Choice of commerce major (1 Viewer)

[turtleface]

Hi I was wondering:

What factors and considerations makes you choose your major in Commerce (e.g. economics, accounting, finance, Bus Systems, HR, Marketing, Management, Actuarial, Econometrics etc)?

I was gonna use a poll but then I thought there are numerous factors people considered.

Is it:
- graduate salary
- future salary in general
- career prospects
- reputation/prestige
- what your parents think
- what your friends are doing (i.e. finance usually)
- what your career counsellor says
- international portability of qualification?
- based how much you think you'll like/dislike it (e.g. no to accounting, because you don't want to do tax returns (even though most don't but thats beside the point))
- any others I haven't mentioned?
or a combination of these?

 

[seremify007]

LOL... pretty much everything you said there affected my decision in some way; what would make it harder is if we had to prioritise them!

For the time being I'll just c+p your list and remove the irrelevant ones;

- graduate salary
- future salary in general
- career prospects
- reputation/prestige
- what your parents think
- international portability of qualification?
- based how much you think you'll like/dislike it (e.g. no to accounting, because you don't want to do tax returns (even though most don't but thats beside the point))

I also have to add that my friends/sisters who had studied accounting in the past influenced my decision too. It's different to the "what your parents think" option because this is more based on experience rather than just perception.

 

[Rorix]

Hi I was wondering:

What factors and considerations makes you choose your major in Commerce (e.g. economics, accounting, finance, Bus Systems, HR, Marketing, Management, Actuarial, Econometrics etc)?

I was gonna use a poll but then I thought there are numerous factors people considered.

Is it:
- graduate salary
- future salary in general
- career prospects
- reputation/prestige
- what your parents think
- what your friends are doing (i.e. finance usually)
- what your career counsellor says
- international portability of qualification?
- based how much you think you'll like/dislike it (e.g. no to accounting, because you don't want to do tax returns (even though most don't but thats beside the point))
- any others I haven't mentioned?
or a combination of these?

what peoples friends are doing is usually FINANCE?

Come on...even though you are the biggest accounting tout out there, surely you can admit must people get roped in via safety in numbers to accounting (or even worse, accounting/finance which i wouldn't really call a finance degree anyway - depending on how many true finance units the student takes..)

 

[turtleface]

maybe cause there are so many asians in NSW and asians go for the most economically sensible decision (i.e. accounting)

or maybe you refer to internationals who have to do accounting to get permanent residency, and not other bullshit like finance or arts

In melbourne like 80% of local students do Finance. Dunno what they hope to achieve but nevertheless they do.

 

[_dhj_]

I just irrationally chose economics, mainly because I don't want to be a money grabbing financial yuppie or some boring accountant. A big decision should be taken lightly, while a small one ought to be taken seriously.

 

[turtleface]

Economics is really exciting.

.

 

[Conspirocy]

Economics is really exciting.

.

couldn't have said it better myself.

most people do two majors, im doing 3 cause im in a com/ec degree so lets not go there.

what i did was look for areas that i think relate well and that im interested in

completely got it wrong with accounting - but im smarter for doing it i guess

finance i used to give a massive bashing - again i guess its good - in fact everything is pretty good people will say they did what they like etc etc, but 100% the biggest consideration is:

- are you going to get a job with this major, and is it going to pay well (i mean you are a commerce student)

thats why most of the accounting people always trash finance majors, (i used to heaps) cause basically accounting has job security and relatively easy entry - finance seems harder to break into

then uve got hr, management, those business law and tax majors, marketing

basically my thinking was that they all seem like MBA material or Masters material and if you need to know them you learn them after - i also lump finance in with that group

as for the business law, i think it rocks at unsw but like - law degree vs business law major i dunno i dont think it leads anywhere - even though the teaching is tops

and good ole economics, love that subject. I'm in my 2nd year now and from what ive seen best job you could get is at a bank (institutional) - they take accounting finance economics people mostly - and from what ive seen they place you on a graduate rotation which is pretty nifty - im not sure if the accounting firms do that

economics leans you towards more government jobs to get experiance - which is good and bad

anyway thats my 2 cents worth

 

[_dhj_]

Job security? Guys have confidence in yourselves. If you choose what you're interested in you will find a job.

 

[jpr333]

Economics was an awesome subject imo, i miss it. Pity I didn't get to cover more than what was basically covered in high school. Might take a few electives next year.

 

[Sarah168]

Economics gets more interesting as it gets more complex and difficult, for some reason. I have a love/hate thing going with it.

