<p>I’m currently a college freshman and was wondering if I could get input in regards to what kind of major would best complement my work experience. </p>
<p>For most of my high-school career I had the privilege of working in a manufacturing/operations environment. Early on, I started out by doing grunt-work (product assembly, receiving and stocking materials, picking and shipping orders). Eventually, I was working directly for every manager within the plant: Shipping/Receiving, Purchasing, Production Control, as well as Fabrication/Assembly. From that point on I was taught the basic functions of every department and was trained on the company’s business software (SAP-ERP) and the respective transactions each department utilized. By the end I felt like I had a clear idea and an appreciation of how various branches in a manufacturing firm operate.</p>
<p>This leads me to my question: What major would best suit the line of work I was exposed to? I’ve taken basic econ classes, (Micro/Macro) but I’m not sure if Economics would be adequate for a career like this.</p>
<p>Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Accounting, or Industrial Engineering. Depending on what part of the business you want to go into. However, it may not be wise to pick a major based on this alone.</p>
<p>I agree with tdccarpenter. Those are very good suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was thinking around those lines as well.
Not to sound ignorant, but what other factors should I consider while choosing a major?</p>
<p>Industrial Engineering is essentially an applied mathematics degree with an emphasis on business. Supply Chain Management is mostly about business processes with a lot less math. IE is more difficult, but also leads to generally higher pay and more diverse career paths.</p>
<p>How vital of a role does Physics play in an IE career, or should I know the answer to that?</p>
<p>You’ll want a basic understanding of physics, but I don’t believe it would play much of a role, if any, in an IE career. IE is all about applied statistics.</p>
<p>I will major in IE when I enter college this summer; from what I can see, the major is everything you describe, which is why I like it. It is engineering and business mixed with a sprinkle of statistics. I think of it a supply chain/business degree on steroids.</p>
<p>Well thanks again for the input guys. Seems like IE undoubtedly covers the skills I’ve acquired and then-some. Fortunately, I was pretty math-oriented for the majority of my high school career so I don’t think it’ll be a problem delving into it once again in college.</p>
<p>My next problem is actually finding a company that will hire me along similar lines of part-time work. I’m finding out the hard way that my work-experience alone isn’t landing me a job, but that’s another topic.</p>