Economics vs finance vs accounting

[jakedafake]

I just switched over to Econ last semester though, so the next semester will be my second semester as a Economics major, while I'm at my third year. However, I have been "interning" at my dads company for two summers including this one. Interning as in doing bullchit secretarial work that has nothing to do with real work, but I heard its something to put on the resume which is better than nothing.

This all may sound like I'm some unmotivated ******* but I'm not. I've been pushed into the medical field by my parents (lol asian) and finally decided enough was enough and I'd rather do things my way. Now I feel completely lost though.. fuk man I might make a thread about this one day to see what more people might think, but I appreciate your input bruh.

BTW Rutgers New Brunswick student

i goofed?

[Austanian]

teens and 60k?

idk about that. Where did you pull those numbers from?

Look up entry level buyer positions in your area.

Next look up plant manager/assistant plant manager positions in your area.

[Bob_Ross42]

accounting. but it is one of the most unfulfilling careers imo, it's like directing traffic all day.

but also, seeing as how many *******s are responding to your post means you prob dont want to do any of them.
Go into healthcare, pa, nurse, or any medical specialty instead. Easier life than corporate politics in business world where you only get promotions based on likeability and not performance and generally the higher their rank the more retarded theyare

[LordBroski]

sounds like i should go accounting then? lmao

Yes. If you're split between econ/finance/acct and suck at math, accounting would be the easiest. Regardless though, I think it's the best base to have if you're going for a career in business.

IT > all 3

I/T + Acct is the best. MIS and consulting for Oracle e-Business or other ERP software solutions, or even project management = mad bank.

You could even get an IT undergrad, take accounting courses, get your CPA, and become an I/T auditor + security consultant and make bank.

accounting. but it is one of the most unfulfilling careers imo, it's like directing traffic all day.

but also, seeing as how many *******s are responding to your post means you prob dont want to do any of them.
Go into healthcare, pa, nurse, or any medical specialty instead. Easier life than corporate politics in business world where you only get promotions based on likeability and not performance and generally the higher their rank the more retarded theyare

There's politics in every profession and health care is no exception. Also, how exactly does a medical professional get evaluated based on performance? What metrics do you use and how do you track them? Doesn't make much sense to me.

[inq]

The amount of ignorance ITT is astounding.

Prepare to have your mind blown

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical...economists.htm

http://www.economicsdegree.net/libra...nomics-degree/

edit: I should have known misc knew nothing about economics.

Knew someone would bring that up. The data is skewed because Econ is one of the most popular majors at the Ivies/top 20 where finance and accounting aren't even offered as degrees. So there'll be a large representative of Econ majors who go for that "business" background that economics gives you and then get recruited to the big firms because of the school prestige, not necessarily due to the degree, hence a larger predeposition for higher salaries.

Elon Musk has a bachelors in economics. But he also went to Wharton.

Econ major checking in btw from a top 50. My prospects simply won't be the same as an econ major from a top 10. I still stand by my degree but know there are limitations. I think it's one of the better liberal arts degree if by itself without a double in math (Refer to my earlier post.)

[OptimusPrim3]

It's not the degree for the most part, it's how hard you work at it (i.e. getting solid internships, good grades, lots of math [double major is best esp. with econ], making the right connections, and some luck thrown in there).

Econ major here, unless you go to a good school, most econ departments are chit since they don't teach it with heavy math background or even simple SAS. So unless you want to be a bank teller you have to step up your game (go to grad school or double major in math). Funny, because economics is by far the most versatile and creative major out of the bunch. That being said, if you are a creative and very self-driven individual economics will work best for you. The major gives you great critical thinking abilities in terms of seeing business/market structures as a whole (macro and micro) which has helped me so much in terms of my own company (even to the point where I'm leaving school to pursue it 100% since it takes up so much of my time). Anyways, if you're a freshman take classes in each and ask yourself which line of work you can you see yourself doing in 5, 10, 20 years. If you think you'll dread it, you probably will. Good luck men.

[nicetrysrs]

if you had to pick one, which would you go for?

job prospects, income, etc.

having a hard time picking a major

do these subjects even interest you? theres really no point in even trying to quantify these majors.

how to find your major:
-> what industry are you PASSIONATE for?

too many people pick majors based on the pursuit of money. if you don't like what you do, you're going to hate most of your life until you make enough money to balance out how much you hate your work.

if you like what you study and the people around your field you will find it a) easier to get good grades/more willing to get good grades b) have 100% easier time NETWORKING. (knowing people makes getting a job where you want a LOT easier.)

