Can't decide between engineering or finance..
I currently take maths, chemistry and physics.
At the start of the year I was deadset on becoming a mechanical/chemical engineer but after further research I found jobs in investment banking, data analysts/scientists, economists etc.
Also which profession do you think has the highest salary, in my research they were quite similar in the longterm.
I know engineering is flexible degree but is it worth doing a degree in it just to change professions completely?
At the start of the year I was deadset on becoming a mechanical/chemical engineer but after further research I found jobs in investment banking, data analysts/scientists, economists etc.
Also which profession do you think has the highest salary, in my research they were quite similar in the longterm.
I know engineering is flexible degree but is it worth doing a degree in it just to change professions completely?
As someone who has grown up in a very finance dominant location I would say firstly try and get some experience in finance before you decide. Some people will enjoy it more than engineering, others will absolutely detest it. There's also sort of a fallacy which happens for some during your degree where they think their experience in engineering was kind of boring so they go to finance despite not having experienced it, this is a really bad idea.
Secondly it's a lot easier to go from engineering to finance, banking, etc. than the other way around.
IB will pay the highest, data analysis will have a similar salary to the high end of CompSci careers (because that's kind of what it is), engineering is a good salary, not sure about economics. That said I would say don't focus on the salary too much, you will make a more than comfortable salary as an engineer, and without having to make certain sacrifices like ridiculous work hours for IB.
Secondly it's a lot easier to go from engineering to finance, banking, etc. than the other way around.
IB will pay the highest, data analysis will have a similar salary to the high end of CompSci careers (because that's kind of what it is), engineering is a good salary, not sure about economics. That said I would say don't focus on the salary too much, you will make a more than comfortable salary as an engineer, and without having to make certain sacrifices like ridiculous work hours for IB.
Original post by SkylineS4
I currently take maths, chemistry and physics.
At the start of the year I was deadset on becoming a mechanical/chemical engineer but after further research I found jobs in investment banking, data analysts/scientists, economists etc.
Also which profession do you think has the highest salary, in my research they were quite similar in the longterm.
I know engineering is flexible degree but is it worth doing a degree in it just to change professions completely?
At the start of the year I was deadset on becoming a mechanical/chemical engineer but after further research I found jobs in investment banking, data analysts/scientists, economists etc.
Also which profession do you think has the highest salary, in my research they were quite similar in the longterm.
I know engineering is flexible degree but is it worth doing a degree in it just to change professions completely?
A reasonable number of engineering students go into IB/finance every year.
If you are interested in engineering it's a perfectly good degree for a career in other analytical/numerate fields.
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Original post by Helloworld_95
As someone who has grown up in a very finance dominant location I would say firstly try and get some experience in finance before you decide. Some people will enjoy it more than engineering, others will absolutely detest it. There's also sort of a fallacy which happens for some during your degree where they think their experience in engineering was kind of boring so they go to finance despite not having experienced it, this is a really bad idea.
Secondly it's a lot easier to go from engineering to finance, banking, etc. than the other way around.
IB will pay the highest, data analysis will have a similar salary to the high end of CompSci careers (because that's kind of what it is), engineering is a good salary, not sure about economics. That said I would say don't focus on the salary too much, you will make a more than comfortable salary as an engineer, and without having to make certain sacrifices like ridiculous work hours for IB.
Secondly it's a lot easier to go from engineering to finance, banking, etc. than the other way around.
IB will pay the highest, data analysis will have a similar salary to the high end of CompSci careers (because that's kind of what it is), engineering is a good salary, not sure about economics. That said I would say don't focus on the salary too much, you will make a more than comfortable salary as an engineer, and without having to make certain sacrifices like ridiculous work hours for IB.
Your definitely right about people just rushing into IB just because of one poor engineering experience. I've got one work experience week lined up with a firm in London regarding engineering and hopefully I'll get another one too.
Do you also happen to know any firms which do work experience for post-16 students (so A-level students)?
Original post by SkylineS4
Your definitely right about people just rushing into IB just because of one poor engineering experience. I've got one work experience week lined up with a firm in London regarding engineering and hopefully I'll get another one too.
