PLEASE HELP! career prospects for enginnering (1 Viewer)

[aditya]

I respect engineers... i mean, engineers hammer accountants for sure, yet accounting is such a good career path to take.... one i dunt really want to take..i mean i wanan do bcommerce and i want to major in accounting, but i dunt want to be acocuntant, i just want to become a manager, because im good at it, i like it and its a lifestyle that would suit me...

so essentially the point of this post is to ask u how liekly it would be for a person hu completeed :

1) software enginnering/computerengerring
2) telecom/electrical engineering
3) mining eng
4) petreluem eng
5) civil eng

to one day undertake a significant role in the running of a business...?? i mean after doing an MBA or wateva, but is it really likely that as a software engineer i could move into a seniour management position?

please help me id much rather become an enginner/manager than an accounting manager... like i said i have the dearest respect for engineers but the scope for employment and career progression seems limited - i hope this is an incorrect impression and would beg u to spank me with verbal abuse as much as u can - the more abuse i get the happier i would be lol

u get the point anyway right?

please help!

 

[KD]

Firstly, there is plenty of scope for employment and career progression in engineering. At present (and seemingly well into the future) there is a shortage of Engineers particularly Civil right around the world.

The potential to run a business exists in all the engineering areas you mention as it does in many other degrees/areas it really depends how innovative, business orientated (and brave) you are.

I know that UNSW is introducing a B Civil/B Comm degree that may interest you. There is no separate course code as yet so you should apply to Civil and transfer to the double degree when it is in place. You could also just do a Bachelor degree in something you like, work for a company on graduating where you can learn more about the field and the business opportunities that uinterest you then do an MBA (or whatever is relevant at the time) and start your business then.

Note that accounting is not a great career path if you don't enjoy it. Remember 50 years is a long time to do something you hate.

 

[aditya]

lol u confused me more!!!but in a good way

very thank u for ur help

fro this b civl/commerce do u have to satisfy the requirements for a bcommerce degree as well?

 

[KD]

From Engineering Site:

16 September 2003
Faculties of Engineering & Commerce and Economics BE BCom (Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Commerce)

From 2004, the Faculties of Engineering & Commerce and Economics intend to offer a combined degree program leading to the award of the degrees of Bachelor of Engineering (BE) and Bachelor of Commerce (BCom). Subject to projected progress of approval processes in both Faculties, and at the Academic Board, the combined program could be in place for student enrolments to commence in mid-2004.

Students wishing to enrol in this combined degree program should enrol in the associated BE program, and will be permitted to transfer in mid-2004, if they meet the required entry standard. The algorithm to be used for assessing eligibility to enrol in the combined degree program will be as follows:

* The required entry standard will be the UAI (or equivalent admission rank) of either the associated undergraduate Engineering program, or the undergraduate Commerce program, whichever is the greater.
* Students who have completed 1 year or more at UNSW will be assessed on the basis of results obtained in their university program (tertiary rank) and their UAI (secondary rank). Each of these admission ranks contributes equally (50%) to the final admission rank.
* Students who have not yet completed 1 year of a BE program at UNSW will be assessed wholly on the basis of their UAI (secondary rank).

Students in Years 2 and above of a BE program will be permitted to transfer to a combined program if they meet the entry requirements defined above and either a suitable program and timetable may be constructed to allow them to complete within 5 years from commencement of the BE, or the student is willing to extend the period of study beyond 5 years with a part-time load to permit timetabling of the required academic program.

From January 2004, the "Fast Track" entry to the MCom from a BE program will cease to be available. However, the "Fast Track" program will continue to be offered to students who meet the requirements for entry to this program (a weighted average mark of 65% at the end of Year 3, and modification of the Engineering program in Years 3 and 4) and who:

* Accepted a place at UNSW on the understanding that they would be permitted to enrol in the "Fast Track" program; or
* Cannot construct a suitable BE BCom program.

Where possible, students will be encouraged to undertake the BE BCom combined degree program which is considered to offer advantages over the "Fast Track" program.

 

[ohne]

If you're good at maths, I would strongly recommend engineering over accounting. There are far more interesting things to do than sit in an office and count beans all day.

Civil and mining are probably your two best bets. There is a chronic shortage of civil engineers in Australia at present and it is very broad meaning you should have good options. Mining engineering is one of the best options of any course financially. It has better graduate earnings than law, pharmacy and optometry and roughly the same as medicine and dentistry. It is a much smaller area of engineering, although employment opportunities are also very good with Australia's booming resource sector.

 

[mojako]

what I dont get, aditya, is
if you dont like accounting but like management,
why don't you just major in management for your commerce degree?

why would you want to major in accounting if you dont wanna be an accountant?

