating it into a list of characteristic personal qualities. So, a typical economist:
- diligent, neat and attentive. The profession requires intense and painstaking work, most often related to paperwork and calculations;
- has an analytical mind and scrupulous mathematical and logical thinking, knows how and loves to work with numbers;
- knows how to quickly concentrate in any situation;
- emotionally stable, because activities are often associated with stress, urgent preparation of reports, analysis of large volumes of information in a short time;
- principled, honest and responsible. Otherwise, a professional economist, constantly seduced by his proximity to financial flows, can quickly turn into a good swindler.
What should an economist know?
If the listed personal qualities can be called necessary for any economist, then in terms of knowledge and skills, what is common to all economists is, in fact, a higher economic education, then the set of knowledge and skills depends on the corresponding directions. For financial management you need one thing, for analytics - another, for statistics - a third, for an accountant - a fourth, etc.
Nevertheless, let's try to outline the general minimum knowledge for a typical economist. So he should know:
- the procedure for developing financial annual plans and various business plans;
- clearly know and follow the order and timing of all financial reporting;
- procedure for developing materials, financial and labor costs;
- market methods of farming, all technologies used in production;
- all methods of economic analysis and statistical accounting;
- the economist must determine the economic efficiency of new technologies introduced into production;
- all rules for the preparation of materials when drawing up contracts;
- all methods and methods of carrying out computational work;
- accumulated foreign and domestic experience in the rational organization of the economy in market conditions;
- labor legislation standards.
What should an economist be able to do?
- An economist must speak foreign languages, and knowledge of English is often, if not a prerequisite, then significantly influencing the level of salary.
- An economist must have excellent command of a computer and all software necessary for work (usually 1C products). Due to the fact that all calculations in modern realities have long been carried out using a computer, and not wooden abacus, computer science is one of the main and compulsory disciplines in economic universities.
- An economist must understand all the intricacies of planned economic work.
- An economist must understand the management of all accounting documentation.
- An economist must understand all complex legal acts, regulations and orders.
- An economist must be able to defend the interests of his company.
Before entering an economics major, you need to decide what exactly attracts you in economics and business, choose a direction that matches your personal interests and qualities. The admissions committees of economic universities will help you make your choice. In addition, large economic universities, such as, for example, the Financial University, often hold open days for applicants, where applicants can get all the information they are interested in and make the right decision. Contacts of the admissions committee and announcements of events for applicants can be found in the relevant sections on the websites of educational institutions.
Before hiring an economist, you need to clearly understand whether you need such a specialist in principle.
If your company is not very large and belongs to a medium or small business, then only the services of a good company will be enough for you.
However, if you are involved in a large business, then the issue of choosing a suitable candidate for the responsible position of economic analyst should be approached with the utmost seriousness.
First of all, it is necessary that the education be received in a respected and self-respecting educational institution. And not at a recently opened faculty of a university that initially had nothing to do with economics.
Very often, such faculties are opened by institutes or local universities to receive money. And, more often than not, such universities produce low-quality accountants, and not economists, who were initially assigned to this specialty by their parents.
If you doubt the authenticity of the applicant's diploma, then this will not cause you big problems. Since 2014, there has been a Federal Register of Diplomas of Higher Education, in which, through an electronic request to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, you can obtain the necessary information about the document provided.
As for experience, it is better for you to hire a specialist who has previously worked at an enterprise of the same level as yours. If you are not ready to hire young specialists for training. But the latter must be done either independently or with the help of the existing analytical department.
We examine resumes: qualities and skills
When viewing a candidate's resume, you will need to pay attention to the exact name of the specialty.
This is necessary because there are a lot of areas of economic education.
And, for example, if you need an economist for an enterprise that requires work with equipment and complex calculations, it is better to look for an economist-engineer.
Or, if there is a need for a specialist with knowledge of jurisprudence or another field, this is also worth paying attention to.
Questions and sample answers to them
Now let’s take a closer look at the next part: interview for an economist, questions.
There is a list of questions that can be used to determine the candidate’s level of knowledge. What do they ask when interviewing an economist? Typically, all questions can be divided into three categories:
- basic - the one without which you cannot hire a person;
- medium - the applicant will be able to work for you, but subject to additional training;
- tall - you found the one you were looking for.
- what is the difference between profit and profitability;
- What is break-even analysis?;
- what ratios belong to the group of financial stability ratios;
- costing based on actual costs;
- estimation method for determining cost;
Profit is an absolute value, and profitability is calculated as a percentage.
Analytical study of the relationships between costs and income at different levels of production.
Autonomy coefficient, debt-to-equity ratio, mobile and immobilized funds ratio, maneuverability coefficient, equity ratio.
It is a costing method in which the actual direct costs of materials and labor and manufacturing overhead are included in the cost of production.
An accounting method in which the credit for work in progress and the debit for finished goods inventories include not actual, but estimated costs.
Thus, based on the above, it becomes clear to the candidate what an economist needs to know during an interview. And the recruiter now has an idea of what questions to ask an economist at an interview.
Here are some examples of multiple choice test items.
If we talk about tasks, the easiest way to test a candidate’s knowledge is to give him the task of writing several formulas and constructing several graphs in Excel.
Without the applicant having such skills, you can safely refuse his candidacy. You can also try to test a person’s general intelligence by asking him several quick-witted and creative thinking problems.
Examples of thinking tasks:
Example 1
Take 4 liters of water if you only have two jars: one for 3 liters and the other for 5 liters.
The first option is to take a full five-liter jar and pour some into a three-liter jar - 2 liters will remain. Then pour all the water out of the three-liter jar and pour the remaining 2 liters of water in the large jar into it. Then fill the five-liter jar again and pour some into the three-liter jar. Since the small jar is already partly full, only one liter will fit in it, while the large jar will have 4 liters left. Problem solved.4
The second option is to take a full three-liter jar and pour it all into a five-liter jar. Then pour out all the water from the large jar and pour in a liter of water remaining in the small jar. Then fill the three-liter jar again and pour the water into the five-liter jar. You will get 4 liters. The problem is solved.
Example 2
Several children stayed at school for extended periods. One of them drew very well and quickly, and as a result the teacher gave him a task: to draw all those students who cannot draw themselves. The boy became thoughtful and couldn’t understand whether he should draw himself:
If he can draw himself, he shouldn't;
But if he does not do this, then he must draw himself.
What should a boy do?
Ask a clarifying question to the teacher.
This problem creates a situation in which there is no solution, because there are no additional conditions through which a meaningful answer could be found. And with its help, you can see whether an economist can determine how much data will be enough for him to solve a given problem.
Don't forget also about the general questions that are asked at most interviews and give an idea, for example, about the marital status and personal qualities and preferences of the candidate.
It should be taken into account that the work of an economist involves a lot of time and confidentiality of most information about the company. Therefore, the candidate being hired must speak well and competently, but not be prone to talkativeness. - it’s best if you wear clothes that are close to the classic office style;
For example, you should be more careful if in front of you is a very young man who has not served in the army and has not received a white ticket, or a young girl who has recently gotten married and is planning to have children.
The information presented in this article is only a basic and minimal guide to action when hiring an economist. It is best to entrust this work to competent HR specialists who have enough experience and knowledge. Well, candidates now have an idea of what interview questions for an economist might ask.
Thanks to their skills, personnel officers will help weed out the majority of applicants who are not suitable for such a responsible position. It is also advisable to conduct an additional independent check, since the HR department will conduct an initial interview with an economist. And the level of knowledge and skills can only be determined by someone who is well versed in the required specialty.
