<p>I was having a discussion with my dad who still believes that I should be majoring in engineering rather than finance. He said that the new generation are looking at their parents (me included) and seeing how they are getting laid off in high numbers from their engineering job. He goes on to argue that this new generation will view the misfortunes of their parents and think that they do not want to be put into a similar situation when they begin to work. Therefore, he says these kids are going to be going into the business field instead of engineering, and as a result, there will be an incredible shortage of engineers in the future while there will be a surplus of business graduates. From that, the engineers (good or bad) will be making more money and have greater opportunities than the business grads who will be making a relatively low income if they can even find a job at all. I tried to argue that the baby boom generation is close to retiring and not only will there be opportunities to fill the shoes of these retirees but also the chance to help these individuals with financial aspects of their retirement plans, pensions, investments in the stock market, etc. My dad is still kept to his argument.</p>
<p>Any opinions to this?</p>
<p>Your average engineer makes more than your average employee at a business at this moment. You get to see those abnoxious compensations in select jobs (banking, consulting, high level executives at fortune 500s).
Do what you like the money will follow. If you really like engineering then you can major in it and later get positions in engineering firms, start your own shop etc. If you really like finance then major in it (and go to a recruited school) and you can get a cushy banking/consulting etc job and rise up the ranks from there. Thats a better way of dealing with this instead of creating elaborate plans to back arguments.</p>
<p>True. I mean I have always wanted to go into finance, and unless something dramatic happens, my perspective won't change. However, I just wanted to see how some of you guys view the potential of certain jobs in business relative to engineering.</p>
<p>These days I noticed that So many people are getting into business that it may actually create a problem for many. But as long as you go to a good school and have the skills necessary to succeed you shouldn't have a trouble finding a job in engineering or business. If anything it may be harder to get into Engineering as companies start to outsource more from Asia. don't you ever watch CNBC? all you ever hear about is China and India...</p>
<p>Considering CNBC's track record at forecasting I would be fading it ;). If you are trying to reach for high finance positions then I wouldn't be stressed about most of these business majors (most of whom take positions in regional businesses). I also doubt engineering will have a shortage that will end up making engineering salaries ridiculous (same with business). Also engineering is about application so you get a lot of businessmen who are ex-engineers (entrepreneurs, consultants, investors etc).</p>