UKC

I am currently in 1st year doing an engineering degree. Got exams coming up and it's not looking too promising. Obviously I am trying my best to understand the work and doing a lot of revision at the moment but even so I am still struggling. I was never naturally talented in maths and physics at school but I worked and got decent grades. Now that things have become harder I just don't seem to be able to keep up.

The subject I was very good at and enjoyed immensly(sp?) was buisness studies. I am now thinking that if I do end up failing my 1st year I may switch to a management or business studies degree.

What I want to know is, is there anyone out there that is currently doing a buisness degree or has recently graduated from one? What are the job prospects like and what sort of role would you usually end up in? Do you think it is a good degree to undertake?

Any other information you can think of that would be useful would be great.

Cheers

In reply to Anonymous:
I'm studying for a BA at Hatfield at the mo, its a good course but I can't compare it with anything else as its my first time at uni. Any degree is generally a good thing to have as long as you put some effort in and get a decent grade. You might as well make it something you are interested in as you are more likely to do some work.

Being able to spell is a good start though

In reply to Ken Ross:

Business, I got it right once...cocked it up twice.

Cheers for the reply.

In reply to Anonymous:

No in fact having re-read my post I didn't get it right at all.

In reply to Anonymous:

Could you switch to Manufacturing Engineering or Engineering with Ops Management perhaps? I did the same - struggled with the Maths and Physics but perservered and switched from Mechanical to Manufacturing and was able to include more business oriented subjects as I progressed through my second and third years...

Have a talk to your tutors and get some advice from them - you may have more options than you think.

In reply to Anonymous: generally a BA in business studies is a waste of time.

In reply to Anonymous:
I work for quite a big multinational company and its noticable that many of our senior managers have engineering degrees (or similar), but none have Business degrees. I don't know how ambitious you are (and if you're not, then just go ahead and do the degree you enjoy - I did) but you might consider that a poor engineering degree will actually get you further than a good Business one.
.....having said all that, Engineering with Business sounds a good compromise. I think the scottish Uni's (look at Glasgow) are particularly good at mixing degrees.

In reply to RichardBennett:

I was thinking more along the lines of management consultancy(sloper- I know, useless waste of space etc). Would a business degree help for that or would an engineering background still be better.

Cheers

In reply to Anonymous:

Business Studies is a degree that is a typical non degree,like media studies etc.

The jobs people end up going for in the end generally don't require a business degree to get the job. Any degree with good experience is more valuable than a load of theory.

Why not look into doing computing and a management/business degree that's combined.Computing is were the money is at the moment, plus you can freelance when you have the experience and go on trips and earn as you go (in theory !!)

In reply to Anonymous:
If you're interested in management consultancy, then I would doubly advise continuing with engineering (or similar). Consultancy companies like science graduates as they think analytically and they know that the degrees have been independently accessed by industry bodies like the Institute of Engineering. Some of the big ones (Accenture etc) also specifically target engineering graduates (I speak from experience with friends of mine etc) for certain projects. Imagine you are Shell, and you've employed Accenture to do a project for you - you're going to have far more respect for consultants with a solid degree like engineering that is strongly linked with industry, than for someone with a more ambiguous degree like Business Studies.

Ultimately 50% of all careers in business are degree specific, 50% aren't. If you have a Business Studies degree, you can only apply for that 50%. If you have an engineering degree, you can apply for that 50%, and some of the degree-specific ones.

One other point, if you are at all interested in working from abroad (and I'm typing this from my office in South Africa) you'll find foreign companies are very respectful of degrees like engineering whereas they find degrees like Business Studies difficult to relate to their local environment.

In reply to Anonymous: First I did a physics degree followed by VSO and then a masters in Engineering. Then moved in to finance at Shell, followed by Goldman Sachs followed by my current employer. I have been involved with plenty of recruitment both graduate and direct entry into Shell and GS and the current shop. The bottom line is Business Degrees are seen as a bit of a joke, sorry but that is the truth, next you are better off with a 2.1 or a firts in English/History than a 3rd in Engineering - do something you love and can do well at but avoid "fluffy" degrees i.e media / business studies , it may be wrong but old folks like me see them as a bit of a soft option.

Consider economics, hope that helps e.mail me directly if you need more advice.

In reply to Anonymous:
Dear Anonymous

If you are interested in going into the hills, a degree in Business Economics is for you. I went away mountaineering and studied for the last 3 weeks before my final exams. I passed without any re-sits.

Norrie

PS It does help, if you are a mature student.

In reply to Anonymous: Lets be honest, it depends what you want to do with your life / career.. some jobs need a professional qualification .. other don't.

Personally, I have a business degree MBA and a wedge of other stuff and most of it hasn't really helped me do my job that much better ... (or maybe I'm just a bit crap?)

I also tried the engineer route, walked away, became business studies teacher, and now on operational / project manager .... so life is what you make of it.
On a more practical note, some degrees have bursaries attached to them which would ease the burden of student debt, especially if you are gonna restart a new course at year one again .. particularly nursing, OT, some teaching courses.. or maybe the old company sponsorship route ...