<p>I'm pursuing an Associate's in Arts degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering so I can transfer to a Florida public four-year university. I want to work in Supply Chain Management, ideally as a Logistics Service Providers consultant for a software company like SAP. Would an Industrial Engineering degree be the best option for such a career? Or a Business Administration degree?</p>
<p>Business administration is nearly worthless as an undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>My daughter is an ISE major, with a minor in business. She has had two great internships, both lined up 8 months before the summer began. It has worked out well for her so far. Most importantly, she likes the work involved in ISE and feels that the business gives her a little bit of an edge, at least in knowing as much as she possibly can.</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend IE - I have a few friends on the SCM side of my company, and while there are some pure-business types the IE’s definitely dominate, not only in numbers but in quality of positions. Plus, as boneh3ad inferred, if you want business, a masters degree is far more valuable, and you can do that with any undergrad if you want to.</p>
<p>Thanks…I looked at the website of the company I would look to work for. I’d like to work in software sales and consulting, so it seems the IE education would be crucial for getting experience in the field of supply chain management</p>
<p>SCM and IE are fundamentally different degrees. The purpose of an SCM degree is to give you a broad picture about how supply chains are designed and operated, while also giving you experience in other areas of business (HR, finance, accounting, marketing, etc). You know how a supply chain runs, but not exactly. For example, you’ll know how to use a forecast, and might know how to build a very simple forecast, but you will probably not have enough of an education to design a complex forecast model on your own. The purpose of this type of education is to allow you to make high-level decisions while considering the overall business impact of your decisions. </p>
<p>An IE degree will give you a much more granular focus. You’ll focus on the small scale - consumer choice models, time series forecasting, network optimization, contractual game theory, probabilistic models, etc. Your primary goal is to solve few small, complex problems within a supply chain and not to really deal with the big picture issues. To give you an idea of scope, an IE focuses on $100,000 decisions, while SCM focuses on $10 million decisions (obviously a very broad generalization, but it gives you a point of reference). </p>
<p>As a 22 year old new graduate, there’s much more demand for analytical (IE) work. People are fine with new graduates building complex models, but they generally don’t want new college grads making their $10 million decisions. Instead, they’ll let the experienced managers work up through the company and make those decisions (probably after an MBA to give them that broad picture SCM majors get as undergraduates). </p>
<p>That’s not to say that there are no jobs for SCM majors, just that there are fewer. Some companies will hire SCM majors and put them in a “management training” program or similar apprenticeship setup. Usually you have to work up through front-line supervision (i.e. store manager) before you get to make any big decisions.</p>
<p>Thats very encouraging to hear. There are no SCM programs in my state.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that business schools have different names for that education. Some have a specific Supply Chain Management major, while others include it as Operations Management. Other schools might simply have a general Management concentration within the Business school that allows you to specialize on Supply Chains. Either way, in business keep in mind that your school weighs very heavily on your career options so choose based on rankings. Engineering positions are much less sensitive to university rankings.</p>
<p>Noted BanjoHitter…I plan on sticking with Industrial Engineering when I transfer, hopefully at my school’s flagship state U.</p>
<p>That’s a very smart decision. I just didn’t want to sound biased earlier :)</p>
<p>I share already your bias, I have a friend who graduated from GTech’s IE program and helped me decide, haha</p>
<p>I am in the ISE Program at UF. It’s a wonderful choice!</p>
<p>I’m only a freshman and have already interviewed for positions with Harris Corp. and General Electric! DO it!! You can always get a business minor.</p>
<p>Look over the curriculum for whatever school you are wishing to attend. UF for example, has a very supply chain rich course load. At UF you study systems engineering as well.</p>
<p>Thanks ufgator, that’s precisely where I plan on transferring to.</p>
<p>Awesome! Best advice I can tell you, is GET AS MUCH CRITICAL TRACKING COURSES done ASAP!! I am having to play catch up to my peers and it’s hard!!</p>
<p>Good Luck and message me if you ever have questions!</p>