I've been ripping my hair out the past 6 months. I just started college in the fall 2012 and have been undecided between majoring in electrical/computer engineering vs majoring in finance. "But wait jon those are totally different" said everyone. I'm having problems deciding because well... I put myself in quite a pickle. Maybe I should start from the beginning here.

I'm currently a sophomore in IOE. I don't know if this is the proper place to ask, but would IOE roles in engineering firms value investment banking and business development experience?
I have experience as a business development manager at a law firm and this upcoming summer I will have had IB M&A experience at an MM bank in Asia.
I am primarily interested in making it into IB/MBB consulting but I plan to keep IOE engineering roles as a fallback option and I was wondering how valuable my experience would be in the eyes of an engineering recruiter.

I know that GPA is question that is often asked, but what would be a good GPA to have if you are an undergrad applying for consulting jobs with an engineering degree?

To be more specific I am an engineering major, with an additional major in the humanities, as well as a minor in Econ at a top public.

Also I will be a junior next year, so what sort of internships should I be shooting for to best position myself for full-time recruiting come my senior year? What are good consulting firms that are a step down from MBB and hire interns?

Thanks guys!

I go to a non-target university, but it is a top 10-15 engineering school. I've recently become very interested in S&T, to a lesser extent IBD. I am currently studying engineering and would likely do Civil Engineering if I continued this path. However, I've thought about switching to Finance as it seems more aligned with my goal of doing S&T as there are some alums that have broken into S&T from finance. However, I got a 4.0 GPA my first semester in Engineering and I feel a high Engineering GPA could help more so than a high Finance GPA.

I've seen on here that banks like a more quant-ish degree, especially for S&T roles even though you won't be using the high level math on a daily basis.

Hi guys,

I am currently trying to revise my resume and trying to make it more "consulting" and less like I am targeting for an engineering job.

I am targeting IT consulting positions in companies like Deloitte/Accenture so not exactly MBB or management consulting focused.

However, coming from an electrical engineering background, pretty much most of my projects and work experience are all technical related. I do have some extra curricular experience, but I wish to make my technical experience sound more consulting like or would appear more interesting to a consulting manager.

Can anyone with similar situation/background shed some light?
I can provide links to my resume if it helps

Thanks!

Hey fellow aspiring/incumbent monkeys,

I have a quick question regarding what major I should choose to best set-up an investment banking gig after I graduate.

For context, I am a sophomore at the University of Southern California "Fight On!" and I am in the Marshall School of Business. I am in their joint Business Admin. & Accounting program, but I am looking into other options. Specifically, I have already completed multivariable calculus and I'm considering the Mathematical Economics or Industrial & Systems Engineering programs.

Hey guys

A friend did engineering and worked for a big oil company (Saudi Aramco) for 5 years. He worked for the company's strategic planning division (essentially mapping out how and where the company's resources are best used). He took the GMAT in the last sitting and scored 700 flat. He took the LSAT (studied a bit but for kicks!!!) and scored 170.

He wants out of the oil company (promotions are pretty tough to land mainly because they're based on how long you've served and not how much you've served); he's thinking PE, but is also entertaining any other areas including big law (which is why he's considering applying for a JD/MBA).

Speaks Arabic (native), English (native), Malayu (native), Hebrew (business proficiency), and Spanish (business proficiency)

I just did a search of how engineering degrees are viewed on the street and it seems that some people are for it and some people are against it. I don't see how an engineering degree can be a bad thing. A friend of mine recently started an engineering management degree and it seems like the perfect degree. He will learn all management skills someone getting a BA in business administration would and all the math and science skills of someone getting a BS in engineering. On top of that he can get a concentration in Financial Engineering.

Does anyone else agree that its hard to go wrong with an engineering management or any of engineering degree?

Gents,

Goldman Sachs Deadline for 2013 recruiting season for internships is on the 25th. I am a Mechanical Engineering major and have a very wide knowledge and experience on my field . I am applying for a technology analyst position, maybe even a quant since I basically solve non-linear homogenous equations, matricies, LaPlace Transforms, Derivatives, Partial Derivatives, Integrals etc .

I need a deep hard core review on this , this is my first ever resume going to Wall ST and dont know if its pleasing enough, I need your insight, Thanks .

http:// www razume com/documents/28584

Hi all,

Been reading this site for a while now, but first post, so here goes;

I'm currently in my final year at Imperial College doing an Engineering degree (MEng), and in the process of applying for Masters in Finance (or similar) at a variety of the top business schools/universities - LSE, Imperial, Cass, Princeton, Bocconi, ESSEC, HEC, etc.

Hey everyone,

I am going into Junior year as a Civil Engineering major and a minor in business. I've been speaking with a contact I have in the Commercial Real Estate industry and he told me to remake my resume, and try to spin it more towards business/finance.

I have a lot of Engineering/Construction internships, but no relevant real estate or finance experience. I'm also at a non-target which further complicates things.

I did my best to spin my experience towards business/finance and I would appreciate some feedback! Thanks everyone!

Hi everyone,

So lately I've been thinking about this topic and just wanted to express my thoughts and rant.

I chose to major in business (finance) because I was naive back in high school and thought I wanted to do business, which I still do. Now that I am entering my final year of university, I constantly think of what would have happen if I majored in engineering or a hard science instead.

Initially I wanted to major in Mech or Electrical Engineering but I wanted a social life/study abroad and decided to go the easier instead. Also I didnt want to sit in a class full of dudes for 4 years.

I am kicking myself now because I want to do VC in the future, and looking at profiles of VC firms, alot of the team members have an engineering/hard science degree.

