<p>If I plan on going from engineering to management (after a couple years of experience first), is it better to major in engineering (i plan on doing mechanical) and minor in business, or is it better just to major in engineering with no minor (that way i get the best grades possible). I plan on getting an MBA/MEM later on after a couple years of experience. I plan on attending UT Austin for undergrad btw, so I would be getting a very good engineering and business education.</p>
<p>And btw, i have no intention to be an i-banker or any of that crap, so i don’t wanna hear “u should do the business minor cause u can be an i-banker for jp morgan”. (that means u sakky! haha)</p>
<p>A minor can’t hurt, and at my school business minors are quite common among engineering majors but:</p>
<p>1) Getting the absolutely best grades you can in your major is very important and cannot be compensated for by a minor.
2) No one will hire a fresh engineering graduate into a management position, minor or not. You will have to work your way up and social skills and networking will matter much more than formal business training.
3) Doing an MBA later will be a piece of cake compared engineering classes you will have to take.
4) It is probably important to have <em>some</em> idea of what business/economics is about, and for that I recommend a basic microeconomics class. The engineering majors at my school are in fact required to take one. Avoid esoteric things like macroeconomics unless taken for amusement value ;)</p>
<p>thanks PerpetualStudent!</p>
<p>bump 10char</p>
<p>
To become a manager, you need more than 10 years of experience, not just a couple…</p>
<p>rheidzan, are you sure? I’m not sure about Mech Eng, but my father was a programmer and later got an MBA after being a programmer for only 5 years. I assumed that it would be about the same amount of time for Mech Eng</p>
<p>It really depends on your field and what type of engineering you want to do, but 10 years is near standard for most engineering management positions. However, you could go into operations management prior to 10 years with a BS and an MBA or even just a BS. 5 years is a good time to wait before getting your MBA, this doesn’t mean you will be flung into management roles though.</p>
<p>I agree that a few business courses my be interesting for an engineer to take at the undergrad level, but I don’t know if you need to go as far as to minor in it if you plan on getting an MBA. I would definitely take an economics, accounting, and statistics course.</p>
<p>
I’ve generally seen the same. You won’t manage other engineers without a lot of experience, but you can manage the process or the operation as Japher said. I have a friend who’s doing project management for a pharmaceutical company (chemical engineering major) straight out of school and I’m managing construction (civil engineering major) straight out of school as well.</p>
<p>thanks for clearing that up ken285!</p>
<p>Many engineers with an interest in business/management quickly grow bored with typical engineering jobs. Having the minor would give you more options.</p>
<p>thanks hmom5!</p>