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Dreaded Finance vs Accounting question
dhman2014
26 replies7 threads Junior Member
Okay, so I know that there have been countless questions about the difference between finance and accounting degrees, but here is another one.
My friend graduated with a bio degree and seeing how she hasn't had any luck finding a job, she's thinking about going back to school for masters. Even though she's very passionate about bio, her current focus is to pay back student loans, make some money for a bit, and then fulfill her ultimate goal of managing hospital by getting an MBA 7-10 yrs down the road. After talking to bunch of career counselors she found out that for job placement accounting/ finance will give her the best shot and most programs are one yr long. The questions she is wondering about are as follows:
Will MSF or MSA give her the best shot at landing a job?
Which has a better job market/ better pay? There various answers out there.
She graduated from BU and since she's from the Boston area she's looking at BC/ BU/ Bentley/ Brandies/Babson. I think BC/ Bentley will be her best bet. What are the thoughts?
31 replies My friend graduated with a bio degree and seeing how she hasn't had any luck finding a job, she's thinking about going back to school for masters. Even though she's very passionate about bio, her current focus is to pay back student loans, make some money for a bit, and then fulfill her ultimate goal of managing hospital by getting an MBA 7-10 yrs down the road. After talking to bunch of career counselors she found out that for job placement accounting/ finance will give her the best shot and most programs are one yr long. The questions she is wondering about are as follows:
Will MSF or MSA give her the best shot at landing a job?
Which has a better job market/ better pay? There various answers out there.
She graduated from BU and since she's from the Boston area she's looking at BC/ BU/ Bentley/ Brandies/Babson. I think BC/ Bentley will be her best bet. What are the thoughts?
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Replies to: Dreaded Finance vs Accounting question
Just so you know, a MSF or MSA doesn't really hold as much weight as Master's degrees in other fields, so recruiting will still be tough. Business careers in general are supposedly "safer" because people envision large companies (people think this means higher chance of employment) and higher salaries, but it also comes with really high competition. Your friend will be competing not just with all of her classmates from grad programs, but also MBAs and undergrads.
Now there is possibly an extremely good opportunity for your friend in that a lot of investment or consulting companies that focus on biotech or medical companies proactively search for candidates with a background in the sciences for their industry knowledge. If your friend is able to showcase both of her skillsets in bio and finance, she would be an extremely attractive candidate.
And offhand I'd think that with no business background that programs would be 2 years long so your friend should check this carefully. And for finance wouldn't she be getting a MBA? Why would she get another one in 7-10 years? I believe there are specific programs for hospital management so why not just do one now if that is the ultimate goal? I think more research should be done by your friend before making any decision.
Given this, what're the recommendations?
All of the MSF/MSA programs that my past classmates have taken were two years except for those who attended graduate programs at the same place they finished their undergraduate curriculum (one year), so I would make sure during the college selection process that she is looking at the right one.
But I was just thinking if it'd be worth doing those one year program? Assuming she networks well (let's assume average networking skills) and has good GPA, is there available jobs in finance or accounting? I know finance is kind of competitive.
Going strictly off of the info pages of the schools @dhman2014 listed, a background in finance was not required for candidacy. I guess the OP's daughter is trying to plan for an MBA that will allow her to enter hospital administration and sees an MSF as a way to pick up a career in the near term while also signaling future employers/mba admissions that she is passionate about the change.
@dhman2014 do you know which path she is more interested in? Making the decision simply based on exit opportunities is a terrible idea because it will affect her school performance which will in turn affect her candidacy for an MBA or career, it would also be a major factor during behavioral interviews (then she will have gone through all of it for nothing). Finance is competitive yes, particularly if you look at the top firms, but it's like that with any white collar industry including accounting.
I would also suggest that if possible she look especially at the schools that allow candidates to apply with either GRE or GMAT scores (I noticed some of the ones you listed did). Since the GMAT is required for an MBA and are good for 5 years, it would allow her to skip prepping for a 2nd standardized exam if it ends up fitting her timeline.
She is more interested in finance than accounting from what she told me, but she does want to make sure that she doesn't waste her money and ends up with no job after spending money and a year in school. That's why she said she'd be willing to go through with MSA and be an accountant for 3-4 years as long as there's more jobs/exit opportunities in that field.
I would consider either an MBA with a finance concentration or a masters in accounting. Your friend should proably take the GMAT.
I agree that work experience is often required before being accepted to an MBA program. Although I think it is a good idea, not all schools require it.
As most of the replies in this thread have already mentioned, an MBA is better for a career change because your friend will receive a more well rounded education in business versus learning the intricacies of finance. But if your friend isn't having any luck finding a job and is a new graduates, that is going to be extremely difficult even with a high GMAT score.
The nice thing about auditing is that you deal with pretty high-level executives in organizations right away and you see the inner-workings of numerous companies and often industries. There are also many opportunities within the Big 4 in other departments, locations, etc. Typically the Big 4 only recruit those with very good grades, at least that is the way it was quite a few years ago when I started.
For what it is worth, I started with a Big 4 firm in the US, transferred overseas and worked with them, changed to a different Big 4 firm and ultimately was able to retire at 40 and move back to the US, so there is money in accounting, as well as finance, although I was in the right place at the right time...