Business Management or Accounting?

jayrich · 10-02-2011, 10:56 PM

Potential Career Aspirations: Financial Analyst, Stockbroker, Any Finance Related Career Investment Banker, Lawyer, Sports Agent

I'm currently majoring in Business Management with a Minor in Economics. I attend Penn State University's Smeal College of Business.

I definitely plan on going to Grad School to get a MBA or to Law School.

Obviously I wont become an Investment Banker, A Sports Agent or a Lawyer right after College, so i want to be able to get a stable finance related job after graduation for a few years before i go into Grad School.

My problem is I dont feel a Management degree will have the same career opportunities as Accounting and Finance. Please note I DONT WANT TO BECOME AN ACCOUNTANT.

My questions are:

Do you feel an Accounting degree limits me to just being an accountant. If no, what are some other careers i can go into with an accounting degree?

Is Business Management a waste of a degree at Penn State's Smeal College of Business?

What possible careers are out there for those graduating with a Business Mangement degree?

pamom59 · 10-03-2011, 08:10 AM

Unless you really enjoy accounting, I would not specialize in it.

Why aren't you majoring in Finance?

warrior1183 · 10-03-2011, 11:17 AM

Agree, a Degree in Finance would suit you best. However, if for any reason you didn't get into the Finance program, I would keep the Management Major, and try and minor in Finance. I won't go as far as to say "you're degree doesn't really matter" but who you know also matter a lot, if not more. I had a friend who majored in marketing, and ended up getting a job as a financial analyst right out of college. He is now CFO of a difference (but smaller) company. We both graduated in '07. Work hard AND NETWORK...

jayrich · 10-03-2011, 10:27 PM

@pamom59

i cant get into finance.

@warrior. thanks for the advice. but how are companies suppose to take me serious for a finance related job without a finance related major? Plus you cannot minor in finance at Smeal.

pamom59 · 10-04-2011, 07:43 AM

jayrich: since you can't get into finance, you either have to major in something else or transfer to a different school.

pamom59 · 10-04-2011, 08:52 AM

also- doesn't Penn State have a career center where you can go for advice about what jobs you will be qualified for with a management major?

warrior1183 · 10-05-2011, 12:26 PM

There is a distinct difference between what your diploma actually says, and what your real knowledge base is. Getting your first job out of college is going to be more about using your connections to get an interview, rather than your resume. Once you have an interview, then you can show them what you know through intelligent conversation. Not sure where I got this statistic, but apparently the vast majority of personnel responsible for hiring people say they spend less than 10 sec. reading a resume. You have a much better chance of getting an interview if they are reading your resume because it was given to them by a fellow employee who can vouch for you, than simply being compared to hundreds of other resume with the same major, and a similar GPA.

Simply put, getting your foot in the door career wise is a lot different than getting into college.