Geeks hate ignorant managers, right?

[spazntwich1]

I was thinking a degree is CompSci or EE would be the best path for me, because I love technical... stuff. However, as I get closer to college (I'm a HS Junior right now), I realize there's... not that much money in the field. I'm fairly greedy, and I want alot of cash. The most obvious way for me to get this it to head into the business field.

If I do a business related major in college, I could then probably get a position in a tech company. Wouldn't it make techs happier to work under a manager who has a general idea of what they're doing, understands where they're coming from, and is INTERESTED in the same thing they are?

Or am I misled here?

 

[Fandu]

Your mislead thinking that MBA=$$$ For some, it does, for the majority it's not exactly millions.

 

[Daniel]

Myself I'd rather just work under a good manager, period. I know if they were technically inclined it is an added bonus, but I've had quite a few, that A) sucked as a manager in the first place and B) thought they were all buddy buddy with us cause they thought they knew what they were talking about, but the worst part was they didn't have a clue what they were talking about.

 

[Ameesh]

i make pretty good money, hopefully in five years or so my options will be worth some good money too. all the management in my division walked up the corp. ladder by starting off in technical positions. Our VP was dev when he started out.

 

[spazntwich1]

I'm not expecting millions out of an MBA, I'm expecting better job opportunities than I'd get with a CompSci degree.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< i make pretty good money, hopefully in five years or so my options will be worth some good money too. all the management in my division walked up the corp. ladder by starting off in technical positions. Our VP was dev when he started out. >>



So maybe a double-major CompSci/MBA would be a good idea? It'd be alot of work, but with the pre-req courses I'm getting out of the way in college with AP classes, I bet I could still do a double major in 4 years at most colleges.

 

[Ameesh]

<<

<< i make pretty good money, hopefully in five years or so my options will be worth some good money too. all the management in my division walked up the corp. ladder by starting off in technical positions. Our VP was dev when he started out. >>



So maybe a double-major CompSci/MBA would be a good idea? It'd be alot of work, but with the pre-req courses I'm getting out of the way in college with AP classes, I bet I could still do a double major in 4 years at most colleges. >>



you realize an MBA is a graduate degree, you have to do something for under grad first then you can go on and think about getting an MBA.

 

[fastz28]

Perfect combo:

Undergrad - Mechanical Engr
Grad - MBA

Oh yeah, that me.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< you realize an MBA is a graduate degree, you have to do something for under grad first then you can go on and think about getting an MBA. >>



Sorry, meant MBA to just be 'business degree'. I'm still just testing the waters of college so am still uninformed.

Regardless, do you think a business degree and CompSci degree would be complementary?

 

[fastz28]

There was a major in my school - ERB (engineering route to business).

But we all knew ERB is for people who couldn't hack it in engineering school.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< There was a major in my school - ERB (engineering route to business).

But we all knew ERB is for people who couldn't hack it in engineering school. >>



I'm afraid engineering might almost be too much for me! I dunno though, I've got the interest and all.

 

[Ameesh]

<<

<< you realize an MBA is a graduate degree, you have to do something for under grad first then you can go on and think about getting an MBA. >>



Sorry, meant MBA to just be 'business degree'. I'm still just testing the waters of college so am still uninformed.

Regardless, do you think a business degree and CompSci degree would be complementary? >>



IMO a business or econ degree is very easy, the math isnt very rigorus, the classes are cake walk compared to most engineering classes, if you want an easy college experience go for it, if you want to get your ass kicked and be happy about it get an engineering degree.

going on and getting an mba will be no problem for either.

As for double majors and minors, no one gives a crap, i love it when these people minor in 3 things and get two undergrad degrees, especially two easy ones, no cares and minors just show that you didnt want to do the hard work for the major,


the best advice i could give you is do what you like because in the end if your making a lot of money and you hate going into work your gonna regret your descions.

 

[Fandu]

Here at the U of Manitoba, the Engineering and Management departments have a double major program where most of our engineering courses count towards the management degree as well. So instead of taking other electives for engineering, the courses required for the management degree fit into those slots. That's where I'm headed; Mech Eng (Aerospace) w/ Management degree.

The stats that the UofM compiled showed that 75% had moved to management positions within 10 years. Around 10% stayed in R&D, and the other 15% were at various other jobs.

 

[Capn]

you can always move from tech to management, the opposite is not so true. So, keep your options open. In fact, having a tech degree with management experience or a business degree I think would be a great combo.

 

[rahvin]

If you pick a career based on the $$$ you will be making you will probably be miserable in that career and end up switching in 7 years. Pick a job you love and find the degree that goes with it, money doesn't make you happy. It makes it easier to be happy but if you have a job you hate all the money in the world doesn't compensate for it.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< you can always move from tech to management, the opposite is not so true. So, keep your options open. In fact, having a tech degree with management experience or a business degree I think would be a great combo. >>



Good suggestion.

Thanks for the advice people!

 

[spazntwich1]

<< If you pick a career based on the $$$ you will be making you will probably be miserable in that career and end up switching in 7 years. Pick a job you love and find the degree that goes with it, money doesn't make you happy. It makes it easier to be happy but if you have a job you hate all the money in the world doesn't compensate for it. >>



I beg to differ sir. If I was offered a billion dollars a year to do a job that was the most god-awful job imaginable, I'd work it for a year, and just quit. Assuming it wasn't dangerous to my physically.