Do you also happen to know any firms which do work experience for post-16 students (so A-level students)?
Do you also happen to know any firms which do work experience for post-16 students (so A-level students)?
I don't, sorry.
However I would say that any experience you can get before degree level will be relatively unrepresentative of engineering as a career, not to mention that it doesn't really help with getting into uni.
It's a nice experience and won't be detrimental, but if you have an entire week free then I can think of a few things which would be much more valuable to you as an engineer, in particular coding an arduino is a very valuable experience.
Original post by Helloworld_95
However I would say that any experience you can get before degree level will be relatively unrepresentative of engineering as a career, not to mention that it doesn't really help with getting into uni.
The actual work you'll be doing on pre-university work experience is unlikely to be "engineering" work in and of itself, but being in an engineering work environment should give a decent idea of what a career in engineering is likely to involve (within the context of the type of organisation - e.g. working at, say, a company that designs and manufactures automotive parts is going to be different to working at a power station).
Original post by Hirsty97
What's your personality like?
How does this relate?
Tbh I'm not too sure how to describe my personality, I'd say it depends on who I'm with.
Original post by Smack
The actual work you'll be doing on pre-university work experience is unlikely to be "engineering" work in and of itself, but being in an engineering work environment should give a decent idea of what a career in engineering is likely to involve (within the context of the type of organisation - e.g. working at, say, a company that designs and manufactures automotive parts is going to be different to working at a power station).
Indeed. There's no way they'd expect an a-level student to contribute to an engineering project.
My second placement is at BAE systems, I only just found out!
Original post by SkylineS4
How does this relate?
Tbh I'm not too sure how to describe my personality, I'd say it depends on who I'm with.
Tbh I'm not too sure how to describe my personality, I'd say it depends on who I'm with.
People with certain personality types are more suited to certain jobs
Original post by Hirsty97
People with certain personality types are more suited to certain jobs
Hmmm really? Any examples?
Tbh I'm quite creative but like problem solving too.
But I think that I'd only choose finance because of the pay. A friend of a friend secured a job for when he graduates and he will get £70000. He's studying engineering at Imperial.
I think this is what really tipped me towards finance.
Original post by SkylineS4
Hmmm really? Any examples?
Tbh I'm quite creative but like problem solving too.
But I think that I'd only choose finance because of the pay. A friend of a friend secured a job for when he graduates and he will get £70000. He's studying engineering at Imperial.
I think this is what really tipped me towards finance.
Tbh I'm quite creative but like problem solving too.
But I think that I'd only choose finance because of the pay. A friend of a friend secured a job for when he graduates and he will get £70000. He's studying engineering at Imperial.
I think this is what really tipped me towards finance.
£70k is nowhere near the norm for even Imperial grads, the typical range for ChemE grads, which tend to be the highest earning, is £27-37k with most earning towards the lower end of that for a £30k average. For reference 50% go into Business or IT jobs, suggesting most of the grads who are in finance still aren't earning nearly that much. £70k sounds like the high end of IB kind of salary, which comes with gruelling hours amongst other downsides.
If you go into an engineering discipline which covers things like Data Analysis, Machine Learning, Complex Systems modelling then you can sometimes find jobs which are a mid point between the two in terms of what you're doing and salary.
Do the engineering degree and if you still want to do finance it’s easier to do a 6 month internship/apprentiship then a 3 year uni degree? One of my friends dad is a chartered accountant and he said 90% of people who work with him in finance have different degrees. Majority are engineers, a few doctors, lawyers and more vocational jobs etc.
Original post by SkylineS4
Hmmm really? Any examples?
Tbh I'm quite creative but like problem solving too.
But I think that I'd only choose finance because of the pay. A friend of a friend secured a job for when he graduates and he will get £70000. He's studying engineering at Imperial.
I think this is what really tipped me towards finance.
Tbh I'm quite creative but like problem solving too.
But I think that I'd only choose finance because of the pay. A friend of a friend secured a job for when he graduates and he will get £70000. He's studying engineering at Imperial.
I think this is what really tipped me towards finance.
Whats the job if you dont mind me asking. Is it an engineering job or finance job?
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