<p>It seems like Industrial Engineering is looked down upon for being an easy major in the engineering field. But if I want to work as an accountant or a consultant after I finish MBA, should I major in Industrial Engineering in my undergraduate years since it's somewhat business-related engineering major out there? It's also one of the easiest major with a high average GPA. If not, what engineering major would suffice?</p>
<p>You made this thread earlier. Yes, that would be a good fit, but honestly what's keeping you from business? It seems to be what you're truly interested in</p>
<p>Well, I have a strong interest in engineering, especially Industrial Engineering. But looking ahead, I am planning to earn MBA in the future and work as a consultant. So I was wondering whether this combo is common?</p>
<p>Way back in the 1980s, I had decided to go for my MBA. I took maybe ten courses toward the degree -- way more than half-way. (I remember: accounting, macroeconomics, microecon, marketing, org. leadership, bus law, mgt science, finance...)</p>
<p>I switched to get an MS in Operations Research.</p>
<p>I've had a long career with lots of twists and turns. That one decision stands out as THE BEST DECISION I have made in my whole life. </p>
<p>It's worth your consideration. MBAs are very common. OR degrees are rarer than hens' teeth.</p>
<p>what was your undergrad degree redbeard?</p>
<p>do you think a non engineering student could get an ms in or? im interested, thanks.</p>
<p>My undergrad degree was in chemistry (from Cornell). </p>
<p>So, yes, I think somebody can get an OR degree without an engineering degree. I did. You need to have a good amount of linear algebra, differential equations, probability and statistics to move on to the OR courses. I had originally started in an engineering program but switched out to a chemistry degree (I do not recommend this path!). So I had taken several of these courses. </p>
<p>In the 12 years between the chemistry degree and the beginning of the OR program, I took jobs that were, essentially, operational engineering jobs in the Navy. So, when I started the OR program, it was only a matter of taking a few more preliminary courses. Thus, one might take a little longer to get the OR degree. Obviously I think it's worth the extra effort.</p>
<p>Redbeard:</p>
<p>I've always been thinking of going the MBA or consulting route but lately I've been looking more and more into OR as a career path. I just wanted to know if you could give me some information from your experience such as how the work environment is, what sort of challenges and projects you work on, opportunities for advancement in career, compensation, etc. I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>Sure. OR itself has many branches. There are lots of things that used to be part of the OR skill-set but have become specialties by themselves (risk analysis, modeling and simulation, network analysis, etc.) An OR degree would qualify you to work in any or all of such fields. </p>
<p>One major line of business for OR majors is the definition of system-wide measures of effectiveness, and the measurement of the system's performance against those MOEs. OR analysts might also dip into our toolkit to determine how we can improve the system against those measures, or to refine the measures so they better capture the intent of the customer and users. </p>
<p>Another line of business includes system optimization. There are many tools to help optimize some systems;there are almost no tools to help optimize others; and some systems defy optimization because of their chaotic or complex behavior. (That's when things get REALLY interesting.)</p>
<p>OR is the 'science of better', as one of our professional societies says. The world is filled with complex systems that can be analyzed and made better using OR techniques. We almost always 'earn back' our pay. </p>
<p>I work in the defense field. Our professional society just met this month. You can check out our website at mors.org. There you will find the titles to the hundreds of papers presented over three days. About half of my division went to the symposium, and a lot of the consultants that support us. </p>
<p>There is substantial unmet demand for these skills, in my field and in many others: airline operations, health care resource management, cost-benefit analysis in industry and government, traffic management, etc. There are many avenues to provide these skills: government consultants, business process reform companies, R&D management firms, and the government itself. </p>
<p>As for the 'work environment', I think it takes an independently-minded individual. Just tonight, sharing a drink after work with some former colleagues, they said they enjoyed my participation in meetings because I was always throwing the "BS" flag (when it desperately needed to be thrown). We get to do that. You should know it's a bit of a high wire act, and not every company or manager will appreciate your value. But, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Most executives prefer having somebody to tell them when they're not wearing any clothes.</p>
<p>Back in WWII, Winston Churchill set up a 'central statistics office' to help deliver the 'brutal facts'. He knew he was an optimist and that he would always focus on the good news. He defined the perfect role for the OR component, and my job today. </p>
<p>I hope this all helps.</p>
<p>Definitely helps out a lot, thanks. Is it correct that it's generally a masters degree field? Or could one look to get work with a bachelors in something like Industrial and Systems Engineering?</p>
<p>Check out Northwestern's MS&E program (ranked top-10 nationally): Northwestern</a> University - Undergraduate Program
+
Kellogg</a> School Certificate Program for Undergraduates - Kellogg School of Management - Northwestern University in Managerial Analytics (classes are taught by profs from the Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences department at Kellogg; one of the Econ Nobel winners this year did all of his Nobel winning research as a faculty in this department)</p>