<p>What kind of jobs would a degree in Operations Management give me? I heard supply chain and ops. mgmt. usually get "middle manager" jobs at big corporations like dell, wal-mart, etc. I am not really looking for a job like that. Could it get me a job as an analyst or consultant instead?</p>
<p>Plus it's not the most sought after business major. So competition is obviously less.</p>
<p>There are a lot of unanswered questions I have about operations and supply chain management. There are specific fields within the consulting business, including strategic and operational consulting. Operations management would obviously be a good track for a career such as that.</p>
<p>Yeah, you are right. I wonder how hard it is to get into these fields though. It would help if their were more ops mgmt majors on here!</p>
<p>hey sp,</p>
<p>I'm an operations management major as well, and I wish I could tell you more. I picked it because I enjoyed how things get made and how processes work. Its basically the closest thing I could get to engineering after I realized I wasn't very interested in business, but was too deep into the program to switch to engineering. </p>
<p>For consulting and all that, I don't think your undergraduate education, whether in OM or not, really matters as much as whether or not you have an MBA and from where. At least that's my impression. I believe analyst jobs are available to OM grads without an MBA, but I'm not sure. I will hopefully be able to give you more information toward the end of the year, when I'm set to graduate. </p>
<p>on a side note: I made a thread about this earlier so I don't want to be redundant, but I can't understand why more people aren't interested in OM. I just took finance over the summer, which seems to be the most popular business major, and it was a really boring class to me--the material wasn't particularly engaging or difficult, it was just very ordinary. For me OM is more challenging and interesting imo because 1) theres more statistics, and 2) you get to see how things are made and move around the world, rather than just analyzing cash flows.</p>
<p>Supply Chain major represent!</p>
<p>It will be my third year in the program this coming year, and I have taken accounting, computer information systems, economics, finance, marketing, and supply chain classes. The biggest difference I found is that SCM (supply chain management), at least the way my class was designed, tackled real-world cases with scm concepts. For instance, I can explain in great detail the pros and cons of outsourcing vs. integrating potato farms in China by PepsiCo, along with other cases. Not that those facts are really useful in the long run, but I can take the analytical process I learned in these case studies, and use them in the future, no matter what field I end up in. </p>
<p>I chose this major when I was 12, because I was really excited for college and wanted to prepare far ahead of time, already knowing exactly which university I wanted to attend. I’m still confident in my choice.</p>
<p>how difficult is it to find a job with this major? I hear that there is a good amount of demand for it, but also that people who major in business are at a huge disadvantage because they don’t have the quantitative skills, and therefore lose out on jobs to engineering majors. Just how big of a problem is this, if at all, and do you think that taking a major or minor in math, econ, or other subject that gives you quantitative skills will help you?</p>
<p>Well, my school is top-ranked for Supply Chain, so we get a lot of recruiters here, so finding jobs/internships isn’t as bad as most other majors on campus. It’s never a bad idea to to supplement your major with quantitative skills, but engrossing myself in linear algebra and differential equation classes doesn’t seem necessary unless I am actually majoring in engineering, which I’m not. However, a minor in statistics or any computer ones (CIS, computer science, Informatics) would benefit anyone, especially SCM.</p>
<p>I asked my supply chain professor the biggest difference between SCM and Industrial Engineering, because they both deal with the same issues. IE deals more at the bottom of the chain, working directly with the products and processes, while SCM manages the whole chain, working through the negotiations, and using software and modeling. They both overlap a ton. He also said that because academics is slow to catch up with changing trends in the workforce, and that he believes in 5-10 years, the two majors will eventually merge.</p>
<p>I don’t see engineering and supply chain management combining in the future. engineers concentrate on the processes necessary to transform raw materials into a finished product (processes) whereas it has been my experience that supply chain professionals manage the business end of the process. I graduated with an undergrad in business (MIS) and had an opportunity to get my MBA (in supply chain management) right out of school. There are jobs out there, but like any downturn in the economy, they are more difficult to find and the pay probably isn’t what you’d expect. Part of the reason I ended up in supply chain was because my original undergrad of MIS there were not many jobs out there and I didn’t want to program COBOL for 15 dollars an hour. My first position out of college was actually as a warehouse associate at one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world. It was great experience and helped give me a “name drop” boost when it came to my next job. I landed a supply chain analyst position at a fortune 500 truck manufacturer but actually took a paycut to leave the other company. I was taught a long time ago, that it is better to have “short term financial pain for long term viability”. 4 years later, I am at that same company and am a mid level manager responsible for planning new distribution facilities. (Enough about me)</p>
<p>Basically you need to decide what area you want to get into… Is corporate logistics your cup of tea? How about facility management? Operations Management? Basically if the company sells a product, they have a supply chain. Retailers have vendors. Vendors has suppliers. The suppliers have suppliers. All of these companies have their own supply chain. The best thing you could possibly do is get into an internship, even if it is unpaid. It is a foot in a door and most interns end up getting job offers. try to take any classes that allow you to get hands on experience (tours, special projects, etc) Find a neighbor or a family member working for a major company and ask them to get you a connection to a VP in the area you think you want to work, and network. Join CSCMP (council of supply chain management) as a junior member, it’s a great way to meet not only your peers but influential business people. They may not have an opportunity in their organization but may have colleagues that do. </p>
<p>It will not be easy for anyone to find a position in todays business market; but people are still hiring. You will be competing with plenty of people laid off and a new batch of students graduating with the same degree or a similar. You need to start differentiating yourself. Resumes and degrees get your foot in the door, your experiences get you the job.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thread bump and response supplychainguy although I already know about the stuff in the last two paragraphs. Definitely a field I want to get into.</p>
<p>Hey supplychainguy:</p>
<p>You want to make an “Everything you wanted to know or should know about supply chain/operations management” thread and share with us your current knowledge :)</p>
<p>wow you dont even know your major and your wondering about phd programs wow</p>