Hello,
I am a student hoping to study engineering at university, though the two courses I am stuck between are very different and lead to different career choices.
I have an offer to study engineering at Warwick with options to study business management in my third year with economics/finance modules, and could probs do a masters in finance/accounting at Imperial/LSE---->career in banking/finance
I also have an offer to study petroleum engineering at Manchester, probably the best place to study Pet.Eng in europe.
BEng Pet.Eng +Msc Imperial/Heriot Watt----->career in oil&gas
Obviously the above will only happen if I work super hard and get a high 2.1 or 1st class and get lots of work experience/internships during my free time.
I enjoy studying maths/physics and that is why I chose to study engineering at uni, but I have been put off by the pay in the latter years of a career as it is in no way comparable to 20+ years in finance. The only other way to make that much money is in the oil/gas sector though this requires working probably in the UAE (aberdeen at the least distance lol) and a long time away from the UK (though I don't mind America!).
I am not driven by money but it definitely will drive me to work harder and I do want to live a comfortable life when I'm older, I know it sounds like I'm a money grabber but I really am thinking about my future carefully. I was talking to some Loughborough Mech.Eng graduates and some engineers I know locally who graduated many a year ago who clearly are very clever (all A/B grades at A-level, 1st class/2.1 degrees from top 10 unis) who regret not going into another more profitable type of engineering or finance, hence why I'm split between my decision.
Could someone with experience of going from engineering into finance, or anyone who works in oil&gas sector give me any tips on how I should decide and what I should expect.
Thanks
SJ
P.S. Could anyone else apart from Smack reply, as I've heard enough from him!