Julianna Brooks, Ӱר17, is a market analyst for oil and gas services company Austin Industrial in Houston, Texas.
ӰרMy degree path and everything within UL Lafayette was so important in getting this job and being able to execute on this job,Ӱר she said.
The Perfect Job for a Young Economist
While the support she got from UL Lafayette was important, JuliannaӰרs enthusiasm for economics was an integral part in finding her perfect job.
She handles market analysis and financial analysis, which are "two very fun, very important, very exciting functions within my organization," she said.
ӰרFirst and foremost, as the market analyst, I work with our sales and business development team to analyze market trends and to analyze our internal data,Ӱר she said. ӰרIӰרll take our internal data and I will apply it to external trends.
ӰרI put together pretty extensive reports on Ӱרthis is where weӰרre positioned in the marketӰר and Ӱרthese are certain markets that we are well-positioned to take advantage of,ӰרӰר she said.
ӰרOn the other side, I do financial analysis as well, but that is so interconnected with the market side,Ӱר she said. ӰרIӰרll take our internal finance trends and IӰרll do gap analyses and IӰרll look at what our internal trends look like and I do help report that data to the board, as well."
Julianna works closely with Austin IndustrialӰרs senior vice president of finance to manage the companyӰרs forecast and rolling backlog Ӱר both of which are tied to the trends she analyzes.
ӰרItӰרs so great to tie into the external market force as well,Ӱר she said. ӰרTheyӰרre less powerful independently and together they make really powerful insights.Ӱר
ӰרItӰרs the perfect job for a young economist, truly,Ӱר she said.
JuliannaӰרs career in economics started with while she was still a student at UL Lafayette. She utilized her connections on campus to get an internship doing data analysis with Bryson Law firm.
ӰרIt made all of the difference,Ӱר she said. ӰרOn one hand, youӰרre getting real, professional experience but then youӰרre also able to bolster up your resume as well as get credit for it. I mean, it was just an all-around wonderful experience."
Economics Over Burritos
Julianna also met some of her favorite people in the economics program at UL Lafayette. They bonded over burritos after classes.
ӰרOn Thursdays, we would go to IzzoӰרs and we would get burritos,Ӱר she said. ӰרWe went after econometrics class and we talked about economic theories and we were just bouncing ideas off of each other and it was such a blast.Ӱר
Econometrics (ECON 418G) is the capstone class for the economics program and one of JuliannaӰרs favorite classes.
ӰרI found that class to be so exciting because what theyӰרre teaching in that class is ways of answering questions for yourself,Ӱר she said. ӰרThe main basis of the class is learning how to perform regression analysis.
ӰרRegression analysis is the way that most economics papers use to establish trends and it allows us to answer questions about the real world for ourselves,Ӱר she said. ӰרIt allows us to take these totally disparate sets of data and it allows us to go find good sources of data.
ӰרThe big end of the class was writing this 20-page paper and you hear about writing this paper from freshman year and youӰרre always thinking, ӰרOh my gosh, at the end of this I have to write a 20-page paper,ӰרӰר she said.
ӰרThen you get to it and youӰרre like, ӰרHow do I get this to fit in 20 pages?Ӱר because thereӰרs so much freedom of creativity,Ӱר she said. ӰרThatӰרs a huge, exciting part of economics: that itӰרs like hard science with a really good sampling of art and creativity. It gives you so much power to answer questions for yourself.Ӱר
Another really important class for JuliannaӰרs career was Money and Banking (ECON 320).
ӰרItӰרs definitely the one that gave me the most practical knowledge for what IӰרm doing today," she said.
This class was so useful that Julianna still has her textbook from the class.
ӰרI have it in my office because there are so many things within the program that I still use on a regular basis,Ӱר she said.
An Early Interest in Economics
JuliannaӰרs love for economics started over a decade ago during the 2009 economic crisis.
ӰרIt was so interesting to me,Ӱר she said. ӰרThere was something that just really drew me to it because I was like, ӰרI wanna know why this happened.Ӱר Obviously, I didnӰרt understand it at the time and itӰרs still such a convoluted issue.
ӰרThe entire financial system is based around people making decisions and itӰרs not a hard science, itӰרs all so theoretical,Ӱר she said.
ӰרWhen youӰרre a kid, you always think, ӰרThese people are so much smarter than me,Ӱר and there are all of these processes in place so people canӰרt make mistakes in these situations,Ӱר she said, Ӱרbut really what economics dictates is that these systems are built around human flaws.
ӰרHuman behavior dictates the way we decide to live our lives and spend our money and run our businesses Ӱר and I find that really interesting,Ӱר she said.
Julianna found the perfect place to develop her skills in the economics program at UL Lafayette.
ӰרIt is such a bright spot that it is really often times overlooked,Ӱר she said. ӰרThe school, the professors, and the people and fellow economists Ӱר I could not imagine a better program and one thatӰרs more grounded in the human aspect of economics.Ӱר