 

[soccerbud34]

<< I was thinking a degree is CompSci or EE would be the best path for me, because I love technical... stuff. However, as I get closer to college (I'm a HS Junior right now), I realize there's... not that much money in the field. I'm fairly greedy, and I want alot of cash. The most obvious way for me to get this it to head into the business field.

If I do a business related major in college, I could then probably get a position in a tech company. Wouldn't it make techs happier to work under a manager who has a general idea of what they're doing, understands where they're coming from, and is INTERESTED in the same thing they are?

Or am I misled here? >>



why do you think that there is no money in tech fields? Tech fields is where the money is at when you first graduate

Anyways, a person with a technical degree will always make more than a business degree major when they first graduate.
Then the person with a business degree will eventually catch up and surpass the person with the tech degree when they are both around their forties.

If you only have some kind of B.S. or B.A. business degree, don't expect more than 40k a year if you graduate from a well respected college, and around 30k per year from a mediocore college.

But the way to go is

Undergrad: Tech degree ... C.S., engineering etc.
Grad: MBA

good luck to you

 

[dirtboy]

<< If I do a business related major in college, I could then probably get a position in a tech company. Wouldn't it make techs happier to work under a manager who has a general idea of what they're doing, understands where they're coming from, and is INTERESTED in the same thing they are? >>



Personally, I'd rather have a manager that didn't understand what I did. A great manager, IMHO, is one who can solve employee problems, manage their employees well, get their group the things they need, only passes on relevent information from meetings so that it doesn't bog down the staff, one that stands up for their group.

I have worked for people who had technical knowledge. Sometimes they would try to push their method on me, even if they didn't understand what it was I'm working on. That doesn't work

After all, if I'm your manager and you came to me with say a coding problem, I'd expect you to solve it. If you came to me with a problem that you were having with another employee that was affecting your ability to do work, I would solve it.

 

[fenrir]

<< If you pick a career based on the $$$ you will be making you will probably be miserable in that career and end up switching in 7 years. Pick a job you love and find the degree that goes with it, money doesn't make you happy. It makes it easier to be happy but if you have a job you hate all the money in the world doesn't compensate for it. >>



<<I beg to differ sir. If I was offered a billion dollars a year to do a job that was the most god-awful job imaginable, I'd work it for a year, and just quit. Assuming it wasn't dangerous to my physically.>>

No one is going to offer you a billion dollars, so come back down to planet earth. The point was that in real life, you will not be offered enough money to do a job you hate. So why try it? If you think coming out of college you will be making some big bucks, don't count on it. Looking at a career just because of the money will just lead to problems for you later.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you will learn the lessons of life one way or another. You are young and things look so easy. There is a reason why they call it 'the daily grind'. It makes it so much easier to get through day after day after day after day.... if you enjoy the work you do.

Oh, and I do like my job in case it sounds like I don't.

Matt

 

[Digobick]

Here's some numbers from my school from last year's class and how well they started out (sorted by major):

Management:

• Total Reporting: 36
• Total Offers: 54
• Low Salary: $19,670
• High Salary: $55,000
• Average Salary: $36,251

Management Information Systems:

• Total Reporting: 22
• Total Offers: 44
• Low Salary: $30,000
• High Salary: $53,000
• Average Salary: $44,352

Computer Engineering:

• Total Reporting: 10
• Total Offers: 19
• Low Salary: $33,197
• High Salary: $52,000
• Average Salary: $40,736

Computer Science:

• Total Reporting: 16
• Total Offers: 21
• Low Salary: $35,500
• High Salary: $58,000
• Average Salary: $49,081

Information Systems:

• Total Reporting: 4
• Total Offers: 4
• Low Salary: $30,000
• High Salary: $50,000
• Average Salary: $38,739

Electrical Engineering:

• Total Reporting: 14
• Total Offers: 28
• Low Salary: $44,700
• High Salary: $64,200
• Average Salary: $51,641

 

[Jzero]

<< Looking at a career just because of the money will just lead to problems for you later. >>


Exactly. The first day of CS1, we went around and said who we were, where we came from and why we chose computer science as a major.
One girl said "Because my mother told me I'd make a lot of money if I had a computer science degree."
She didn't last one semester.

Pick what you LOVE to do. It's not about money. Rolling in a boatload of money is nice, but remember this:
At the MINIMUM you will be spending 8 hours a day at work. For many people it's more like 9, 10 or even 12 hours.
You will spend 1/3 of your time at "work." Considering you'll likely spend another 4-8 hours a day sleeping, That leaves you roughly 8-12 hours of "your time."

I dunno about you, but no amount of money will replace 1/3 of my days spent at a job I hate.
Getting a technical undergrad degree and going back for an MBA seems like a good idea. I've got a CompSci degree and I'm already looking into getting an MBA.

 

[VTHodge]

<< Perfect combo:

Undergrad - Mechanical Engr
Grad - MBA

Oh yeah, that me. >>



me too . . . you have the option to work in industry for a few years and (hopefully) get them to pay for grad school.

 

[spazntwich1]

<< No one is going to offer you a billion dollars, so come back down to planet earth. >>



I understand that, but I was just demonstrating that his statement doesn't hold true for ALL situations.

And thanks for the #s Digobick. Those are pretty interesting.

I'm pretty suprised at some of the 'low salery' offers. Can you really survive well at all on 19k/year? I guess... but it would be insanely difficult.

 

[Cyberian]

<< Personally, I'd rather have a manager that didn't understand what I did. >>

Amen!!