Engineering or Management Degree: Which Path Has Higher Job Opportunities?

Engineering vs Management: Which is the right course for you?

Choosing a career after college is no less than a turning point. This is the time when you decide which direction your life will take. In such a situation, if you have two strong options in front of you – engineering and management, then it is quite natural to get confused. There are great opportunities in both the fields, but the right choice will be the one that matches your nature, interest and career goals.

In this article, we will understand what is the real difference between engineering and management, what skills are required in both, and which course will give you a better career.

What is engineering and who is it right for?

Engineering is not just limited to making machines or coding. It is a thought – to solve problems in technical ways, to design something new and to make science useful in everyday life.

If you enjoyed science and math in school, if you like to create something new or fix things that are broken, then engineering can be an ideal choice for you. This is the field where you need logical thinking, creative mind and hardworking nature.

Today there are dozens of fields of engineering – like software, electronics, mechanical, civil, AI, data science and IoT. People working in these fields not only get good packages, but they also learn and create something new every day.

However, project deadlines and technical challenges are common in this field. Working late nights, solving problems repeatedly and staying updated with technology are included in this. But when you create a new solution or become a part of an innovative product, its satisfaction is different.

Management – Team Leadership and Business Understanding

Management does not mean just sitting in a meeting and taking decisions. It is the art of taking people along, making strategies and taking a team in the right direction. If you are comfortable talking to people, if you have the ability to motivate the team, and you like taking decisions – then management can prove to be better for you.

Management students are taught business, strategy, marketing, operations, finance and team management. You can then work as a manager, analyst or team lead in any industry – be it FMCG, e-commerce, healthcare or consulting.

The work-life balance is better in this field. Although there is client meetings, reporting and team coordination, there is more control over time and work. If you do an MBA, there are good opportunities for salary and growth – especially when you move towards senior leadership.

Which course to choose? How to make the right decision?

Now that you know about both the fields, let’s understand which field you should go into. The answer is hidden within you – you just need to understand yourself well.

Self-analyze

The first step is – ask yourself some honest questions.

• Do you love machines and technology?
• Do you like leading a team?
• Are you good at practical work or strategy making?

If you found science experiments fun in school, then engineering may be right for you. On the other hand, if you were always a leader in team projects, then management may be a more apt path.

Create a vision of your career

Now think – where do you want to see yourself in the next 10 years? Do you want to be a technical expert who creates new technologies? Or a business leader who sets the direction of the company?

Many students do engineering and then do MBA, so that they have an understanding of both fields – gain expertise in both technology and management.

Understand the industry trend

See which industry you want to work in. Engineers are needed a lot in technology, manufacturing and research. On the other hand, management graduates are more preferred in banking, marketing, startups and consulting.

If your dream is to make strategy in a multinational company, then management is right for you. But if you want to create new products, are interested in robotics, data analysis or AI, then engineering is great.

Keep further studies in mind

After engineering, you can do M.Tech or MEM. At the same time, MBA, PGDM or leadership courses in management can give a new dimension to your career.

Keep in mind, if you have done engineering, then it is easy to go into management. But moving from management to a technical role can be difficult.

Some examples for inspiration

• Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft) did an MBA after studying engineering and today he is running the world’s largest tech company.
• Sundar Pichai (CEO, Google) also started from the technical field and today he is a business leader.

We learn from them that with the desire to learn and hard work, you can move forward in any field – be it engineering or management.

Conclusion: Know yourself, you will find the way

Both career options have great prospects. But your right choice will be the one in which you are interested, which matches your nature, and in which you can move forward by learning something new every day.

• If you are interested in technical things – then choose engineering.
• If you want to lead a team – then management is right.
• And if you are interested in both – then You can study one after the other.

Because real success is achieved only when you do what your heart is attached to.