Masters In Mechanical Engineering, BA in Business job prospects?

Engineering friends, what do you think the job prospects are for a person with a Mech. E Masters, Business undergrad, and no relevant engineering work experience?

I’ve mainly utilized my business degree for customer service and sales jobs =))

University of Washington doesn’t take 2nd bachelors students, but if I completed the prereq’s I could get into their Master’s program. Their masters program is not abet accredited which probably doesn’t help.

I don’t want to invest the money and time if it is unlikey to yield a career switch. I’m worried it would be tough to get an internship in that situation and tough to get a job afterward. What do you guys think?

Wow, this is a pretty unique path.

As far as ABET accreditation, dont worry about it for your Masters. Nobody (not even the schools themselves) really care.

If you can get in and feel passionate, then why not? Getting admitted into their masters program means they think you have some capability.

If I was interviewing you I honestly would be dumbfounded by your degrees and not know what to think. Its similar to this - you build the foundation and the first half of your house using cement, then the top half using wood. Could it work? Sure. But people may have questions and you may be discriminated against engineer-all-the-way types.

Masters is after all supposed to be a garnishment, not the main course. You might have a tough time selling yourself for engineering jobs, but again, I dont know. I expect something will click eventually though.

On accreditation, ABET will only accredit programs at ONE of undergraduate or graduate, and since it is more valuable at the undergrad level most departments generally do ABET for undergrad and some other accreditation for grad. The only potential problem I can see is if you went into some specialty where professional licensure is common, because state licensure rules often specify ABET accreditation and you may have some problems.

Otherwise, just be aware that your career options will be limited to those in your masters specialty and jobs where you specifically need solid business AND engineering skills, like program management or competitive intelligence. Someone with a BS/MS in engineering can drop into a wider variety of roles, since they have the broader engineering base, but there are still plenty of options out there for you.

And getting the masters is a MUCH better choice than finding somewhere that will let you do a second bachelors degree… assuming you have the prerequisites to get in, of course…

Comcicfish, that makes sense regarding ABET.

I’m interested in hands on design and cad design. Interested in aero and astronautical engineering, r&d.

Why do you say the masters is much better? Wouldn’t I be competing with other’s that have more experience than me?

It might take a very long time to get those pre-reqs. Was there a reason you chose business for undergrad instead of engineering?

I’m a bit of a field-changer too. I did my BS in molecular biology, spent a few years doing that then took some time off, and recently just finished up my MSME. I’m currently looking for a job. Maybe my case is a little different from yours because my BS was in a science, and it does uniquely qualify me (in theory) for certain biomedical positions, but I think it’s similar enough in that there’s almost no overlap between undergraduate-level biology and mechanical engineering. Yeah, your peers will probably have more engineering skills and experience than you, but since a Master’s degree builds upon the foundations of engineering, completing a Master’s degree proves that you understand most of the undergraduate-level stuff, or at least that you are capable of learning it.

So far, I’ve gotten a number of phone interviews, which bodes well. But I think what’s holding me back more than anything else is the lack of experience. Whatever route you decide to go, make sure you do an internship or two along the way. I did not, and I have quickly found out how valuable internship experience is for obtaining a job in engineering, especially for someone in my situation.

Also, search job openings in whatever area/field you’re interested in working in. Make note of which types of skills and experience they tend to require, so you can focus on making sure you receive exposure to those skills and programming languages and software packages before you graduate.

Long story short: yes, there may be some obstacles in finding a job, but they probably won’t be insurmountable.

Normally I would have rejected any resume that combines engineering and business. Engineering takes many years to get proficient at. Most of the combined degree majors I’ve met think they should be fast tracked into engineering management because of that business background when they don’t yet have anywhere near the engineering experience to do that job.

Yours is a different case. If you are truly wanting to make a career change to be an engineer (and not one of those listed above) then it can work. It will be a lot of work, but if that is what you want; I’d go for it.

Please understand that what you just described is every graduate aerospace engineering program ever. Your actual specialty will be a narrow slice of a small section of what you just described, and you need to pick at least the “small section” before you even apply to a graduate engineering program - they are going to ask your research interests, and they are looking for something like “satellite control systems” not “aero and astronautical engineering”.

Because it is shorter, cheaper, and more advanced. BS degrees typically take 4-5 years from where you are now, whereas an MS takes 2-3 years. A second BS degree is almost certainly entirely self-funded during that time, whereas an MS has at least a chance of covering some of the costs through assistantships (depending on a lot of factors, including the school itself). Finally, the BS gives you a lot of breadth but few engineers come out of undergrad “ready to work”, while the MS should make you ready to hit the ground running in your area of expertise, and that makes you more attractive and useful to employers.

Not really. Grad school experience is much more intense than undergrad experience. If you are up against someone with just the BS, you will have a sizeable advantage within your specialty but a sizable disadvantage in any other specialty. If you are up against someone with as engineering BS+MS, you will be at a small disadvantage for a traditional engineering job, but really other factors are likely to be more impactful.