The message below is from one of those incoming Freshmen students who will be among the group of kids who will have a chance to attend my keynote talk in the Fall. I’ve been hit up by several Kelley students in the past, but this is the first time that I’ve had one do so before officially matriculating. This kid is definitely on the ball. Check out the text below for our exchange.
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LH wrote:
Hey Marquis!
My name is “LH”, and I will be an incoming Freshman at Indiana University this fall. I am also a Direct Admit into the Kelley School of Business, and I am going to live in the Kelley Living Learning Center. Thursday and Friday, I attended orientation and began scheduling classes. This provoked many thoughts on potential majors and minors. Upon speaking with [the Director of the Kelley LLC], I was advised to seek out your expertise with my question.
Clearly, I am venturing into the business arena. This is where I would really appreciate your opinion on some details relating to majors, minors, and marketability in the “real world”. I plan to pursue either a double-major in Finance/Marketing, a double-major and an MBA in the 3+2 Program – which offers the majors and MBA in Accounting and Finance – or double-majoring in a mix of the three and minoring in Mathematics. I have tested out of several levels of Math, so I only have to take Calculus II Honors and three upper-level math courses to attain the minor.
Here is my question for you: With the multitude of majors (Accounting, Finance, and Marketing) with the potential minor in Mathematics, what do you feel is the best mix for an individual looking to “work their way up the ladder” in a large corporation? What do you look for on a resume? Will a minor in Mathematics make my resume pop?
Thank you so much for your dedication to helping students. Any insight you could provide would be very appreciated! I am looking most forward to your presentation at IU’s Kelley LLC in September!
Have a great day!
LH
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My response:
Hi LH,
Thanks for reaching out. I’m surprised that you’ve heard about me already. Given that we’re still 3 months away from my talk for your class, it was a bit of a surprise when I saw your email. It never hurts to get your questions out of the way early, right?
Your question about which major(s) to choose is a tough one because you haven’t given me any background about what you want to do career-wise. Saying that you simply want to “move up the ladder” doesn’t exactly provide much to work from. While choosing a good major is important, the most important thing is what you do with what you do with what you learn. That’s part of the reason that the curriculum of the KLLC is so focused on the soft skills that are differentiators in the business world. Keep that in mind as you start your college career.
To determine the right major(s), the key question to ask yourself is whether your career interests are broad-based or specific. If you have broad interests, then you might be thinking of something like Management Consulting, Business Operations, or a Finance-related role. In this case, majors that could be applicable to several different career paths, such as Finance, Strategy, or Business/Economics/Policy, would be a strong fit. Alternatively, if you have specific career interests, then you may be looking at career paths that touch areas like Accounting, IT, Marketing, or HR. Here, majors like Accounting, Management Information Systems, and Marketing would be the best play for you.
Now, let’s move to the MBA issue. The 3+2 program is a good option, but I’m personally a big fan of kids completing undergrad and then working for a few years before going back to school to get the MBA. I’ve heard of several instances when, during the career recruiting process, employers have treated kids who have gone straight from undergrad into the MBA in the same way as candidates with only a Bachelors degree (instead of as grad degree holders). In these cases, companies use the rationale that, without work experience, the straight-from-undergrad MBAs are almost equivalent to fresh college grads. Honestly, I think that this is TOTALLY unfair because, if you have a top-20 MBA, it shouldn’t matter whether you have work experience or not. I can’t control what corporations do in their recruiting processes though. Just a little food for thought for you for the time being.
As an MBA major, Accounting may not get you as much run as you’d expect because you wouldn’t go as deep as you would with a Masters in Accounting or a CPA. I’d say that there are other majors that would provide more bang for the buck, including Finance, Strategy, and Management. Of course, Accounting is the language of business and is very important, but, if that is where your interest truly lies, then you’d be much better served getting a grad degree focused on that subject. An alternative for you could be to focus on Finance and take a few Accounting courses for foundational purposes. This way, you’d have a much broader base to which you can anchor yourself during the internship and full time recruiting cycles.
As for the Math minor, if you only need to take 4 courses to get it and you don’t mind doing so, then it could definitely worth getting. I wouldn’t say that the minor would make the difference between getting a job and not getting one, but it is a distinctive thing to have on your resume. Demonstrating high proficiency in Math will show employers that you have quantitative skills and, when you combine that with your desired majors, you’ll have a strong profile for positions in Financial Services or Management Consulting. The name of the game here is best positioning yourself to get the primetime summer internships and first job out of college.
By the way, it might make sense for you to take a look at my blog at https://marquisparker.com/blog and read through the entries. I’ve spent the past 10.5 years answering questions for people and sharing some of my own life stories. In the past couple of years, I’ve been asked several questions by KLLC students, so those blog entries might be of particular interest to you.
Take care and be sure to carve out time to enjoy your last summer before the start of your college career.
Marquis
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