[iamgoatsrs]

Upperclass is a bit of a stretch. Accounting can get you into the 6 figures (US), but you will be working 70 hour weeks to do it. Yes you can fight for upper level positions in a company, but there aren't that many of them.

If you want a 40 something hour a week job accounting/finance will top out at 75K US. I am not sure what these dollar values mean for AUSSIEs, but take it for what it is worth.

aussie median is like 40k a year i think. My dad makes 100k a year as a public servant economist. USD and AUD are close atm but australia costs alot more.

[iamgoatsrs]

do these subjects even interest you? theres really no point in even trying to quantify these majors.

how to find your major:
-> what industry are you PASSIONATE for?

too many people pick majors based on the pursuit of money. if you don't like what you do, you're going to hate most of your life until you make enough money to balance out how much you hate your work.

if you like what you study and the people around your field you will find it a) easier to get good grades/more willing to get good grades b) have 100% easier time NETWORKING. (knowing people makes getting a job where you want a LOT easier.)

this advice is so controversal. I have 10+ friends that "did what they loved" and then quit after 2yr cause they dont have enough money. I have great interest in finance, stocks, markets banking etc and i feel like id do well since im so eager to learn.

[Austanian]

aussie median is like 40k a year i think. My dad makes 100k a year as a public servant economist. USD and AUD are close atm but australia costs alot more.

It is the cost of living that changes everything. Just looking at your car, housing, and minimum wage I can see that the dollars aren't really the same. I am assuming professionals get payed considerably more to compensate.

this advice is so controversal. I have 10+ friends that "did what they loved" and then quit after 2yr cause they dont have enough money. I have great interest in finance, stocks, markets banking etc and i feel like id do well since im so eager to learn.

Exactly. Find something you don't hate that will give you money to do what you love.

[Brazzah]

great thread going here.

From what ive reasearched i think im going to try to get into a Bachelor of commerce majoring in finance and accounting. So ive got both up my sleeve. With this degree should i be able to land a decent job then work my way up to upper class status? I plan to get distinctions

Also school is AUS RANK 1-4 and WORLD RANK 30

You're in australia so you're not exposed to the US market. That's good. Both Finance and Economics will be a bit safer for you. I live in Canada, in Quebec, which pretty much has it's own market and people from other provinces cannot come in to take our jobs unless they're willing to learn french. This basically caused our economics department to be flooded with job offers...Masters students often get job offers before finishing their degree while people getting an econ degree only often just work the same jobs as finance degrees. Market is a lot healthier than the U.S. one so that might explain it.

[Acetheticz]

If you want the most bang for your buck.

Do a degree in Economics and Statistics (or just Statistics).

With the Statistics B.S. the best degree you can get.
Then become an actuary.
even if you have to take 5 years and only take 3 courses every summer/fall/spring since they are more difficult do it, because it'll pay off
Near 0 unemployment, works for insurance companies (the one companies never going away).
It also allows you tons of graduate school options:
CompSci/Mathematics/Physics/Chemistry/etc. (anything quant based).

PhD in Statistics is suppose to be the sexiest degree there is for the 20's. SRS.

If you don't want to do healthcare or CS then that's the route to go.

Hey, I've seen you in another thread talking about HR->HR Director->CHRO.

You majoring in HR management? I'm going the same route, junior year, and quit my part time job to look for internships or assistant jobs for experience.

[iamgoatsrs]

You're in australia so you're not exposed to the US market. That's good. Both Finance and Economics will be a bit safer for you. I live in Canada, in Quebec, which pretty much has it's own market and people from other provinces cannot come in to take our jobs unless they're willing to learn french. This basically caused our economics department to be flooded with job offers...Masters students often get job offers before finishing their degree while people getting an econ degree only often just work the same jobs as finance degrees. Market is a lot healthier than the U.S. one so that might explain it.

okay. well should i do a bachelour of finance or. Do a bachelour of commerce and major in finance AND OR accounting

[Brazzah]

Hey, I've seen you in another thread talking about HR->HR Director->CHRO.

You majoring in HR management? I'm going the same route, junior year, and quit my part time job to look for internships or assistant jobs for experience.

