Hi, I am wondering if I chose the right major in supply chain management. Previous to college, I did not know what it was but I am attending a school that is highly ranked in SCM and seemed interesting. I switched from engineering to SCM and I also had thoughts in medical. Long story short I am currently in SCM and want to know if I chose the right career choice in that is it a well paying job that is not boring. I understand anyone can succeed with any major as long as they put the work in but my point is this: people always talk about how business majors don’t do any work whereas engineering majors are smart and have a lot of work but they are guaranteed a well paying job. In high school I worked non stop, making straight A’s in honors and APs but right now in college, I barely have work. I am not writing this to brag or diminish others, simply I just want to know if SCM is well paying, what they do, and if it is easy to get a job coming out because as of now, I barely have work to do. If SCM is bad, I want to have time to switch majors while I still can.
Note: I do plan on getting a MBA. (Will this help and to what extent?) I am also of Asian descent so I can speak two languages. (I dont know if this helps or not though)
Supply chain management is a career that is very important and will not be going away. A quick google search revealed that the average supply chain manager makes $105,000 (this isn’t the starting salary, it’s after several years). Here’s what that said:
Oversees and manages overall supply chain and logistics operations to maximize efficiency and minimize cost of organization’s supply chain. Collaborate with multiple-functional managers to plan and execute on the development of a distribution center operational process to enable seamless transfers. Manages and monitors vendor’s qualification and performance to ensure they meet company’s requirements. Typically requires a bachelor’s degree. Typically reports to a senior manager. Manages subordinate staff in the day-to-day performance of their jobs. True first level manager. Ensures that project/department milestones/goals are met and adhering to approved budgets. Has full authority for personnel actions. Extensive knowledge of department processes. Typically requires 5 years experience in the related area as an individual contributor. 1 to 3 years supervisory experience may be required.
But if this is your major, you should really already know this information. You need to get to your school’s career development office immediately and start talking to them about what you need to do to get a paying internship this summer in this field. Lots of companies in this field hire summer interns. That’s the best way to figure out if this is for you or not.
First of all, no majors are guaranteed a career or a job. The unemployment rates for engineering majors are about the same as they are for many social science and life science majors. Average salaries are higher for engineering majors, but there’s no guarantees of jobs coming out of any major. The good news is that the vast majority of bachelor’s degree graduates are 1) employed 2) in jobs that require a bachelor’s degree and 3) pay a good middle-class salary.
If you actually go into supply chain management with your SCM major (and you don’t have to - lots of people have careers that are unrelated to their majors), then that field is pretty high paying. Supply chain managers do average in the $90-125K per year range. I’m not sure that’s what you’ll be making when you first graduate, because you likely won’t start out as a manager - you start out as a logistics specialist or supply chain specialist or something. They make considerably less money - logistics specialists average around $40-55K a year, and supply chain specialists are in the $60-75K a year range. But that’s still pretty good for a newer college grad.
Is it boring? Well, only you can decide that. There are some things I think are interminably boring and other people think they’re amazing.
If you want to know what supply chain managers do, talk to your professors and ask them to connect you with some alumni from the program you are currently in. Only supply chain managers can really give you the inside scoop on their job and what the job market looks like coming out of college.
I don’t know who those “people” are, but I know a lot of smart people that work hard in business jobs, including supply chain management. One thing you might do is go to your career office and talk to them, and use their resources to figure out where & how to apply for internships in the field. If you can work there this coming summer, it might help you make a firm decision.
thank you for the replies…
Is SCM a good degree to have? I have read that some people have an engineering degree but still work in supply chain. Are jobs high in demand?
Is supply chain considered a STEM?
If I decide to change to engineering, would I be behind? (I will talk to an advisor but I am currently on break but I just want to hear around) Most schools it is harder to switch into engineering so theres that.
Is it hard to get into grad school? (GPA will be around a 3.6+)
I just want to ask about to salary again. I have googled and everything but I want to know from personal experiences. How effective is an MBA? What can I expect from a starting salary with an MBA and what can I expect it to rise to around?
VA Tech offers Supply Chain under its BIT major. It’s a business major. BIT attracts a lot of former engineering majors. BIT majors are the most recruited majors at Tech after Engineers. You’d have to check their website but IIRC typical starting pay was about $75k.