<p>I came into Engineering with entrepreneurship in mind. I would work ten years or so, save plenty of money, make industry contacts, and open shop. But, I saw that, if my intent was entrepreneurship, then I should major in Mngmt. Engineering, Mngmt. with a concentration in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. I looked at the jobs offered to my school’s engineering graduates, and they were pretty technical, routine, well paying jobs, but not all that dynamic and people-orientated. And, when I voiced my concerns, well-informed individuals would say, “If you major Engineering, you’re going to be hired as an Engineer,” and, “it’s usually not the engineers, the people who know more, who get to the top quicker.” </p>
<p>I don’t want to take shortcuts, but I don’t want to waste time. If I am going to open a business, I want to have a solid technical foundation, but if just being an “engineer” is not going to give me the flexibility to move around in a company or companies, then why bother. After all, if I know enough to know what I don’t know, then I could always recruit people with the expertise. </p>
<p>If I need an MBA to jump into management from engineering when I could have been en route to management all along, then is it worth getting an engineering degree? How has an engineering major worked out for other entrepreneurial-minded individuals, besides the software guys?</p>