My husband's gazillionaire financier friend told our kids to study engineering

[Anonymous]

Claims he hires people in spite of business degrees, doesn't target them. Engineers learn real skills and content, business is learned by doing it.

Just thought I'd share for those weighing college plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Claims he hires people in spite of business degrees, doesn't target them. Engineers learn real skills and content, business is learned by doing it.

Just thought I'd share for those weighing college plans.

The problem is, the majority of kids who could hack a business degree couldn't hack an engineering degree. He's hiring much smarter kids by targeting engineering grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claims he hires people in spite of business degrees, doesn't target them. Engineers learn real skills and content, business is learned by doing it.

Just thought I'd share for those weighing college plans.

The problem is, the majority of kids who could hack a business degree couldn't hack an engineering degree. He's hiring much smarter kids by targeting engineering grads.

+1000
He's looking in a high IQ pool. It doesn't mean that all engineers are cut out for business but the ones that are are pretty dang smart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claims he hires people in spite of business degrees, doesn't target them. Engineers learn real skills and content, business is learned by doing it.

Just thought I'd share for those weighing college plans.

The problem is, the majority of kids who could hack a business degree couldn't hack an engineering degree. He's hiring much smarter kids by targeting engineering grads.

+1000
He's looking in a high IQ pool. It doesn't mean that all engineers are cut out for business but the ones that are are pretty dang smart.

Totally agree with all of the above.

[Anonymous]

About half my MBA class was people who did engineering or some other tech/science field as their undergrad. It's a good mix career-wise.

[Anonymous]

Interesting for kids who have the interest in and aptitude for engineering. But there are plenty of brilliant kids who don't. I don't know what business your friend has, but seems like you'd get a lot of certain kinds of thinkers with his strategy. Great if you're building or designing, not always so wonderful if you want kids who can sell, communicate and/or write.

Picking a major because it's the in thing or a trend, may nab you a first job, but not necessarily a career you love and will thrive in. I say this as a business major and CPA, who was trying to be similarly practical back in the day. Freshman year at a top college, I had five friends start out as engineers, none of them graduated in that major.

[Anonymous]

^ I hate the stereotype that engineers are beta nerds and business kids are alpha charismatic salesman. Reminds me of my dumb fraternity brothers who'd rationalize their worthless major and low GPA with the fact they (thought they) had awesome personalities that all these Fortune 500 companies would kill for. Most of them became cold calling schmucks after college. It's 2017, talented kids are ALL OF THE ABOVE.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting for kids who have the interest in and aptitude for engineering. But there are plenty of brilliant kids who don't. I don't know what business your friend has, but seems like you'd get a lot of certain kinds of thinkers with his strategy. Great if you're building or designing, not always so wonderful if you want kids who can sell, communicate and/or write.

Picking a major because it's the in thing or a trend, may nab you a first job, but not necessarily a career you love and will thrive in. I say this as a business major and CPA, who was trying to be similarly practical back in the day. Freshman year at a top college, I had five friends start out as engineers, none of them graduated in that major.

Which "top college" has a business major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting for kids who have the interest in and aptitude for engineering. But there are plenty of brilliant kids who don't. I don't know what business your friend has, but seems like you'd get a lot of certain kinds of thinkers with his strategy. Great if you're building or designing, not always so wonderful if you want kids who can sell, communicate and/or write.

Picking a major because it's the in thing or a trend, may nab you a first job, but not necessarily a career you love and will thrive in. I say this as a business major and CPA, who was trying to be similarly practical back in the day. Freshman year at a top college, I had five friends start out as engineers, none of them graduated in that major.

Which "top college" has a business major?

Wharton

[Anonymous]

And Peter Thiel pays talented kids $100,000 NOT to go to college.

What's your point?

[Anonymous]

That's not news, OP. People with mathematical and scientific backgrounds can't be too stupid to get through all these exercises in logic and critical reasoning, so it would make sense that they are able to lateralize/transfer their skills and learn on the job pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

Does "business" include economics is the question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting for kids who have the interest in and aptitude for engineering. But there are plenty of brilliant kids who don't. I don't know what business your friend has, but seems like you'd get a lot of certain kinds of thinkers with his strategy. Great if you're building or designing, not always so wonderful if you want kids who can sell, communicate and/or write.

Picking a major because it's the in thing or a trend, may nab you a first job, but not necessarily a career you love and will thrive in. I say this as a business major and CPA, who was trying to be similarly practical back in the day. Freshman year at a top college, I had five friends start out as engineers, none of them graduated in that major.

Which "top college" has a business major?

Wharton

Had to look one up, huh? Wharton gives Econ degrees for undergrad. Try again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ I hate the stereotype that engineers are beta nerds and business kids are alpha charismatic salesman. Reminds me of my dumb fraternity brothers who'd rationalize their worthless major and low GPA with the fact they (thought they) had awesome personalities that all these Fortune 500 companies would kill for. Most of them became cold calling schmucks after college. It's 2017, talented kids are ALL OF THE ABOVE.

PP here. No one said that engineers were nerds and business kids were charismatic salesmen or that talented kids couldn't be all of the above -- although I think it's very rare that talented kids are all of the above. I'm personally not a fan of business majors because I believe with the exception of a technical area like accounting, you can learn business on the job. But there's a reason why Wall Street investment banks hire liberal arts majors who are neither engineers or business majors ...

My point is there isn't a formula that is going to guarantee a successful life or career no matter who O.P.'s gazillion-dollar friend likes to hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ I hate the stereotype that engineers are beta nerds and business kids are alpha charismatic salesman. Reminds me of my dumb fraternity brothers who'd rationalize their worthless major and low GPA with the fact they (thought they) had awesome personalities that all these Fortune 500 companies would kill for. Most of them became cold calling schmucks after college. It's 2017, talented kids are ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Sounds like you have self esteem issues regarding your social skills. That's on you dude. What hypothetically MIGHT happen to future engineers has NOTHING to do with what people think of you and your lack of social reputation