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Originally Posted by wootnick
Hi guys, I've just completed NS and am about to enroll into university next year. Thing is, I have offers from SMU Business as well as NUS Engineering and I'm in quite a dilemma. I am looking to working for an investment banking firm as I like the environment and the fast-paced nature of the job (this is based on what I read and hear from friends who are in the industry)
My mom (currently a senior sales manager at a computer systems company) strongly advises me to go through the "engineering" route. That is, graduate an engineer and apply for jobs in the i-banking sector. She reasons that engineers are preferred by such banks for their "analytical" skills as a result of their training, in comparison to Business students who are not as adequately(?) trained. This advise is also echoed by most of the working adults I consult (both in i-banking and related industries). I am also warned against taking up a "non-specialised/professional degree".
I am inclined towards taking a Business degree (or even an Economics one) because it is more relevant than what I want to do in the future, but I am still very unsure after taking heed of all these advice.
So uh, this is going out to all investment bankers as well as my future employers, how do engineering graduates fare against business school graduates in terms of employability? Does taking a business degree give a significant headstart in the industry, or do employers really prefer engine grads for their supposedly better analytical skills? |
Which course you should take depends strongly on which cum laude or honors you expect.
Investment banking takes in mostly the creme de la creme (although there may be other factors like family background) because for ordinary folks the most important thing that gets you an interview is your academic results otherwise your application goes straight into the waste basket together with thousand others.
If you expect to graduate summa cum laude then the most direct route to investment banking would be business, rather than engineering because that puts you at a disadvantage against equally academically brilliant graduates with business and finance background.
On the other hand if you are just an average student who expect to get one of those other cum laudes or second class degrees, then it is better to take up engineering because as an engineer you can come to this forum and whine every day that you would have gotten into investment banking if you had (although in reality you wouldn't any way even if you had) studied business, and go through life hallucinating that you are of investment banker material if not for a wrong choice of degree.
Whereas being a business graduate doesn't give you whining rights about not getting into investment banking although 99% of business graduates don't even reach anywhere near the front office.