I am an economist by by training and i want to pursue a career in dat direction.I am aware i need to improve my IT skills to remain relevant and competitive.I need advice from the ever reliable Gunners oh! Nairalanders on which courses to take and how.For your information,i only know the simple basic computer applications for now.Thanks so much in advance.I mean soooo much.

Hmm, Economist,

I have copied and pasted this from my favourite website to give me an idea. Hopefully you have managed to get yourself at least a 2.2 which will be very useful. I would suggest that you go in search of privately owned research organisations, people who sell data, possibly marketing organisations as well. You can either approach them as a freelancer or see if they have any vacancies.

And if God wills it, you can also expand your horizons and look to the West African countries ie look for recruitment agencies that specialise in recruiting in the African regions, though you will have to ensure that you have a work permit.

You can also look at organisations such as the IMF http://www.imf.org/external/np/adm/rec/job/joboppo.htm or the WHO www.who.int/employment/vacancies/en/ OPEC www.opec.org/home/vacancies/index.htm

HOPE THIS HELPS!!

Job description
An economist provides a wide range of specialist advice based on the application of economic theory and knowledge to practical problems. They carry out research, collect and analyse data, monitor economic trends, and develop forecasts for future activities. Typically, economists are involved in studying the distribution of scarce resources, such as land, human labour, raw materials, money, goods and machinery. This information is then utilised to produce policies, goods and services.

Areas of economic research include: the impact of globalisation on developing countries; labour market intelligence; local government finance; energy costs; public health; property; inflation; taxation; interest rates; and imports and exports.

Typical work activities
Most economists are concerned with the practical applications of economic policy. They use their understanding of economic relationships to advise businesses and other organisations, including insurance companies, banks, security firms, industry and trade associations, unions and government agencies.

Tasks typically involve:

devising methods and procedures for obtaining required data;
understanding various sampling techniques that may be used to conduct different types of surveys;
creating, as well as using, various mathematical modelling techniques to develop forecasts;
interpreting data;
evaluating past and present economic issues and trends;
writing about economic trends and forecasts to inform the press and public;
producing various numerical and non-numerical written reports;
conducting numerous oral and visual presentations, which recipients must be able to understand thoroughly in order to make decisions;
explaining research methodology and justifying conclusions drawn from research data;
analysing data to test the effectiveness of current policies, products or services and advising on the suitability of alternative courses of action;
Specific work projects could include:

assessing the economic impact of national events on the UK, eg the London 2012 Olympic Games;
analysing the potential job creation of inward investment projects;
analysing the performance of companies with a view to advising fund managers or clients on investments;
analysing the economic impact of transport infrastructure developments;
advising government, employers or trade unions on the economic implications of policy options;
advising the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) on aspects of economic policy;
producing research on the global economy to influence international economic organisations and forums, ie the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the G8;
studying how the fluctuation of the pound (or the Euro) against other currencies affects UK imports and exports;
preparing briefs for government ministers and answering ministers' questions.

I forgot to take the bottom half off from the job description, ignore all that grammer about advising the CBI - unless you want to aspire to do that - nothing is impossible with God.