Are minors actually meaningful?

<p>Do employers pay attention to minors at all, or do they just look at your transcript/the classes you've taken? For example, is there a difference between taking lots of finance classes and earning a minor (essentially ~5 classes) in finance or between being fluent in Spanish (a couple classes) and getting a minor in Spanish?</p>

<p>Minors don’t really matter, and a lot of banks don’t even look at your transcript until after you’ve been hired.</p>

<p>Honestly I would say that double majors are themselves a pretty weak factor. </p>

<p>Most of the recruiters that I’ve spoken with will split their recruiting class into two groups, and I’ve seen them do it two ways: </p>

<p>Grouping 1:
A: People with a business related major
B: People without a business related major</p>

<p>Grouping 2:
A: People with a liberal arts major
B: People without a liberal arts major</p>

<p>If you were a Finance/History major for example, you would fall into Group A for the first recruiter, and Group A for the second one. A finance major would be Group A and Group B, and a History major would be Group B and a Group A. </p>

<p>Some (now many) firms will add a category C: Engineers. </p>

<p>The reason I say the divide is like this is simple; some recruiters simply look to see if you have a degree in a business related field, and regard all others in a separate category. These recruiters believe that these students have some sort of added preparation so they prefer them. </p>

<p>The other group of recruiters (and you will definitely find more of these in consulting, as for IB it will definitely vary by firm) feels that the business degree is really not that helpful, and feels that History/Philosophy/Econ majors have a greater potential through stronger academic training, despite a lessened direct preparation in areas such as accounting. </p>

<p>As far as Spanish major vs minor goes, I think most people would see fluent in Spanish as the same, regardless of whether you got a major or minor. </p>

<p>From what I’ve seen, the best path is to major in what you like, preferably something academically challenging, and just take the basic business classes to ensure you have those skills.</p>

<p>For Spanish, it depends on the firms you are looking at. If you are interesting in working with Spanish speaking firms, countries, or those firms that deals have a predominantly Spanish speaking clientele, then the Spanish fluency will definitely help. If not, then it really won’t matter.</p>

<p>Regarding the Finance/Accounting/Business minor, relevant coursework is more useful than stating a minor. While relevant coursework isn’t the most important factor by any means, having a few relevant courses can definitely help, especially with smaller shops. That said, a finance/accounting minor won’t hurt you by any means either, and if you’ve got or are planning to take the coursework necessary anyway, then why not minor. </p>

<p>Between the 2 options, unless the very first scenario I described applies to you, I would go for the Finance minor/coursework over the Spanish.</p>

<p>IBanker</p>

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<p>You can put your minor on your CV. I think it helps show a broader range of interests if you are a finance/business major.</p>

<p>I think it helped my D. Her minor was IT (basically computer sci.). Her extra-curriculars helped too. They each helped get her the internship, which helped get her the job.</p>

<p>I say they helped because she was asked about them on interviews and she was asked to do some computer work during her last internship.</p>

<p>Only if you use what you learn or, have intellectual curiosity.</p>

<p>A language is inherently only really useful for when you plan on working in a field that utilizes that language, as BankonBanking stated above. Remember you want to market yourself as precisely as possible to wherever you’re applying for a job. </p>

<p>If you’re already fluent in Spanish then I would do the minor in Finance, as it is a universal skill that may open several doors and certainly won’t close any. You can also tack something saying “fluent in Spanish” on the end of your resume, while there isn’t really anything similar for being well-educated in finance (aside from having that aforementioned major/minor).</p>

<p>There will some some employers/ recruiters who will never even consider looking at your transcript, in which case having a solid minor will help (if they even look at that). Other employers may scour through your transcripts… but I only suggest that some may because I don’t know for sure that absolutely none will. I really doubt any recruiters have the time or interest to look in enough detail an individual’s transcripts to notice “Spanish/ Finance 201” on there unless they’re looking for very specific information.</p>