Just dropped out of my HR degree, after interning in it and doing 1 year i'm going into economics and finance. Lots of useless classes and bullchit theory, litterally no practice and all the gigs you'll have access to in HR are dead end jobs with no room for progress. A lot of the people in my faculty end up getting their MBA in finance or management to open more doors. HR management is good for getting jobs but terrible if you don't want to end up being someone else's bitch after 10 years working at the same place with fat depressed women who tell you they regret everything they did.

[IsLifeRealLife]

Is it possible to get an accounting job with a Math-econ joint major + accounting minor + passing the CPA?

[Acetheticz]

Just dropped out of my HR degree, after interning in it and doing 1 year i'm going into economics and finance. Lots of useless classes and bullchit theory, litterally no practice and all the gigs you'll have access to in HR are dead end jobs with no room for progress. A lot of the people in my faculty end up getting their MBA in finance or management to open more doors. HR management is good for getting jobs but terrible if you don't want to end up being someone else's bitch after 10 years working at the same place with fat depressed women who tell you they regret everything they did.

You have to start somewhere brah. What I'm planning to do is get my bachelors in HR and then pursue an MBA in Business Admin or Finance. I definitely want to move up to an HR Director role before I'm 30 (pretty decent money, $70k-$90k) and then gain experience and move up to the real money (CHRO) and senior management. That's that Mad Men lifestyle I heard.

[srom12]

Gonna change double major to finance/accounting after reading this (srs)

I did well in the intro course last semester for finance and was interesting so I'm confident I'll do well

Currently my major is finance/banking but apparently banking major is useless (can anyone confirm this?)

[stephano5]

OP I worked in credit suisse and finance is pretty much high risk high return. Accounting is HELL BORING, all my friends who did it are jumping ship. Do not think if you do finance you will CEO 10k/day, if you're a **** analyst and don't make ballsy investment decisions then forget about finance being the field for you. Let me give you two examples
- during credit crunch, friend of mine who is an IB'er put $250k in the stock exchange when all stock prices fell, then when they recovered her investment value raised 20-30%- you need that cunning skills
- I used to advise my clients to invest in silver when a lot of people where putting solar panels on their house in australia, because silver is important in the production of solar panels

you need that kind of mentality, opportunistic. and the industry is full of drugs/sex not my kind of thing, hence why im studying medicine now

if you're just naturally brilliant and want something challenging, I suggest you do financial econometrics

[LordBroski]

Is it possible to get an accounting job with a Math-econ joint major + accounting minor + passing the CPA?

As long as you take the pre-requisite courses required for CPA, you don't even need a business background at all. At least that's how it works over here.

Getting a job is mostly about networking. We had some HBB's with mediocre GPA's in General Arts land Big 4 positions here because they knew how to kiss ass and suck dick the right away.

You have to be agreeable, presentable, know how to communicate effectively, and basically be the kind of person who can retain and service existing clients while attracting new ones and building sustainable relationships along the way.

The accounting part itself is easy and anyone with a half brain can figure it out. Herp-a-derp, these invoices all add up! Check-mark. Done.

[hardestgainer]

Look up entry level buyer positions in your area.

Next look up plant manager/assistant plant manager positions in your area.

A fellow CDA brah? Dont think Ive ever seen someone local on here before. Well up here for the summer till I go back to Gonzaga.


Im doubling majoring in accounting and Finance OP, then plan on getting my CPA. From what Ive learned from advisors that seems to be the best way to go for job opportunities and pay without needing an MBA.

[CanadianMMA]

cliffs;
you'll live a good life.
middle class.
maybe have a shot a upper middle, but probably not.
if you don't work for a big company you will be bored after the first two year.

I thought that I was going to do SCM but now my perspective of it is changing. Now after reading this thread, I'm thinking about Finance as a major...Help!

[LetMeLift]

Why not all three?

I'm half way through triple major, in those exact subjects.

