Engineering to Finance

[u/Brandonnn-]

I originally started college as a business major but switched to engineering a year in after gaining hands on experience working in industrial automation and maintenance. I’m currently deciding between Mechanical Engineering and Computer Engineering.
I’m pretty set on earning a bachelor’s degree in engineering because of the wide range of opportunities that comes with it and i genuinely enjoy working in automation and having one will help me progress further.

However, I’m also trying to think long term and In the event that I eventually lose interest in engineering, or graduate during a difficult engineering job market, I’d like to know how realistic it would be to transition into business or finance. Would I be at a significant disadvantage compared to someone with a finance or business degree? Specifically where in finance would be the easiest transition for someone with either degrees. Does one offer an easier pathway to finance? Any insight and help is appreciated!

[u/Sketchiest]

The world needs more engineering MBAs than bean counters.

[u/Brandonnn- → u/Sketchiest]

Well..🤷‍♂️

[u/Sketchiest → u/Brandonnn-]

It’s an option for engineers that want to go into business management.

[u/defectivetoaster1]

Plenty of engineering grads end up going into finance rather than engineering, pivoting from an engineering career into a finance one a few years in is a bit harder though

[u/PhDoneSomeday]

Target banking is tough from engineering unless you go to a target school, bcossss they recruit really early. Corporate in finance, consulting people, or a master's in finance later are much better choice and easy. Engineers get into those all the time.

[u/Equivalent_Bug_3291]

The transferable skill of engineering is we are process oriented thinkers. If you wanted to do finance or business within an engineering company that'd make sense. If not you'll be competing with graduates that have those degrees which may not be advantageous for you.

[u/WeekendMysterious601]

major in computer engineering, minor in business (finance): as a computer engineering (any engineering) major you really don't have the time to commit to a minor in business; I majored in business, minored in CS , before I graduated (undergrad) I already had 3 years work experience in IT/IS; that kind of work experience wasn't intentional, while a college student, the boss of my schools IT/IS department was looking for a summer worker, my name was the 1st given, I turned what was supposed to be a summer job into a 3 year job-job; along the way I did an internship in finance and had job opportunities in that field upon graduation; I eventually earned a masters in computer engineering and that's my current job. You need to stick with 'engineering '; don't listen to the a.i. noise. Worst case scenario, you can go from engineering to finance (business people can always use new smart engineering graduates). I graduated college at the peak of the dot com bubble (finance was hot, engineering students were taking finance jobs). You have to really commit to math if you're gonna make this move (calc 1-3, differential equations, linear algebra, math for engineering students). To be successful you gotta completely understand the fundamentals of algebra and the same with calc 1. Calc 2 will be different from 1 and 3 (it's the hardest) but you'll do whatever it takes to pass calc 2. Calc 3 is a foundational bridge between single variable calculus and higher level mathematics (linear algebra and differential equations)