Originally posted by n0x:
still studying... juz curious.. cos i am in ntu engineering...
Well....since you have stated your intentions, lets start.......
Lets assume you are from either CSE, MPE or EEE...from what I know these are the following specialisation that it might offer for the following disciplines and they are not exhaustive:
CSE - Geotechnical studies, structural engineering or transportational engineering
MPE : Robotics, Materials Science, Applied MEchanics, Thermodynamics, precision engineering .....etc etc
EEE : Computer, Microelectronics, Communications, Power and Machines, Control
So if an engineer is to bank on one specialisation and make it as his career choice, and if that industry faces a severe downturn ( for eg. in the semiconductor industry and some industry faces cyclical downturns), then he may/ may not face retrenchment. In addition, manufacturing facilities and even R&D facilities are shifting abroad (no prizes for guessing where they go) and will the engineer be certain of his employbility.
As for accounting /auditing.....being in the audit line for a few years, I have audited companies in various industries and the accounts does not change much..... (maybe some industries have to adopt certain accounting standards or treatment that is not common but it does not deviate from like EEE to MPE) so the portability is there.
Apart from accounting in the banking sector, an accountant can switch from a manufacturing company to a freight forwarding company or IT/professional services company and handle their books with some ease. Off course it is preferably if they have the relevant experience but so far the accountant friends that I have does switch from one industry to another.
So the advantage over here is skills PORTABILTIY.
Anyway my specialisation is in EE and IMHO, getting a CPA rather than MBA is my goal in managing an engineering company with both technical and financial skills sets. Just for your info, if you look at the annual reports, the CEO of Singtel is CPA,CEO of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing is also CPA. Both are promoted from the ranks from being CFOs in their companies then.
Does the CEO of Singtel know about mobile planning or the difference in the power amplifiers used in CDMA or GSM base stations? or the CEO of CSM know what is 0.18u or 65nm technology or what is the semicon road map? Both are well verse in group financial reporting or SOX (for CSM cos it is listed in Nasdaq) or treasury financing.......
Off course there are reports saying that CEOs of big GLC companies are engineering trained so as to counter claim that engineers are not the worst paid but do note that Singapore in the early years are industrialising and are in need of engineers......most ministers are also engineering trained.......so my view is that the next generation of CEOs will come from within their finance department.......
These are just my views but I think the present cohort of people who are taking accountancy and those who's grades are good enough to choose an engineering degree but opt for a business/accountancy degree will also think likewise......
Instead of learning all the technical things like Laplace transform, Fourier Transform, Vector Calculus........a currency translation gain/loss can turn a company into hundreds of millions of profits or loss (Just look at the recent SembMarine)........funny isnt it????
