<p>It has been a while since I posted here, but I just started my 3rd semester of IE at Iowa State. For those of you who don't remember me, I have a degree in Economics and will be done with my second degree in IE in two and a half years.</p>
<p>Long story short, I am taking a Supply Chain Management course this semester and honestly, I love the subject and I have been doing really well. </p>
<p>Basically after talking to my professor about possible careers in SCM, he gave me some valuable information about salaries, organizations, etc.</p>
<p>So, I ended up joining the ISU SCM Club which is a local chapter of APICS. I also became a member of the Institute of Supply Management and I will be attending the SCM Fall Job Fair in two weeks hoping to make some good contacts and land my first internship.</p>
<p>My question is: Since this is a particular area that really interests me, would it be smart for me to start specializing in this area now? Or should I keep an open mind to other areas of IE?</p>
<p>Of all the classes I have taken, this is by far my favorite subject but I am not sure if there are any possible negative consequences to specializing in a field like SCM this early in the game.</p>
<p>Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>How much can you really specialize in a BSIE? The one I was in didn’t leave much room for it, so just wondering. Honestly though, if you feel like you have a passion for it and can see yourself doing it for a while, go after it. I assume you will still have breadth in the other IE areas, so the BSIE will still qualify you for many other areas of industry.</p>
<p>No idea what specialization in IE means, but supply chain management may be a substantial sector on its own. I believe a lot of applied mathematicians are interested in logistics optimizations as well, mainly in combination of IT, so there’s at least work to be done. Therefore it might not be a bad idea at all to “specialize”, although I think a better word would be “to focus on learning about [supply chain management]”.</p>
<p>It sounds like you really love it. I know that ISU has a supply chain major, so if you really want to do SCM then that is always an option. I’m not all that familiar with ISU’s program, though.</p>
<p>Obviously, an IE degree will leave you with other options as well, but an SCM degree should serve you well, if that is what you want to do. I know of a few SCM majors who were hired for manufacturing leadership development programs at big companies over people with engineering degrees.</p>
<p>SCM is broad and can cover anything from purchasing, manufacturing, to logistics. There are a lot of job opportunities related to SCM since it covers all aspects of supply chain. My educational background is EE and EMgt but later worked in SCM. I also really enjoyed it.</p>