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There's no doubt that engineering grads have higher starting salaries than business grads, but what about mid-career salaries? I've heard mixed answers. Some say engineering grads get paid more throughout their careers than business grads. Others say business grads have better prospects for managerial positions while engineers are stuck at the bottom with so little opportunity for promotion. I've even heard that engineering careers don't last long.
For business grads, the variation in salary is very high. Business grads can be Sales Managers, Marketing Managers or simply Customer Service Reps. In my company, base salary for mid career Engineers is around $110K. It is about the same for Sales Managers but our bonus tops at 15% and the Sales Managers' bonus is usually between 25% to 35%. On the other hand, some business major grads ended up in Customer Service and top out at around $75K.
For business grads, the variation in salary is very high. Business grads can be Sales Managers, Marketing Managers or simply Customer Service Reps. In my company, base salary for mid career Engineers is around $110K. It is about the same for Sales Managers but our bonus tops at 15% and the Sales Managers' bonus is usually between 25% to 35%. On the other hand, some business major grads ended up in Customer Service and top out at around $75K.
I don't know any customer service reps making anywhere near that, maybe a CS manager?
Be more specific with engineering and business. There are different emphasis for each one like electrical engineering and finance.
In almost all cases, engineering will be better. Business admin (without an emphasis) is very broad degree. You can get many jobs with it, but you don't concentrate on anything and learn any specific skills.
Engineering is simply more practical. A business admin degree isn't bad though. Better than a lot of other majors out there.
It's a lot easier to transition into business with an engineering undergraduate degree than it is to transition into engineering with an undergraduate business degree.
Also, according to this article, 33% of the S&P 500 CEOs' undergraduate degrees are in engineering and only 11% have business administration degrees.
It's a lot easier to transition into business with an engineering undergraduate degree than it is to transition into engineering with an undergraduate business degree.
Also, according to this article, 33% of the S&P 500 CEOs' undergraduate degrees are in engineering and only 11% have business administration degrees.
I'm going to agree with this post. Part of the reason that many engineers don't make it into the higher mid career positions isn't because they couldn't contribute at that level - they certainly could! Based on my experience its because they lack the interpersonal skills and / or eschew interacting with people altogether. If you're an engineer with the drive and interpersonal skills, you can make it!
Hmm, a recent article stated that a BBA isn't useful unless you move on to an MBA. That shocked me, as I knew that a decade ago, while MBA is a common next step to make more $$ and get a leg up, BBA is still good for entry level positions. Nowadays, they're making it sound like business degrees are on par with science degrees where for science fields, many undergrads move on to Masters degrees ASAP to be "where they and others should be", as opposed to having the option to work a bit after getting a Bachelors.
I also heard that some engineers are hurting with layoffs, and lowered salaries, but this is based off of articles and conversations I read, which I give them less weight.
Engineering is tough though... it requires a lot of mathematics and sciences.
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An observation from an overeducated business guy.
I have a BS in Business, an MBA and a MS in Risk Management.
My graduate classes were full of engineers. I would say at least half of them had an undergraduate degree in some Engineering field.
Common gripe among them is that while Engineers made way above average starting out, their careers and earnings plateau at certain point. Plus, the prevailing thought among the group was that the work is mind numbingly boring after a while.
My gripe of Engineers is that they should have all taken couple of classes in communications, cognitive development and teamwork.
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