My daughter will be entering Mays upper level next semester and had always intended on majoring in Management. Today she told me she is thinking about majoring in Marketing instead, and said she wants to talk with me about it when she comes home this weekend.

I looked at the data from the career center and it looks like there were more jobs offered to Marketing than Management, but at a lower salary. Lots of the Marketing jobs looked retail related as well. Is this data collected just from those who take the time to respond to a survey?

Would appreciate any feedback or insight from those familiar with both programs and the career opportunities. My feeling is Management provides a broader background that could be used in many different areas.

And before any of you accuse me of being a "helicopter" parent, SHE is the one who said she wanted to talk to me for my advice...

I may be biased as a Management graduate, but I am pretty sure that our MGMT program is ranked significantly better nationally than our marketing department.

I can say for sure that at A&M, the Management faculty is spectactular. Furthermore, the undergraduate Management advisor is incredible at keeping you up to date with all the opportunities available to help you land a full time job (or get into graduate school, or get an internship, or a scholarship, I could go on...)

Here's a link to the rankings: http://mays.tamu.edu/about-mays/rankings/

Management is ranked 9th in the country, public.

[This message has been edited by NormanAggie (edited 9/30/2009 4:36p).]

INFO either SUP or MIS
ACCT

I should have clarified: she's not interested in ACCT, FIN, INFO, etc, so not looking for any advice there.

As a Marketing major, Management and Marketing are both worthless. Companies are looking for Accounting and Finance. That's why I'm getting my MBA. But do Management. Anything is better than Marketing.

The reason there might seem to be a lot of retail jobs for marketing majors is that A&M has one of the nation's premiere retail program, which is nestled into the marketing major. Many retailers go to A&M because of this.

Management and marketing are both soft majors, high on theory. The hard skills offered in the other majors are useful and she should really look into sticking with one of them. MKTG/MGMT, to me, is a perspective or approach one brings to business. You don't need to major in them to end up doing one or the other. Is she doing an internship or any sort? If not, she needs to. What happens in the Wehner building with MKTG/MGMT won't mean jack unless she has something to relate it to in interviews.

The job market for pure marketing is rough right now and new grads are going to be fighting over a very small slice of pie, and to stand apart she needs as much actual experience as possible. I'll tell you that I've applied to countless marketing jobs (not sales) that really don't require a college degree but not hearing anything back because the recession is driving more experienced people down into those jobs, which leaves the rest out in the cold.

You need to talk with her and say she needs real tangible business skills like the ability to analyze financial documents, deal with information databases, etc., and if she has the attitude towards bringing strategic marketing management to a firm, that will take care of itself as she grows with a firm and gains responsibility.

I was a marketing major and wished I would have taken one of the other routes. I knew I wanted to do marketing but would have been better served with the skills learned in one of the other majors. Keep in mind, first and foremost she needs a JOB when she graduates. Whichever one she picks, push her into picking up an INFO/FINC/ACCT minor at the very least.

If she is really not interested in those, thats okay, but she should still do it. The people who are lifers in INFO/FINC/ACCT will end up working for the people with the MKTG/MGMT perspective eventually because they are technical monkeys. She needs, however, to be concerned with what happens when she graduates otherwise she's going to end up a pharma rep.

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The people who are lifers in INFO/FINC/ACCT will end up working for the people with the MKTG/MGMT perspective eventually because they are technical monkeys.

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there may be a tad bit of truth to this, but this is definitely taking it way too far. The #1 major of S&P 500 CEOS is engineering, far more technical than any business major.

If she really loves mktg or mgmt, tell her to double major with acct,info,or finance. This will let her do something she is interested in(important), while also giving her the technical skills employers value (very important)

If she is planning on getting a MGMT or MKTG degree, I would stress the value and almost need to pursue it to the M.S level. A M.S in both of those fields helps improve salary alot. ~65k starting salary for MKTG M.S and ~ 100% placement for those coming out of Mays. Also, has she said what about those fields makes them interesting?

[This message has been edited by JHNichols (edited 10/1/2009 7:22a).]

