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get a degree in what seems more interesting or what is more applicable?

J

jingramm

Senior member
I am actually in graduate school and have the option of getting one of these two M.S. degrees.

They are both from the engineering school of the university. The first one is the traditional Industrial Engineering degree. I look at this as more applicable to jobs and employers who see the resume are able to quickly determine my educational background. It also has the quantitative stigma to it (one of the required course is Financial Engineering) so maybe I can spin the degree to get into financial services or consulting.

The second is something called Product Development. The coursework is not as quantitative as IE but the curriculum is more interesting to me. The curriculm consists of technology strategy, innovation, technology implementation, some law and finance, etc. I'd like to work towards Product Management possibly as a career option.

Any thoughts between these two?
 
Getting a degree that is mildly interesting and very employable = being comfortable for life
Getting a degree that is really interesting and not very employable = being interested for a few years and have a hard time after you graduate

That being said, product development isn't completely unemployable, it's just vague on what you would do with it. It sounds like they're trying to give you a basic understanding of the whole process from identifying a need to getting a marketable product. It would probably work ok for a smaller company where single people have more responsibility for the a whole project from start to finish but it may not be attractive to a big company where they have more people doing specific roles.

It really depends on what you want to do. The industrial engineering degree would be more "safe" but the product development one does sound interesting.
 
Assuming you have an engineering undergrad degree, then I'd say go for what's more interesting. Once you have the basic quant stuff down, you're good to go. You won't use any of this stuff in your day-to-day job anyways.

All employers will see is an engineering undergrad with some kind of masters. That's plenty.
 
College is about getting a degree that will lead to well paying employment. It is not for studying something simply because it interests you.
 
thanks, anyone else with any thoughts?

career path and how employers will view these two degrees

(even though they are from the same department, industrial and systems engineering)
 
My father always told me, "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." Happiness can't be bought.
 
OUCaptain said:
My father always told me, "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." Happiness can't be bought.
Click to expand...

Whoever told you happiness can't be bought lied to you. 🙁

Or put differently if you love your job but are homeless or living in a slum you are probably miserable anyways.
 
OUCaptain said:
Well that's taking it to a bit of an extreme.🙄
Click to expand...

True but same applies even if you live in a an okay place and still can't get the stuff you want. 😛

Money makes happiness much easier to obtain.
For instance if someone was use to traveling and loved traveling but no longer can due to financial reasons they may not be as happy.
 
Matthiasa said:
True but same applies even if you live in a an okay place and still can't get the stuff you want. 😛

Money makes happiness much easier to obtain.
For instance if someone was use to traveling and loved traveling but no longer can due to financial reasons they may not be as happy.
Click to expand...

My point is considering how much time is spent at work (8+ five days a week) I am a much happier person overall now that I do something I truly enjoy. I was happy to give up a job that paid about 20% more when this opportunity came up. Granted, I can't buy as many toys or travel as much, but I much happier now. I might have to work more and accept more overtime to get the extras I want, but it doesn't bother me like it used to.

Obviously, there is a limit. I'm not going to take a minimum wage job no matter how much fun it is. Nor will I take a $150k/yr job if it means I'm miserable for half of my waking hours.

It's a personal choice for everyone. This is just the way I prefer to make my way though life and I am happier person as a result.
 
Jumpem said:
College is about getting a degree that will lead to well paying employment. It is not for studying something simply because it interests you.
Click to expand...

I thought that conventional ATOT wisdom teaches that college is for testing the limits of alcohol consumption.
 
Jumpem said:
College is about getting a degree that will lead to well paying employment. It is not for studying something simply because it interests you.
Click to expand...

Bullshit. There is no hard and fast rule that says that college has to be so . . . ugh. . . utilitarian. You only live once. You might as well spend your time doing something that interests you. If we all went to school simply to get well paying jobs, we would all be tax lawyers, proctologists, or some combination of both. Imagine a guy staring up your ass asking if you brought a copy of your w-2 with you. By your implied logic, that person is successful because he is paid well, nevermind that he stares at assholes all day while reading the tax code for fun.

