UCD - Finance or Engineering ????

the_lunatic

Hey Guys,
I am not being able to decide between UCD MSc in Quantitative Finance & Master in Engineering (Civil) with business.
Which one do you think is a better option and has better job prospects?

Thanks in advance.

[Jackass]

Tough to say really. They're both very strong qualifications to have.

What's your base degree in? Do you have any work experience? Are you leaning more towards one industry over the other? (Masters aside).

It's really a personal thing, you might want to weigh up the pro's and con's based on your own personal taste, and do as much research as you can into the industries and what job prospects there are (types of positions, type of work, scope to work abroad, average pay scale) and look to see which is a better fit.

The more research you do into it, the more you'll lean one way or the other. I wouldn't overly worry about job prospects from them though, as you'll be very highly skilled in either area.

graduate

These are quite different things, so your personal interests come into play. Engineering is quite different from working in Finance. It even affects where you work, a civil engineer might work in various places, a quant finance job might only be in London or New York. If you want a less specialised quantitative business role check out the MSc in Business Analytics.

RMD

Personally I'd go with Quantitative Finance. The money in that area is potentially huge. Civil Engineering on the other AFAIK is one of the poorer paying areas of engineering albeit still a good wages.

Handy thing about the MSc in Civil Engineering + Business is that Finance firms still quite often hire Engineering graduates due to their capabilities in maths. On the other hand an engineering firm wont hire you just because you're a finance graduate, you'll need to be charted to stand any chance.

TransportCons

I'd DEFINITELY go with the quant finance! If a good salary is your goal, stick with finance. Engineering can give you a good wage but it takes years of experience to get there and whether people think so or not... there is a maximum salary you can hit. A masters in engineering isn't going to help your prospects in engineering much I have to say....

The quant finance can potentially get you into trading... where it's safe to say the opportunities are only limited by your ability to trade quickly and accurately.

Have you worked in engineering already or just finishing your undergrad? (Starting salaries could be up to 50-100% higher in finance too...)

the_lunatic

Thanks for the reply guys,
I am a Civil Engg. graduate with 4 years experience in management as well as technical field. I am equally interested in both the fields, just want to make a stable career in any one of them.
The UCD engineering course is of 2 yrs duration and finance is of 1 year so that'll save me time and money.
Also most of the firms I checked on the career service webpage of UCD that came to recruit grads wanted business grads, engg. doesn't have equal prospects it seems. Or am I wrong? Can someone from UCD shed some light on the topic. How's the job placement for engineers at UCD?
I do not want to end up jobless with a degree in hand.

TransportCons

the_lunatic wrote: »

Thanks for the reply guys,
I am a Civil Engg. graduate with 4 years experience in management as well as technical field. I am equally interested in both the fields, just want to make a stable career in any one of them.
The UCD engineering course is of 2 yrs duration and finance is of 1 year so that'll save me time and money.
Also most of the firms I checked on the career service webpage of UCD that came to recruit grads wanted business grads, engg. doesn't have equal prospects it seems. Or am I wrong? Can someone from UCD shed some light on the topic. How's the job placement for engineers at UCD?
I do not want to end up jobless with a degree in hand.

To put it simply.... if you do the quant finance... you will have no difficulty in getting a job in finance in Ireland whatsoever. If you do the engineering masters.... it will be just as difficult as a new graduate from an undergraduate course in engineering. There are very few graduate civil engineering jobs in ireland and it will be like that for a long time. If you are looking to make money in civil engineering you'll need to go abroad (Oz, NZ, Canada) but be expected to work long long hours for it... even at that... money is relatively capped. I'd personally go with finance.... best of luck!

the_lunatic

But wont I be able to apply in a managerial or business role as well with the ME with business degree? I mean it's Master in Engineering and business as well.