JH - she does plan on getting a graduate degree, probably right after graduation (she'll finish a year early), but is not at the point yet of deciding what graduate degree to pursue.

In my view her attraction to these majors is the fact they are theory based. She liked ACCT when she took 229, but then hated 230. And although she did well in MATH 141 and 142, she just does not enjoy the more empirical disciplines. Her original major when she applied was English, so that gives a clue of her strengths. She tested out of English and History.

I graduated with a Management degree in 1981, and in fact now do product marketing for a company that's number eight on the Fortune 500 list. In my experience, my employers have trained me in what it is they hired me to do, so my degree was really secondary. Of course, that is much less likely to happen if you have one of the "hard" business degrees...

[This message has been edited by BigAg81 (edited 10/1/2009 10:17a).]

[This message has been edited by BigAg81 (edited 10/2/2009 11:31a).]

Has she looked into I/O psychology? Also, most acct is financial like 229, not managerial like 230.

Is there a "neither" option? Finc/Acct/Info are the best tracks imo.

See previous posts - she's not interested in those - not an option.

After reviewing the most sought after majors at the career fair this week, I would say (also ranked within the tiers):

Tier 1:

1. ACCT
2. FINC
3. ECON

Tier 2:

1. INFO

Tier 3:

1. MGMT
2. MKTG

i think it's fine for her to go into MKTG provided that she understands that a masters is almost going to be required for her to be assured of a well paying job.

MGMT is a bit more of an applied field, so there are just more opportunities.

questions to think about: what about marketing intrigues her? what's she thinking about doing her graduate degree in? I/O is a great possibility. i'd also encourage her to connect with the career services rep in Mays--they'll be able to give her a good idea of what kind of jobs MKTG majors have gotten.

also, tell her to read through the supply chain management description (http://mays.tamu.edu/info/what-is-scm/) there's definetly marketing elements to that degree.

I know it's different for each college, but could she do both (double major)? It really depends on what she wants to do. Has she talked to both undergrad advisors yet? I had a friend who was a marketing undergrad then got his m.s. in mgmt (HRM program) right after. As for I/O psyc, that is technically not possible at the undergraduate level. The psyc degree here, like most undergrad psyc programs, is a general degree...though you could take I/O-related courses and tailor your degree towards that.

I am currently an INFO/MKTG major and my understanding is that students graduating after 2011 (maybe 2010?) will not have the option to double major.

Here's my little pitch for Supply Chain: it has the highest median starting salary out of Mays, PPA included. Supply chain majors have many elective choices from other functional areas--marketing management included. The field in general requires an understanding of all areas of business. The INFO department is doing a pretty solid job of building a strong supply chain program here.

But if she REALLY wants to do either management or marketing, I think marketing would be more promising. She should look into getting a certificate in retailing. Also, the Marketing study abroad to Europe is not major-specific, but Dr. McDaniel leads it. He's the sweetest man ever, and director of the master's program, I believe.

I would have her seriosuly consider the I/O route. Maybe do MGMT w/ a psyc minor. The good thing about the I/O route is that if she ends up wanting to go into academia, she will have the research and degree required for most large univerities. If she ends up not wanting to go the I/O route, she can still look into the MKTG or MGMT MS programs after graduation, or even the Real Estate DVLP program. Either way, she can grad with a MGMT degree, and as long as she is planing on going to grad school, be ok. I would have her take the GRE ASAP. The results are good for 5 years, and typically students perform better the closer they are to HS grad since most of the test is exactly like the SAT. Once she gets her GRE scores, you will have alot better idea about her grad school viablity, especially when you factor in her GPA. I know to many people that had their heart set on grad school, and then bombed the GRE and realized it was going to be harder than previously thought.

[This message has been edited by JHNichols (edited 10/2/2009 7:36a).]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is I/O?

industrial/organizational psychology.

seriously, tell her to consider supply chain management. has the potential to be a good compromise between management and marketing.

We just looked at the SCM stuff, and she is very interested - she didn't really know much about that program. She's going to talk to an SCM advisor to get some more info. Thanks to everyone for the feedback...

Hollywood,

Gotta disagree with you there. Why would you throw in ECON as a first tier major coming from the liberal arts school? INFO is way more difficult and technical regarding the subject matter given to you.