 

[aditya]

u need experience.... u need experience as an accoutnant, u have to start from the bottom, and work your way up... u cant just skip half the promotions and land urself in a management position straight away....

i like management because of the money and the lifestyle, but i dunt like the pure accounting aspect of it all.. thats y im wondering whether or not it is posisble to get into management through a more itneresting, skillful role - i.e. an engineer...

 

[Li0n]

money has corrupted our world, long gone are the days when people did research for the pure pursuit for knowledge

 

[rain gal]

why would u want to slay away 5 years juggling both a commerce and an enigeering degreee to get into a management position when u can just do an MBA after an eniggering degree? Is there any difference in doing a combined degree of commerce and eniggering to doing an MBA>

Anyway, if u want a good management postion, accounting would be the way to go as to be an enigeering manager reauires a lot of hard work and experincne.

 

[§eraphim]

management is a stupid major to pursue. its a waste of credit points. i think its just a way for the school of IR to boost enrolments in its courses. management is not a science but a practice/art so learning about management philosophies from textbooks isnt as good as learning how to apply them, eg in case study work of an MBA.

Petroleum engineers make heaps of money too. But working conditions seem shit.

 

[Slidey]

money has corrupted our world, long gone are the days when people did research for the pure pursuit for knowledge

Yarr!

Still, on that note:

http://www.bradreese.com/salary-expert-international-search.htm

And

http://www.gradsonline.edu.au/gradsonline/

Undergraduate engineers start on about $40K, but that will increase as the years go by and certainly it will be higher once you've finished your degree. For certain engineering specialties it is quite a bit higher

I quote the other site, in the case of the electrical engineer:

"The Electronics Engineer working in Australia - All Cities now earns an average salary of 118,602. Half of those in this position would earn between 82,357 and 148,513 (the 17th and 67th percentiles). These numbers are derived from real, area specific, survey data.

When benefits and bonuses are added to this salary, the average total compensation for this position would be 135,355. "

All numbers are in $AUD.

 

[Slidey]

Petroleum engineers make heaps of money too. But working conditions seem shit.

Ignoring working conditions, it's still one stupid degree. Fact of the matter is, petroleum is dying. It would be rather silly to take a degree that would lead to a job that would lead to nowhere eventually.

By 2050, Shell expects to be based 50% on petroleum and 50% on renewable. That petroleum percentage will continue to diminish. Shell is losing money by going into renewable, but they are in for the long haul - they know that if they don't they'll be doomed.

 

[Affinity]

to one day undertake a significant role in the running of a business...?? i mean after doing an MBA or wateva, but is it really likely that as a software engineer i could move into a seniour management position?

Yes, just look up CVs of senior management of companies. though most of them has good business sense to begin with

 

[kat_mandu]

career prospects for engineering...mmm this is a tough one...maybe you could be an engineer

 

[Zarathustra]

I was thinking about science/commerce or engineering/commerce but it seems to me that management (or international business...) would be the major for anyone wanting to actually use their major in the other degree. The internatinal business would probably require me to learn a second language, or at the very least study another culture - for which international studies seems better. So the two majors that I was considering seemed useless, who in their right mind would hire a senior manager fresh from uni? ??
I spoke to a lady at the USyd open day and she said that an MBA is much better for managent than a commerce degree, not only its contenet but due to the fact that the person doing the degree would be more mature (it's postgrad.) and probably more sure of where their interests lie. It is also more practical - seeing as you should already have some managerial experience - and even with a commerce/business degree you'd need to eventually get an MBA anyway.
I can't see any reason why someone with no interest in commerce except for the managerial side of things would do a BCom...

 

[Affinity]

management sounds good..

 

[Purp|e]

hmmm i have no idea about this MBA thing ?? can someone enlighten me ?

 

[laney]

mbas are so super lame, don't bother.
get an engineering degree, and then get a job. forget the mba.
i mean having an engineering degree is good. having an mba (which are really super easy to get) is so unnecessary. maybe you'd get an mba if you didn't have any other degree....


as for demand - the place i'm working at now is really short of engineers. this new bloke has come in to work as an engineer on site, and he said he failed a lot of uni, and now they've put him as one of the 5 people in charge of design. and what's better, he's working for the massive rio-tinto, and you can just imagine the shitload of money he's being paid, AND he's only just started!

 

[Purp|e]

god damn ... im interested in doing civil engineering, but sticking on the design side of things ... i hope i can score a job like him

how are you/did you find engineering @ UNSW ?? i applied for civil and enviro ... but im 0.3 under the cut-off ... so i may have to do it @ UTS ... is there much difference ?

 

[mojako]

what do u guys think of chemical engineering?