^title

i was accepted into university to do a chemical engineering program, and i'm considering switching to economics instead due to being more of a "people person" rather than a "machine/things person". I don't actually have a passion for engineering, I'm just good at math and thought chemistry + pharmacology is cool.

ANYWAYS,

what are you mainly doing with the a 4 year economics degree? is it a degree to get into accounting, or do you do more consulting/marketing for business? very interested into what you brahs are doing because economics looks like a more social line of work in comparison to engineering.

bruh what are you even talking about? youre switching to economics because youre a "people person"? lmao wtf. economics is a math heavy social science, it has nothing to do with accounting...

Are you switching to engineering because you couldn't make the cut in Engineering? Be honest

You may not be able to get a jo0b with that degree. Have you considered nursing or OT? May be better for the job market instead of generic econ. degree. Not enough men get degrees in the healthcare fields.

I am software developer who did comp sci

did programming for 2 years now transitioning to business analyst -> product manager

if you are going to do econs/finance/accounting degree to go into finance or accounting, keep these two things in mind:


a) go to finance, not accounting as accounting is boring

b) if you do finance go to tier-1 routes jobs in finance


in addition to these, apply to consulting - management/strategy consulting - more varied than finance and you end up in strategy roles if you leave for industry, which funny enough is product manager types in tech companies (as I believe now tech is a solid post MBA/consulting/IB route)


also, there is no such degree that is a people's person degree but IT IS ABOUT THE ROLE

e.g Teacher or Sales is a people's person job but routes to it degree-wise are many

so never assign economics like that

even if you take Medicine for example, which you can assume maps to Doctor which you can assume maps to people's person duties, it might not be the case in everything (radiolgy, forensic medicine, pathology = no patients)



ROLE-JOB >>>>>>>>>>> PATHWAY >>>>>>>> DEGREE type of thinking is BEST


so instead of Economics think about role - e.g Investment Banker and take it from there

even better hehehe ;Di think so (srs). the job saturation in chemical engineering is high and i'm considering a different engineering branch like electrical or software due to better job security, however, i'm not actually interested in either electrical or software, I just want a high paying job to ride out on my slightly-above-average skill at math. i'm thinking economics might be a better suit for me because of that reason.

Nearly did a double major with my 2nd being economics until I read a pamphlet of a "where are they now" graduate.

The eco write up literally sounded like a stock manager of a budget retail store so I lmao 360d out of that idea in a hurry.

thanks for your input, really good post

This guy has no idea what he is talking about. finance and economics are completely different field. finance is a professional field that is found in business schools, while economics is a social science in the college of arts.

Finance is a WORTHLESS degree. accounting is much more valuable. you can do anything with an accounting degree.

aww fuk the plot thickens. I still think there is some good info in his post tho

Listen to me, you little sucky. I am detaining you on a suspicion of black-or-white thinking, coping mechanisms and strawman.


First of all just because I omitted economics like that just cuz doesn't mean you should have assumed I said finance = accounting > economics so that your filthy ****ed butthole can get hurt. I am actually amazed how you can snap at me saying "don't know what I am talking about" whereas what I said is perfectly rational, sweeping generalisations agnostic, and then you proceed to say "finance degrees are useless".


I will try to explain one more time for an identified subhuman such as yourself.

Economics/Finance/Accounting can lead to so many different permutations it will mind boggle OP's head. It would many people's. That is why people navigate with the flow and hope for the best which is Russian Roulette.

Let's take Economics, for example, it doesn't lead to a specific job. Does that mean it is ****? No, because Finance and Accounting are the same.

Instead, you should think of roles and jobs. That can be with Economics: Auditor, Tax, Investment Banking, Academia in Economics (getting a PhD and etc), Actuary (training for the certificates), Risk etc etc etc etc etc Literally all of those without Economics academia (duh) are accessible through Finance as well and Accounting.

So OP should research those, because you can do Finance/Accounting/Economics, find a random Operations Finance role in a Fortune 500 get stuck there doing ****ty work.


OR!!!! Get into Tier 1 finance that leads to the buy-side roles (PE, VC, Hedge Fund) from good pathways - IB/Other banking routes + asset management etc.


Now if OP wants to do that and become an investment banker, it matters almost **** all whether he does Finance or Economics.


Now, think about what I said carefully when you advise OP to do X degree over Y degree when in both cases if he doesn't know WHAT HE WANTS TO DO AS A JOB it means **** ALL!!! LMAO




Until then wear an armband identifying yourself as a subhuman. I will let you know if I want to rape your mom.


edit: I dont even see where I said economics is useless. I told him to go finance instead of accounting (e.g IB vs Audit) because there is no such thing as an economics industry and most of them become PhDs, Auditors, Bankers etc because THOSE ARE THE CAREERS, JOBS AND PATHWAYS!

literally a huge overlap with finance and stuff like accountant and actuary can be done with accounting and finance

All three are completely different fields of study that gives you a different skillset. Economics could lead you to a data science or public policy research position. Accounting is extremely valuable and teaches you everything about how the business world operates. a lot of different job postings specifically REQUIRE an accounting degree or a certain number of accounting credits. Even the FBI has a special agent hiring path just for people with accounting degrees.


A finance degree teaches you absolutely nothing you couldnt learn yourself by watching youtube videos. youll likely end up working retail at a local bank trying to get customers to open up a new investment account LMAO. thats if you can even land an interview anywhere. finance majors are known to be lazy, stupid slackers. Just LOL at you constantly bringing up investment banking. IB doesnt require a certain major but they DEFINITELY prefer accounting majors over retard finance kids who can barely calculate derivatives.

