iam thinking of pursuing a bachelor in finance because i think it would be more specialized and help me get a better job down the line. anyone here go down this road and what was your experience and what line of work did you settle in. i also want to know what the average finance graduate can expect to make here in houston market
I would think $40-45K. Thats what friends of mine were getting when we were all graduating a year or two ago. I saw some get less, actually.
What school are you planning to get your degree from? Back in 2007, finance-related jobs in Houston for newly graduated UT Austin grads were around 48K. Not sure what it is now.
Let me piggyback on this thread. Having lived in the Middle East for a while, and being FROM the region, I have always had interest in working within the oil and gas industry. As such, I was thinking about returning to school and doing a BBA in Finance with emphasis on energy finance/trading. I know the University of Houston has such highly regarded program at Bauer. Any one here work in the energy oil and gas field and has recommendations or ideas for me as to how I can break into this field? Ultimately I would like to get the degree and have the flexibility to work anywhere in the world and make a good income while doing it. I am still conflicted as to whether or not I should focus on finance or accounting, but I would really like to focus my studies to emphasize the energy sector. Any ideas guys? I am really trying to get as many opinions as I can from people in the know. I am also open for suggestions on programs offered in the U.S. and particularly Texas that would meet the criteria.
If you are majoring in Finance it is probably a good idea to take a good amount of accounting hours. Your opportunities will be greatly expanded.
Why don't people just go for an accounting degree if that is the case? Any advice for those interested in focusing on the energy sector? Should I consider a particular program or should I just go for any general finance degree?
Many entry-level positions for finance majors are going to require a certain number of accounting hours. At the very least take intermediate acct I & II. UH has a global energy managment program that may be a nice supplement with an undergrad finance degree. That being said, I don't have any firsthand knowledge about it. http://www.bauer.uh.edu/undergraduate/finance/global-energy/
I have a BBA in finance but work as an accountant. In my experience an accounting or finance degree are pretty interchangeable. I did finance just because I am personally interested in stocks and investing. Currently I work for a bond bank where my finance background is finally able to be used. I still do accounting but a lot of my job involves analysis of cash flows for our lending that we then issue bonds to cover. I think people especially new grads put too much emphasis on GPA, class rank, major and minor etc. In my office we have an art major, a hotel management major, and they do finance and accounting work. Do what interests you, you can work your way into any field with a business degree. I would suggest to stay away from marketing or HR unless you really want to do that. Economics, finance, and accounting are very flexible and you can kind of do what you want.
I'm in the fourth year of a 5-year accounting mba program, with a bba dual concentration in accounting and finance. A lot of programs are set up so you can double major in the two pretty easily, though if I could do it again I'd have just stuck with accounting. It was way easier getting an accounting internship and there seem to be a lot more jobs there (though I've mostly just gone through on-campus recruiting, so take that with a grain of salt). I'm really just doing the MBA to sit for the exam anyway. I've actually heard that math majors tend to break into finance more easily than finance/econ majors, but I have no idea if that's true.
I'm going for a double major in both finance and accounting. It's only a few more classes, so I figure it's worth it.
We did and I've been pushing for more. One problem, we're in Santa Fe, NM. Funny thing is our last intern was from Texas Tech.
Very true, IMO a CPA is way overrated when it comes to how good someone actually is on the job. However it has tremendous value as many many jobs require it. Here in NM if you're a CPA they think you can turn water into wine.
In public accounting, it doesn't mean much until you leave the firm. When you leave, you make a lot more money tho. I actually just got done taking it, so thanks for saying what I just did was overrated.
Gas Scheduler, but don't do it with a pipeline; do it with a Gas or Electric utility, or the Sales/Trading division of a major oil company. Also, keep your grades up, take an interest in sports and learn to play golf. Whole industry is based on relationships that traders have with their counterparts at Utilities (Gas Buyers), Producers (Gas Sellers) and Pipelines (Gas Transporters). These three entities hold lots of industry conferences and meetings to get traders from different companies together, so you just have to be able build long-term friendships with people in a short amount of time. I mentioned keeping your grades up for two reasons: first, because over the last six years a lot more graduates seem to have taken an interest in energy trading, and secondarily because much of the newer energy firms are run by investment banks, which means tougher selection criteria anyways. I have a BBA in Finance from U of H and seven years of scheduling on a big interstate pipe (NNG), but a sub-3.0 GPA and a poor "social fit" means I won't get anywhere near a gas trading or even in-house transport marketing job. Here is a list of the biggest North American gas traders. Reading List: -Understanding Today's Natural Gas Business (Bob Shively and John Ferrare) -Electric Power Industry in Non-Technical Language (Denise Warentkin-Glenn) -Trading Natural Gas (Fletcher J. Sturm) -Gas Pipelines and the Emergence of America's Regulatory State (Christopher Castaneda and Clarence M. Smith)
I think if you come from a great private college, or a good one in a really big city, you can probably get some decent finance opportunities right out of the gate. But when those recruiters go to big public schools, they could be looking at 500/1000/2500 resumes at each school. Particularly in flyover states, they almost have no choice but to demand a relevant major and a top-level (3.5 - 3.85) GPA. Then out of that pile they presumably pick the ones with leadership experiences, good internships and interesting extracurriculars. But I think I agree with the general idea about following your interests. As long as you make the necessary sacrifices and have a backup plan, and don't do something stupidly impossible like acting or music, you'll eventually make a career out of it.