And despite what all the millionaire ATOT'ers might post on this board, more money doesn't always equal more happiness. I've learned that first hand.

EDIT: That is not to say that one should not exercise some judgement before selecting a major/degree to pursue. Rather, one should not base that decision entirely on utilitarian considerations such as "will I get a job?" or "will I be well paid?" There is something to be said for being happy and satisfied in life.
 
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you know what interested me? a liberal arts poli-sci degree.

you know what doesnt pay? a liberal arts poli-sci degree.

i have no regrets going for finance and getting a real job that pays money. i took a ton of poli sci courses for my electives anyway.
 
Take courses in what will get you paid, but spend your free time studying the stuff that interests you on the side. Get some textbooks and other material on the courses you would have taken at places like half.com.. There's no reason you can't learn both simultaneously.
 
OUCaptain said:
My father always told me, "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life." Happiness can't be bought.
Click to expand...

Hating your job WILL have a huge negative impact on your life. Both my wife and I have gone through that.

The other side is that - especially in this job market - you will have a hard time finding a job that you love. If you don't mind the more 'employable' degree I would go with that. If you hate it I would not
 
not much difference in OP's case. both come from the same college and department. therefore both will result in the "masters in industrial engineering" line on the resume. Take the product development path if it's more interesting. you'll be able to use that spec for anything specific to the product development career and for everything else, still use the generic masters in industrial engineering. When it comes to interviewing, then it's all on you and what you can do there. the degree just helps in getting you into the interview.

if you're worried, suck up the financial engineering course as an extra course on top of the regular course load if you think it has merit and is something you may need to move on.
 
bump
they are both from the same department but it won't end up as "master of science in industrial engineering" on the resume
it will show as "master of science in product development engineering"
I was asking if I try switching to the traditional Industrial Engineering discipline or just finish with the track I'm on


I have interest in entering operations/project management or operations consulting
 
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Who cares... they don't call it imaginary engineering for nothing!

Okay, really though, it doesn't really matter. Even if you were studying something more technical the actual subject matter doesn't matter to the employer 9 times out of 10.
 
Well, my father went to veterinary school because it interested him. Guess what? He's 70 and still can't retire because his career, which required 7 years of college at the time (it only requires 6 now), eats up every minute of his spare time and doesn't pay for shit. It's really interesting, though. 🙄

My advice? Unless they come from rich families, people shouldn't bother with college unless their degree of choice will provide them with a career that pays.
 
I worked in a career that paid.... hated every minute of it..
left and now working in a career i am interested in... it doesn't pay as well as the previous... but i don't consider it "work" ... my stress level is non existent, my enjoyment is up.. my personal time is higher.. and my relationship isn't suffering.

if you go for something because it pays... remember... it pays in more ways than one.

yes.. you'll have higher income.. but probably higher stress... higher problems...
 
guyver01 said:
I worked in a career that paid.... hated every minute of it..
left and now working in a career i am interested in... it doesn't pay as well as the previous... but i don't consider it "work" ... my stress level is non existent, my enjoyment is up.. my personal time is higher.. and my relationship isn't suffering.

if you go for something because it pays... remember... it pays in more ways than one.

yes.. you'll have higher income.. but probably higher stress... higher problems...
Click to expand...

work hard play hard
 
Do what you think will make you happy. If you get a degree based soley on how much money you will make and how easily you will get a job, you will spend the rest of your life being miserable.

I got an undergraduate degree in EE because it would be high paying, and it sucks. Sitting behind a computer all day, while very high paying, makes me die a little bit inside every day.

I have tried 4 different graduate programs (EE, IE, Biol), and now I am trying out AE to see if the construction field interests me.

You only live once... don't work a job that doesn't interest you.
 
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