Accounting - for job security

Finance - for big $$

Economics - to enhance big $$

[srom12]

OP I worked in credit suisse and finance is pretty much high risk high return. Accounting is HELL BORING, all my friends who did it are jumping ship. Do not think if you do finance you will CEO 10k/day, if you're a **** analyst and don't make ballsy investment decisions then forget about finance being the field for you. Let me give you two examples
- during credit crunch, friend of mine who is an IB'er put $250k in the stock exchange when all stock prices fell, then when they recovered her investment value raised 20-30%- you need that cunning skills
- I used to advise my clients to invest in silver when a lot of people where putting solar panels on their house in australia, because silver is important in the production of solar panels

you need that kind of mentality, opportunistic. and the industry is full of drugs/sex not my kind of thing, hence why im studying medicine now

if you're just naturally brilliant and want something challenging, I suggest you do financial econometrics

how ?

inb4 you just watched wolf of wall street

[ODbrah]

Accounting here
Go do engineering or some chit, stay the phuck away

[untranslatedZA]

Dont go accounting unless you love doing it. Did a management accounting auditing degree, stopped half way through because i could stand it. Economics is universal and you learn more from that than the other 2 combined when it comes to take home non technical knowledge. Also alot of companies like seeing econ as a major. Many CEO have accounting yes but if you want to make the big bucks, financial management is the safest bet. Good managers are hard to find, and being able to successfully manage an entire department / companies finances is a big positive point on your CV and future prospects

[Shauri]

Fuark, nice thread.

Starting ''finance'' this september. Wish me luck

[dunners99]

thx for posting bro. Il be going to Australian National University ( rank 30 in world IIRC) They do a bachelor of commerce where you can major in Accounting/finance.

Does that sound like a plan doing double major? to keep options open

OP do a double degree... Most of these (if not all) are posting from america where this isn't a thing. only adds a year to your 3 year degree

if you are good at maths - best option would be bachelor of actuarial/bachelor of finance

if you arent good at maths/ dont want to put in redic work but want to angle at finance jobs economics/finance

finally if you want accounting major as a safety net do commerce/finance so you can get accounting major

last option is probably easiest option - less likely to get investment banks/top tier jobs though - but probably easiest to get good marks in and general workplace attractiveness

[DTRrex]

I hated working in accounting so much. I just take on the odd consulting arrangement and teach the odd class. Education is much more tolerable. Pay is less but I can live with that.

It's definitely a job for a certain type of person. You're typically overworked and underappreciated. The mind numbingly tasks of data manipulation on excel spreadsheets, ledger entries, variance analysis, etc.... will crush your soul after a while.

I think the scariest thing to me is that in every accounting job I've ever had I look at the guys above me.... seniors, managers, controllers, etc... and never wanted to be them. The thought of brewing their age and doing what they do and knowing that's the rest of my working life can be crushing.

I've always wanted to do forensic accounting, specifically for the gov't.... if that doesn't work out I may need to consider a switch in careers.

[whitecollarcrim]

Hey, I've seen you in another thread talking about HR->HR Director->CHRO.

You majoring in HR management? I'm going the same route, junior year, and quit my part time job to look for internships or assistant jobs for experience.

Just dropped out of my HR degree, after interning in it and doing 1 year i'm going into economics and finance. Lots of useless classes and bullchit theory, litterally no practice and all the gigs you'll have access to in HR are dead end jobs with no room for progress. A lot of the people in my faculty end up getting their MBA in finance or management to open more doors. HR management is good for getting jobs but terrible if you don't want to end up being someone else's bitch after 10 years working at the same place with fat depressed women who tell you they regret everything they did.

The best way to get into the best HR jobs is to not start out HR.
Even the best HRLDP (Human Resource Leadership Development Programs) are post MBA.
Every entry level HR is going to be a dead end to HR Manager at 60k.

Best option is to get experience in something different but has applicable skills:
Sales Rep (you'll be able to bring to the table understanding corporate structure, basic compensation, C-Level Exposure, etc.)
Big 4 or Nationals (mainly for the name, and because it brings the the table your ability to understand the company as a whole, C-Level exposure, etc.)

Then getting an MBA in HR/Management and getting into a HR Manager/Director level.
Then it's all doing extremely well and getting promoted.
Brb being a man in a woman's game makes it extremely easy to excel (no sexist).

Upper level HR is not about administration but rather training protocols, labor law, international and global diversification, compensation (especially exec comp).

It's a good career if you know what you're doing.
Look up CHRO's of major companies and they are all very "generic" and nothing like the CFO's, CMO's, etc.
It's an area where if you're good you can be the best.

[sonicgold91]

op grab your Economics Degree (Honours) minor in Mathematics! grab your CSC then CFA profit