Graduate profiles

The rigorous nature of the four year applied economics degree equips graduates for a competitive market place across a diverse range of career paths which include: merchant banking, commodity trading, agribusiness management, economic journalism, public policy analysis, and economic research with organisations such as NSW Agriculture, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, ABARE, Meat & Livestock Australia, and the Productivity Commission, and employment internationally with the OECD and the World Bank.

Graduates are employed with the premier finance and rural organisations in the city including: Macquarie Bank, Sydney Futures Exchange, KPMG Chartered Accountants and Hassall & Associates, CSR and Unifoods.

To prepare for careers with an INTERNATIONAL FOCUS, many students now study abroad for a few weeks, a semester, or a year.

Students have travelled to the United States, South America, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, South Africa, South-East Asia, Vietnam, Japan, Nepal, Fiji and New Zealand.

Agribusiness Tim Brown, BAgrEc Cotton Agricultural Development International, Uzbekistan

“The combination of two Faculties - Agriculture and Economics - attracted me to do Agricultural Economics. I believed this degree would provide a package that would qualify me for a broader spectrum of career opportunities when the time came to enter the workforce. Having access to units of study offered in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Science, and Economics, provided me with a greater range of units and specialties from which to choose. For instance, I had the opportunity to study Accounting and Crop and Pasture Agronomy as well as units in Agricultural Economics.

I have been working in Uzbekistan for Cotton Agricultural Development International and a condition of my twelve month contract with the British based subsidiary was that I should learn Russian. In addition to cotton trading activities, the role of this subsidiary was to establish an agricultural joint-venture with Uzbekistan.

The 30,000 hectare project included 14,000 hectares of cotton and employed 10,000 people on ten collective farms. The goal was to transform these centrally planned and managed collective farms into modern, market-linked production units by introducing new technologies and management practices. My responsibilities included development of a comprehensive regional data base, conducting Australian seed variety trials, overseeing a land-laser levelling program, analysis of potential satellite activities in the region and business plan assessments.

Agriculture is an international industry providing many opportunities to gain experience overseas. The Bachelor of Agricultural Economics has given me the “tools” to pursue a career abroad and to enable me to travel the world. After my time in Uzbekistan I look forward to continuing my association with the cotton industry, possibly in trading.”

Finance Sarah Bolton, BAgrEc Money Dealer, Westpac

“I started Agricultural Economics after studying other degrees. After school, I was unsure as to what career path I should take and chose to enrol in a Bachelor of Business at another university. I was unsettled with both the Business course and the University and transferred to an Arts degree at Sydney. While I loved the University life at Sydney,
I was still dissatisfied with my choice of degree. At the end of that year I went to the US and visited the Chicago World Board of Trade, and knew instantly that I wanted to be involved in financial markets and more specifically, the futures market.

After speaking to friends and staff in Agricultural Economics, I realised this was the course to do to pursue a career in Futures. The degree also offered flexibility and a wide choice of options.

I have found the Agricultural Economics program to be excellent. It provides sound training in analytical and problem solving skills, and has taught me valuable research, quantitative and report-writing skills. The professional experience requirement enables you to put your knowledge into practice, and provides an opportunity to discover what you want to do. Ag Ec gives you that edge over other graduates who have more generalist degrees in Economics and Commerce.

The relatively small number of students enrolled in the degree means friendships are easily made which makes university more enjoyable. You have close contact with lecturers and tutors, and the staff know you. I am now employed with Westpac. After completing the graduate rotation program in Westpac’s Financial Markets I chose to work in Treasury as a dealer in Funding and Liquidity. I assist with the determination of domestic funding requirements/issuance, and AUD/USD arbitrage opportunities to achieve preferred wholesale funding targets and maturities for the Bank.”

Marketing and Trading Oliver Kinsey, BAgrEc Commodity Trader, ECOM Commodities, Memphis, Tennessee

“Having grown up on a farm in Trangie NSW, I wanted to choose a degree which gave me the option to retain my ties to agriculture and the land, and which was economics / business based. Ag Ecos was the perfect solution.

The strengths of the degree are many. You complete an Economics major, an Agricultural Economics super major, and optional third and fourth majors. The Ag Eco major is quite demanding, but very valuable. Applied Commodity Modelling (ACM) is extremely useful.

In fourth year I did research exercises which I found to be more comprehensive than the thesis, provided more direction and variety, and involved group work. Compulsory professional experience was a great opportunity to broaden my career perspective.

I am currently working for ECOM Commodities, an international commodity trading firm. I am based in the US moving between Dallas, Memphis, New York and California.
I work in the cotton division, learning to trade physical and futures cotton, and am undertaking a project to assess the feasibility of setting up an ECOM operation in California. My aim is to continue working in this dynamic company and industry which offers so much opportunity for progression and to eventually head a major operation for ECOM.

My advice to any prospective student is the sooner you can find out what this course is about and where it will take you the better! Don’t be afraid to ask questions and seek advice from as many people as possible. Ag Economics at Sydney University is an excellent course and an excellent opportunity for an exciting career path, but you have to be able to see the bigger picture. You need to be able to see why you are doing ACM or Production Economics. You need to be able to see how this will be of use in the future.”

Environmental Economist Cheryl Kalisch, BAgrEc Consultant Economist in Environmental Economics, Hassall and Associates, Sydney

“I chose the BAgrEc because it offered the benefits of a Commerce degree but was more applied and had more direction. I decided to study at the University of Sydney because of its reputation and its location.

An industry-funded scholarship, which was awarded to me for the duration of my study, allowed me to be more flexible in my work experience program, in terms of the range of industries I worked in. I spent my third year of study on Student Exchange at the University of Illinois in the United States. This was an excellent opportunity to extend my study horizon: the year put my study program and thoughts for my career into an international perspective.

The BAgrEc degree program provided strong core Economics sequences as majors, flexibility in elective options, and a fourth year research project. I majored in Economics and completed a thesis on “An Evaluation of the Equity of Research Provision in the Australian Maize Industry.”

One of the advantages of studying Agricultural Economics at Sydney is that the staff have great industry contacts, which means that ‘career networking’ starts before you leave university. Since finishing Ag Economics I have been employed with Hassall & Associates as a consultant economist in their Environmental Economics Unit.”