Gotta put INFO up on a first tier basis. Its no cake walk.

I think hes talking about demand for students, not difficulty.

Though I'd be a little surprised to see Econ ahead of ANYTHING in mays besides maybe management/marketing as far as demand for graduates.

[This message has been edited by tamuags08 (edited 10/7/2009 11:57a).]

SCM is awesome. Talk to Xenophon Koufteros about it. He's a great prof and a wonderful career prep guy.

Also, Della Whitcomb is a good advisor within the INFO Dept. I switched to SUP from MKTG and I'm in love with it.

i think she would be able to get similiar jobs with either major. as any major is a good candidate for an mba, i might look at the prereqs for a master in mktg just to see if being a mgmt major might set her back a few classes if that's what she chooses to do later.

(side bar... econ < ALL mays majors)

i graduated in may and i switched from marketing to info-mis when i was a junior...i am so glad! i feel like i have technical skill AND business knowledge. alos, i have a job, and not at the gap. i don't mean to stereotype, but marketing/management jobs may be harder to come by. i do things outside of my major that are more marketing related and i like that, but i was hired because i have a technical skill.

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Hollywood,

Gotta disagree with you there. Why would you throw in ECON as a first tier major coming from the liberal arts school? INFO is way more difficult and technical regarding the subject matter given to you.

Gotta put INFO up on a first tier basis. Its no cake walk.

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My tiers are based on the demand for students from the A&M business career fairs that I have attended.

Also, I agree that INFO is much more difficult than ECON at the undergraduate level, but I believe ECON is a bit more difficult at a graduate level.

I think a lot of companies open their resume drops to ACCT, FINC and ECON, but in reality only hire the first two.

MKTG is a terrible way to go at Mays. If she does MKTG, she better get a 4.0 cuz that's the only way she's gonna be considered for a job. A 4.0 in MKTG is like a 2.7 in FINC/ACCT.

I graduated in May with a MKTG degree and took the GRE 2 months ago so I could get a masters in MIS/Supply Chain. Go talk to Xen Koufteros like someone said. Awesome prof and willing to do what's best for his students.

BigAg81: What is it exactly that your daughter wants to do when she graduates? Unless I missed it in the previous posts above, I'm not seeing anything about what type of job she wants.

I disagree with the posters above who are saying that some biz degrees are worthless compared to others. What you all may consider worthless is not worthless to others in terms of what they wind up doing with their degrees. I just think it depends on what it is you want to do.


And as many of you may know, alot of people wind up switching careers throughout their lives and do things drastically different from their undergraduate degrees. I know business school classmates who studied the "hard" disciplines such as accounting, finance and information systems and they're now doing completely different things with their careers.

A degree from Texas A&M - regardless of whether it is finance, accounting, etc. - will take you far, at least from what I've seen in the past 10 years since I graduated.

I graduated with a marketing degree 10 years ago from Mays. I've had the opportunity to do most of the things I've wanted to pursue in my professional life. I have no regrets.




[This message has been edited by Marissa99 (edited 10/16/2009 9:44a).]

Mays no longer allows students to double major.

[This message has been edited by Rockefeller (edited 10/17/2009 9:32p).]

Econ major here. I graduated in '02 and took a very desirable job with an energy trading firm with a few other econ majors, a math major, and one finance major.

All that being said, no one will care what your major was in 5 years.

i would also like to point out that if she enjoyed acct 229, then she might go talk to one of the academic advisers.

also SUP/SCM would also probably be a pretty good go. the info department has been recruiting business majors into that track like no other over the last year and half.

Xen K and Jasperson would be good people to talk to.

[This message has been edited by BigPumaRebel (edited 10/20/2009 2:06p).]

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Mays no longer allows students to double major.

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since when??????

since this year.

really? so i am probably one of the last to receive a double major from mays? sweet.

but sucks for a lot of kids i know. especially accounting students that do not get into the PPA Program, like myself.

fwiw Acct & Info-MIS track

[This message has been edited by BigPumaRebel (edited 10/21/2009 9:00a).]