Acct is shit boring but I had nothing else to do and I'm decent at the subject so I pair them together.

 

[sarevok]

accounting because i suck at maths (ruling out finance, metrics, economics etc) and i hate it the least out of the remaining options. plus i figure it's easier to get a job with acct.

 

[Omnidragon]

I know you have this thing big grudge against finance, turtleface. But I reckon most of my friends study accounting... and I bet I'm speaking for most people when I say this.

Edit: I almost forgot to ask. What do you mean 'what do they hope to achieve'? Obviously they want to become trader/banker (whichver he was) like Henry Paulson, or traders and hedge fund giants like Eddie Lampert.

 

[seremify007]

Just thought I'd add- there's probably a good reason you can't do Business Law as a single major at UNSW (verify?). I know I haven't done much Biz Law at uni yet, but from what I saw in LEGT1711, it seems very "light" and more aimed at informing us of what the legal world involves and giving us some good background info rather than any actual useful training to practice. On the upside though, it will come in handy later on knowing the basic rights, what we can/can't sue for (in a nutshell- of course we still need to consult a lawyer), and how trusts and so on actually work.

That, and some subjs are pre-reqs for CA/post-grad qualifications.

 

[turtleface]

the LLB is also about learning the basics too though. No way one can practice as a lawyer with whats taught in a law degree. Lawyers need lawyers too

 

[Conspirocy]

Just thought I'd add- there's probably a good reason you can't do Business Law as a single major at UNSW (verify?). I know I haven't done much Biz Law at uni yet, but from what I saw in LEGT1711, it seems very "light" and more aimed at informing us of what the legal world involves and giving us some good background info rather than any actual useful training to practice. On the upside though, it will come in handy later on knowing the basic rights, what we can/can't sue for (in a nutshell- of course we still need to consult a lawyer), and how trusts and so on actually work.

That, and some subjs are pre-reqs for CA/post-grad qualifications.

the whole point of legt 1711 is basically like doing foundations to law and torts in the same subject. The differnece is the focus, we dont learn legal proceedings just theory/interpretation its not that general. I'm working in insolvency these holidays and they have picked up a great deal of the practical aspects by working in the area. And with the torts that we do learn, its rather specialised to what a business would need negligence either economic loss or physical injury - and the other main focus was property law. It isnt a general subject, it depends what you put into it.

As for contracts we learn all about them in transactions, as well as TPA, also business entities and tax start to become more specialised; after which you choose your options like business entities 2 etc etc which are very good subjects from what I have heard, also securities law, etc

Realistically though you need to realise its interesting learning all these different areas of law, but in reality you are going to specialise in one area.

The main difference i have found is that business law in commerce is about solving a problem; and from what i hear in law its about following the letter of the law - they dont explicitly say that, in fact the lecturers say the opposite but its obvious they are teaching you law from a 'lets use it' rather than 'lets call the law firm, then the barrister, etc etc' - what im trying to say isnt coming out that clear, but if you have friends in law after you have done transactions and they have done contracts compare what you learnt with them, and how they present their work to what you are expected to do and you will see what i mean

 

[tallkid34]

Hi I was wondering:

What factors and considerations makes you choose your major in Commerce (e.g. economics, accounting, finance, Bus Systems, HR, Marketing, Management, Actuarial, Econometrics etc)?

I was gonna use a poll but then I thought there are numerous factors people considered.

Is it:
- graduate salary
- future salary in general
- career prospects
- reputation/prestige
- what your parents think
- what your friends are doing (i.e. finance usually)
- what your career counsellor says
- international portability of qualification?
- based how much you think you'll like/dislike it (e.g. no to accounting, because you don't want to do tax returns (even though most don't but thats beside the point))
- any others I haven't mentioned?
or a combination of these?

Commerce/Economics is the way to go for me. I'll be applying for BCom/BSocial Science at UNSW next year (my 1st preference). My dad has an awesome job (he's a chartered accountant working overseas) and did a BCom at UNSW so half the reason I'm doing the same degree is that he can help me, haha.

 

[sunjet]

I think I just have a strong interest in Economics and do Finance/Accounting for a potential greater salary in all honesty. Couldn't care less about the rest of the factors.

 

[turtleface]

Does the suggestions, advice and/or persuasion from Uni Professors/Lecturers affect any of your decisions?

 

[Conspirocy]

No - they are always trying to sell their courses

 

[blackfriday]

the people at usyd told me NOT to commerce (liberal studies) because it was a waste of time. you can get an honest opinion of a course - just ask another faculty within the uni about when asking to compare courses.