How does networking help students find jobs? What’s the difference between a letter of recommendation and a strong letter of recommendation? In early November, undergraduate students in Assistant Professor Karen Ugarte-Bravo’s section of ECO369 got a crash course in career planning.
The Career Information Session held during the health economics class featured Professor Ana Correa, Director of University College London’s MSc in Health Economics and Decision Science, Levi Barnett-Zeman, Economist of the Tariff Department of the Ontario Medical Association, and Young Jung, Director of Oncology Outcomes Research at AstraZeneca.
Over the years, Ugarte-Bravo has designed and iterated on the session to enhance students’ exposure to career opportunities in health economics.
“The invited speakers were drawn from research institutions that offer undergraduate internship and graduate education opportunities and with whom I have been building recruitment partnerships over the past two years,” Professor Ugarte-Bravo explained. “I regularly communicate with our partner institutions about the rigor and structure of my health economics course. I emphasize how the course integrates both theoretical foundations and practical applications from current peer-reviewed research.
With an MA and two PhDs between them, the panelists walked students through the process of making graduate school application decisions, of applying for internships, and making the case for networking within the university as well as outside.
To open the panel discussion, Professor Ugarte-Bravo opened with what she knew was the most common question students ask. Beginning with, PhD or master’s degree?
“The PhD is a much longer time investment than the masters, with a high opportunity cost, and depending on the career path after graduation it may not have a positive or large rate of return,” she cautioned. “The exception being a career in academia where a Ph.D. is a requirement.”
Jung agreed with Professor Ugarte-Bravo’s comment.
“When I started my career in consulting, the minimum requirement was for an MA and those who started before me had been able to make 3-4 years of progress toward the role of Senior Consultant or Manager,” he said.
For Professor Ana Correa, earning a PhD was about her interest in pursuing a career in academia, not the economic return on her investment of time and effort.
“It’s not a choice you make when you just crunch the numbers. I managed to get an RA job and achieve an MSc, and then, eventually a PhD. Academia must be a passion,” said Correa.
Taking the master’s route is not the easier path, said Levi Barnett-Zeman who completed his MA at Queen’s in 2023.
“The workload difference between undergrad and graduate work is significant,” he said. “Career-wise, it was very helpful. I did struggle to find work after I finished, but I was able to find a contract position with the OMA after six months, and after a one-year contract is completed, it became much easier to find a full-time position.”
Ugarte-Bravo said Barnett-Zeman’s experience reflects the data.
“Master’s programs typically have a positive rate of return,” she said. “It’s usual to see the equivalent of three years of career progression after a one-year investment.”
When it comes to gaining initial work experience in the field, both Jung and Barnett-Zeman advised watching their respective organizations’ websites for paid internship listings.
“Last year, our group hired two interns and, within 10 minutes of the postings going live, we had between 500 and 600 applications,” Jung said. “The AstraZeneca internships are between 8 and 12 months long and they have the opportunity to learn how pharma works. We give them that time. Our requirement though, is that they must go back to school. Once they have finished their master’s, if they want to come back full time, we expect them to start contributing on day one.”
When asked about networking, members of the panel all echoed the necessity of going to office hours. The advice may be often repeated because it is so effective.
“My first jobs as research assistants, were from my professors,” said Barnett-Zeman. “I went to see them at office hours and asked them questions and, they knew me. And when they needed an RA, they asked me. No application required.”
Professor Ugarte Bravo echoed the sentiment of taking advantage of the opportunities studying at UofT offers.
“References play a big role in applications, whether it’s for graduate school or jobs, so networking with-in the university is important,” she said. “This may come in the form of being a prepared and active participant in class, utilizing office hours so your professors get to know you and your academic and career goals, and getting involved and taking initiative in university/ department events and activities.”
The students were deeply engaged in the session and used the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the industry.
“When making decisions about drug pricing, how do pharmaceutical companies balance covering high R&D costs while still making their drugs accessible to lower income populations?” asked 3rd year Woodsworth student Kiyan Sadek.
Sadek’s question was just one example of the curiosity students expressed because of the opportunity to speak with industry experts.
“I found the seminar to be a really unique and valuable experience. It was the first time any of my economics courses incorporated something like this, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear realistic advice,” said 4th year University College student Aara Bhattarai. “Often, we become so focused on textbooks and course material that we don’t always see how it translates to real-life careers.”
It also helped clear up questions students had about graduate programs.
“The session helped clear up misconceptions I had about when and what higher education is actually needed, for example how crucial a master’s is in any field, which really helped ease a lot of my doubts,” said 3rd year University College student Zainab Shabbir.
Ugarte-Bravo was especially impressed with the undergraduates’ response to her initiative.
“I’m really proud of my students, they were asking excellent questions, listening carefully, and when they met with the speakers, asked more excellent questions,” she said. “The guests were so impressed by how engaged the students were and the questions they asked. We are clearly improving the match between them and the students.”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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