LMAO at this retard just googling and believing random websites. that list is fuking hilarious. how would someone with an econ degree become a chartered accountant when econ curriculums dont include a single accounting course??? brb getting my CPA after taking a community college psychology class...


LOL

Let me start one by one with your claims:

a) "Economics could lead you to a data science":

Over, this is a subfield of Computer Science. Finance and Accounting are quantitative enough to learn Python and Data Science tools on your own but Computer Science carries the advantage, especially if the data science role involves leveraging Big Data and Computational tools and infrastructure. All 3 Finance, Accounting, Econs need to do additional learning unless you are in a fake data science job which is "cleaning excel spreadsheets", where you are right Accounting wins LMFAO!


b) "a lot of different job postings specifically REQUIRE an accounting degree or a certain number of accounting credits":

so do some for finance and economics, like an Economics PhD. Yes, Audit in financial fraud will require Accounting but that is a niche job. OP doesn't know if that is what he wants? How can he base it on that. Maybe it sounds cool but it might be a boring ass job.

Where the HUGE market is where most commercial opportunities are which is all those Tier-1 jobs that lead to pathways.


c) "can learn anything on youtube videos":

are you aware 75% of economics students watch videos to learn cuz their dry ass social "science" (LMFAO!) professor cant do ****. I learned a lot of the established Macro-Micro econ stuff on my own, including interesting real-world useful stuff like the Big Mac Index as a Comp Sci and have no issues whatsoever.


d) "IB prefers X":

London is a huge European financial centre and since I work in a Bulge Bracket I have access to some graduate dev stuff that allows me to see the cohorts and literally, there is no accounting but mostly Bussiness Admin, Finance and then random unicorns like History, Music, Languages.

But that is a confirmation biased dataset because accounting majors usually go the Big 4 Audit route.



Again, it is all about the career job rather than the degree to make this a streamlined path to avoid confusion.


If OP researches and likes to give Management Consulting and IB -> buy side career a try, and he finds Economics the least dry and more motivating then he should do that because highest odds of getting a high GPA (imporant) and then do a CFA or CPA on top and God bless!

Maybe it is a bit different in the UK but the UK equivalent, ACA, you can be trained on the job through an employer and flatmates that did Biochem with zero accounting modules/credits/classes do it.


E.g one of them did biochem and is being trained in corporate finance/audit

another one did maths and is doing the same qualification with a Big 4 auditor in their audit team

surprised in the USA it is not like this



regardless, if OP's dream is to be an accountant and he chose that role as per my advice, then obviously he would pick an accounting degree

but I am sure miscers in other threads have worked in accounting with a finance degree plus CPA

because that is my claim = figure out what to as a career

because it is not ideal to be in your last year, stressing over GPA and not knowing what you want regardless of what degree you do

Lmao accounting major detected..

OP finance is the only major which gives you real life applicable skills to escape the rat race.

If you want to be destined to a life of paper pushing and excel, major in accounting lmao.

This Ellsmer brah mad accounts get paid way less than lawyers but do so much chit work lmao.

Might as well go to law school.

If you dont mind numbing work accounting is an easy middle class wage.

As long as you understand how to read financial statements and how they interact you are gucci. Change majors.

Accountants are only useful for taxes once per year and I would rather visit a tax attorney for any actual advice.

Economics would be considered to be in the business/accounting/marketing/engineering department.

Guy is completely ****. Literally arguing with me with stuff I dont said.

I literally told OP it is useless to think of degrees but in career pathways

Economics is a great degree to qualify u to flip burgers

I wanted to be mechE, but was too stupid

Math was up next, but also too stupid

Settled on Econ, it was easy af.

Working for govt now in unrelated field

econ major minoring in accounting, plan to become a cpa and work at big 4 audit. good way to start career, don't plan to stay forever

Every economics degree holder I know is a sloot working in HR or a ******* working as a manager/assistant manager at a retail store.

Lol drinking the big4 kool aid, try not to rope.

Electrical engineer working in economic consulting checking in (srs)

Engineering is a good foundation for quantitative-based economics work in the real world, which is where a lot of the serious work actually exists (srs)

mechanical is pretty flexible. maybe even too flexible in that i had no idea what they did when i was in school. i just saw that ASME club had a go cart so i thought all mechanicalcels did was work on cars or some chit. they do all kinds of chit

if you are a people person you could be some type of project manager on engineering projects

It's not about the major or degree, but about your political affiliation.

I happen to b.s. major chemistry, minor in computer science. But never gotten a job with it.

The White Republicans see me as a "Democratic lowlife" and so I could never get hired. Been basically unemployed my whole life.

I would strongly advise against an economics degree given that you just care about $$$.

If you just care about money, go for CS, your soft skills will put you leagues ahead of antisocial code monkeys so that won't be going to waste but you can't go wrong with mechanical or electrical either

Don't do accounting, do something else OP.

In California (supposedly top 5 best economy for accounting), friends have all struggled getting jobs.

I have it good.

Friends are stuck as bookkeepers making $20 an hour. Really sucks for them.

I would do engineering, or if you are young and a people person, go to med school. Nurse or PA and you are set for upper middle class wages after graduation.
Preferably PA since it seems many nurses in CA are H1B. (More competition for you).

Accounting is nice if you get a decent job, but most decent jobs are in the city. Dumb friends refuse to commute to San Diego for work, so they are pretty much screwed.

Edit: relevant link to accounting job in San Diego.

https://archive.is/9VL6e

id only do Economics if it's at a higher tier school, doesn't need to be Ivy League but should definitely be one of the higher level ones.

Economics is too academic. It's not a commercial degree. It's a degree designed to set you up for further study, research, government work, etc. It's a public sector degree.