Cool post MBA jobs for engineers

[iyados]

Hi,

anyone has any ideas of what kind of good jobs(with good salaries) a post-MBA engineer can get?.
also, does an engineer haave a good chance to swith his career into finance after the MBA? i mean being able to switch without starting at the bottom of the finance ladder

[philipwhite]

I read recently that Engineering Managers are some of the highest paid professionals. Jumping from Engineering to Finance is a big move and is not something that's easily accomplished. Whenever you switch career's to something drastically different your going to start lower down and have to work your way up.

[sarat]

I work in the engineering field after an MBA(mostly dealing with Mech, Elec and Arch) in the US and can tell you my PERSONAL opinion - Traditional engineering is not a well paid profession and if you do an MBA and become an engineering manager you will not make huge salary unless you are in Executive Managment and there are lot of old geezers out there to fill those ranks. It is easy for engineers to go into fields like IT Consulting/ IT products with minimal retraining and it seems one can make a good salary in those fields. If one is willing to take risks, then work for small start-up type ventures with small salary but more stock options(yes they exist even now in fields such as VoIP, security etc) with the hope that it will make you the $$ someday.
I have personally not seen many of my engineering classmates land up in finance jobs (not classifying programming in an investment bank as a finance job) and the few that did (after an MBA) started at the bottom of the ladder but in about 10 years of time made up with salaries and bonuses and actually are poised for a far better career and earning potential.

[philipwhite]

As for salaries, I think it depends. I have a friend who works in the power industry as an Mechanical Engineer and he does quite well. You are right about the switch from engineering to finance. It's not such an easy move.

[bon_vivz]

how would it benefit for those who plan to pursue MBA after spending 5-6 Years in IT experience.

What options can one have and how would MBA benefit in such cases.?

Regards

[mike]

bon-
The benefit you derive is unquestionable. What you take out of your MBA experience will be an incredible driver to its value.

Some one with 5-6 years experience in IT can continue their function and/or continue in the sector. That being said, someone who wants to stay in the IT sector, with an MBA would probably (depending on their function in the IT sector) be suited for for any number of positions; including some popular choices: general manager, project/development team manager, product manager, administration (finance/accounting/HR) manager, sales manager, marketing manager, business development manager, IT Consultant, Business Analyst and account manager.

[mirsha]

i mean being able to switch without starting at the bottom of the finance ladder

Reduce Your Card Debt (http://www.e-debt-consolidation-guide.com/reduce_your_card_debt.asp) Mesothelioma Treatment (http://www.mesothelioma-eguide.com/mesothelioma_treatment.asp) HOLIDAY INN RESERVATION (http://www.best-holiday-inn.com/holiday_inn_reservation.asp)

[slayterdown]

I personally made the switch from engineering to finance (landed a summer job at a top 10 bulge I-bank). It is not an easy task but certainly attainable. I know a ton of people who have made similar switches through B-school, either to a finance career or to consulting. I think that the pay back is certainly worth it. I was making $70K a year in my engineering job; my first year as a full-time associate I should be making upwards of $200K. There is no way I will be making that kind of money unless I had stayed in engineering for 15-20 more years!

[BlueChip]

I'm an executive recruiter and have a major bank/Financial Services firm as a client. They prefer candidates to have an engineering undergrad and MBA.

Getting a key internship for the crossover is where you make the switch easier. A lot of times the internship will offer you a position and create the cross over link for you. Best of luck!

[ixtravel.com]

So if you want to switch from Engineering to Finance or Sales & Marketing and it's hard to switch, why don't you start building your own business?

I'm sure that most of engineers are A-blood type --> creative. It can help to have a business idea easily.

Freedom or high-paid slave?

[E-Z-B]

I personally made the switch from engineering to finance (landed a summer job at a top 10 bulge I-bank). It is not an easy task but certainly attainable. I know a ton of people who have made similar switches through B-school, either to a finance career or to consulting. I think that the pay back is certainly worth it. I was making $70K a year in my engineering job; my first year as a full-time associate I should be making upwards of $200K. There is no way I will be making that kind of money unless I had stayed in engineering for 15-20 more years!

I'm in the exact same boat. I'm currently in electrical engr, and have been since 2000. I have my BS and MS in EE, but I should have my MBA by March 2008 (1 year). I'm at the point now where I want to start looking for a better paying job like you did (I also make about $70k/yr). Do you have any tips on how to get your foot in the door? Who to contact, how to apply, where to apply, etc? I'm not sure how to even begin.

My company is paying for my MBA. I have to wait a year to leave, or else pay back the past year's worth of tuition reimbursement. I figure it's better to pay it back with the signing bonus you get from somewhere else rather than making yourself look bad from a year's worth of inactivity with your degree on your resume.

[slayterdown]

I'm in the exact same boat. I'm currently in electrical engr, and have been since 2000. I have my BS and MS in EE, but I should have my MBA by March 2008 (1 year). I'm at the point now where I want to start looking for a better paying job like you did (I also make about $70k/yr). Do you have any tips on how to get your foot in the door? Who to contact, how to apply, where to apply, etc? I'm not sure how to even begin.

My company is paying for my MBA. I have to wait a year to leave, or else pay back the past year's worth of tuition reimbursement. I figure it's better to pay it back with the signing bonus you get from somewhere else rather than making yourself look bad from a year's worth of inactivity with your degree on your resume.

It really depends on what you want to do with your MBA. I am assuming that you're in a part-time program because your company is paying for it. It is usually a little harder to make large career transitions from a part-time program.
If you do not want to continue in engineering, figure you what kind of post-MBA careers you would be interested in (e.g. consulting, marketing etc.). If you go to Vault.com, there are guides on what those careers entail and possible starting salaries. Once you have narrowed your decision to one or two possible careers, you should try and get in touch with people from your school who are either in that field or have successfully made a transition into that field (preferrably the latter). Depending on how effective the career services in your school is, you could go through them to get a list of contacts in your focus career and start contacting people. Before you start contacting them though, figure out why you want to make a transition; people usually don't like to have their time wasted.
I know this seems like generic advice, but if you go to school full-time, usually you do not have to do much of your own leg-work as the career services takes care of that... looking for career transitions as a part-timer on the other hand will require you to do a lot of your research and work.

[E-Z-B]

Thanks for the advice. I am in a part-time program. The type of career I'm interested in is something with Finance, like financial planning or investments. I'll check out Vault.com. I know a couple people who made the career transition, and I'm trying to get in contact with them for advice, too.