Hey everyone,

Just wondering what everyone thought about joint/dual degree MBA/MSEngineering programs, and which schools had good ones. I was thinking Columbia or MIT Sloan or Penn.

Also, do you need an engineering undergrad degree to be considered for one?

Hey gentlemen, I'm a computer engineer graduate who's hoping to get some advice from the community. I'll try to keep it concise and to the point so here is my background:

1) I've already graduated.
(Do banks have post-bachelors/ pre-MBA internships?)

2) I graduated with a non-finance degree from a non-target university in the southwest. My university isn't even a target within the realm of engineering either, unfortunately.

3) I don't know anyone or have any connections with anyone in the finance industry. (Should I just get in touch with my alma mater career service or something?)

4) I do have a good gpa, 3.9, in what I consider a hard major.

This question is for all the previous engineering majors out there.

What was it that made you switch from engineering to finance apart from the money? Did you dislike the work in engineering or were the exit opportunities too limited at the time?

I am a rising junior and have little knowledge of what I actually want to do. I'm in a current staff accounting internship and I am realizing that doing mindless work like this has little interest to me in the future regardless of cash and am trying to figure out what I enjoy. I know that no ones first job regardless of where you start is going to be pitching new strategies to the CEO, but working at a comp for 12 hours a day seems like hell to me.

I've been reading threads around the website for a while but this is the first time I've decided to post. My question is regarding the 2+3 programs (or 2-1-1-1) that are offered by many liberal arts schools to receive and engineering and liberal arts degree in 5 years. Do any of you have any experience with these types of programs at top ranked schools (Dartmouth, Columbia, Caltech)? And would one have access to recruiting at both the engineering and liberal arts school? Thanks.

Hey guys,

I'm about to hit the 2 year mark at my engineering firm after grad school that's pretty unrelated to consulting. We do catastrophe modeling and analysis(hurricanes, earthquakes, floods) for clients. Is 2 years too late to go into consulting? How many years is too much???

I'm quickly realizing that I'd rather do consulting for Deloitte or Accenture or some other big firm based on talking to my friends who work there. Given that my experience is unrelated, any chance I can get a job at one of these firms? Even if it's entry level? I'd actually prefer to start off at the analyst level and take a paycut to get my feet wet (and avoid the competition given my unrelated experience).

Stats:

Hi All,

I'm doing research for a potential career change in the long term (say 5+ years). I am a Mechanical Engineer with post graduate qualifications in extractive metalurgy and I have been working as a project manager for capital mining projects in Latin America for the last two years, almost entirely gold and silver related. I have developed and managed projects in more than 10 countries. I have an intimate knowledge of the cultures and mining related laws and regulations of many Latin American countries. I really enjoy my job, but I work away from home in harsh conditions for the majority of the year (>80%) and I can't see myself doing this indefinitely.

I apologize in advance if I posted this in the wrong section but basically I'm currently a sophomore at a non-target (for business) majoring in Mechanical Engineering. When I chose the major my main goal was to become an engineer after I graduate, maybe get an MBA, and who knows what else but my plan was to stick within the engineering field. But the past few months I've been having a pretty big change of heart and I'd love to get into finance, particularly I-banking. I was always interested in the street and finance in general so I did take a year of econ, a year of accounting, some entrepreneurship classes, and a couple bgmt courses.

Hey guys,

I've been thinking about this for some time. I mean most of the high-pay positions in banks are occupied by engineers, mathematicians, physicists etc. but I'm talking about the engineering sector. Here are my arguments:

1) There are a lot of engineering companies, some are huge (e.g. microsoft, google, apple, intel, Mercedes, BMW, IBM etc.) and have higher earnings than top banks.
2) Engineering companies are not affected by crisis as much.
3) Some have higher efficiencies in terms of num. of employees/profits

Hi,
Anyone have experience with PM in engineering or related projects?
And if so, have you done internships in the area?
I'm an industrial engineering undergrad in a top 5 engineering school in Brazil and I am evaluating the available options,

Thanks all,

With everything in the world becoming more tech-driven, why does Wall Street continually recruit economics and finance majors? This is a question that has had me thinking alot lately because of the sheer stupidity of this decision.

Everyone knows that banking is mostly grind-it-out, ass-kissing work with a few mathematical problems. Trading, on the other hand, involves some more mathematical analysis and brain power. With that said, if I was a recruiter for a Wall Street firm, I would only consider engineering, math and physics majors for either position. Why? Because they are without a doubt the brightest students on campus.

Quick Question WSO!...

I am currently a junior who is a Electrical Eng. + Comp Sci double major. I am also enrolled in the 5 year program which would result in a Masters in EE at the end.

Should I stick to this 5 year program or drop the masters and go straight to the work force to gain work experience?

I got interested in IB fairly late...about 2 months ago. The internship I had for a year and a half is no where related to finance (its an engineering internship).

This summer the goal is to push hard for a finance internship at MM or Boutique but if that does not happen then to get another internship in engineering/IT world.

So I'm going into U-Mich this year into their LSA school (main school sorta) for Computer Science. I've been contemplating on whether or not I should try to get into the College of Engineering for Computer Sciences... Differences would be that in LSA I would get a BS while in CoE I would get a BSEng. I would still get the same career resources that CoE students get but I was wondering if just getting a BS will prevent me (as opposed to somebody with a BSEng.) from getting jobs/grad school acceptances. I've tried asking this at other forums, this place wasn't my first choice, but I figured somebody here may have something intelligent to say about it.

I'm mostly interested in trading if that matters.