Management Degree from Iowa State

[besserheimerphat]

They are all a bit older, but are content their positions (just people that want to do their job and go home to families). What I believe really helped me out was the fact that I have a degree (most don't), I have 2 years experience via co-op & 2 internships, and the past boss was a push-over with little to no-electrical knowledge.

Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like an "engineer-technician" relationship, not an "engineering manager-engineering team" relationship. Lots of engineers are quickly made responsible for the work of a number of technicians but that's not the same as being a manager.

I direct and oversee a number of technicians at work, in addition to young engineers and coops. Yet I still work in the technical realm and am not a manager. In my experience, if you do the techincal work you may be a "team leader" or "project manager" but that's not the same as being part of the administration. Do you conduct performance reviews and make decisions on pay, headcount, etc? Those are distinctly managerial activities.

If you are truly part of the adminstration, then I say congratulations to you as it is exceedingly rare to become a manager of a technical group at a young age. However, I certainly would not tell anyone to go into engineering if they want to manage people.

[Tredici]

Thanks for all the comments on my position everyone, just trying to put my 2¢ in on my managerial/supervisor experience to get the point across that you can find yourself in many paths to leadership. I advise that the original poster, take risks, challenges and pursue what really interests you and you will be rewarded. Be it accounting, math, engineering, whatever.

[GOPCyclone]

Much better as a minor. Get Logistics, finance or acctg as major and mgmt as minor or heavy concentration.

I agree with this sentiment entirely. I have a degree in management only because I couldn't deal with another semester of stats. Bad choice, in retrospect.

[farminclone]

If you are interested in accounting, do that. It is a much more valuable degree.

I do agree with some posters here who are saying you are not tied to what you study. People get way too caught up in their major and the linking between major and career.

I personally think work experience, both over the summer and during the school year, and campus involvement/leadership development are way more important than your actual major/minor and GPA.

[yler4cy]

Is this the same Jim McElroy that told some kid that his dog could have pi$$ed on the answer sheet and received a better grade than he did? I actually think that he is an overpaid professor. He was decent, but does not deserve to get paid $150k a year to teach how he teaches.

[zwclones51]

Mcelroy was a dousche. He was y I switched majors.

[IcSyU]

First of all, McElroy is a ******. Don't get an answer wrong because instead of getting 0/5, you'll get -3/5.

And echoing what others have said, management is a worthless degree by itself. Pair it with accounting/finance/MIS/logistics and you'll be in very good hands. My recommendation would be a different internship each summer. The wealth of knowledge you'll take in will make you valuable wherever you go. If you can help it, have a job in a related field also while you're in school.

I've got 2 interships on my resume with degrees in accounting and finance (1 for the first 3.5 years of school, been where I'm at for a year now) and I didn't have any issues getting job offers. I picked out the right place and they offered me a solid salary to stay around post-grad. Especially in a field like accounting, there will ALWAYS be jobs.

[BCClone]

If you're concerned about getting a job with a specific degree, go ask your job placement person. He/she can tell you if one degree has shown higher demand than others. I know it's been a while since I was in college but when I hire things have not changed much.

I look for any work experience, shows you have good work ethic or at least a track record. I had 4 internships in the 4 1/2 years I went to school. Some involvement in activities, shows networking and potential community involvement. More than one year also, that says you want a resume builder.

Unless its technical specific, like accounting, mis, the degree doesn't mean much. It just says you are committed to putting effort out and work towards something.