As an engineer, I wonder why is finance job better than a tech job. Sure the tech job pays, less but you have better work life balance, solve interesting or sometimes not so interesting problems etc
Despite this engineers are still drawn to finance (myself included). Is it because we engineers are mislead by outrageous salaries and we arrogantly assume that we will be able to get those numbers, or is it because finance is seen as the center of power, where your job has a greater impact (for better or worse)?

Finance is greatly overrated cos most of the platforms used to derive 'em figures are built by the engineers (tech guys)
I think people are generally driven towards finance (IB) cos of better salary prospect and this is so because of the stress and longer hours involved.
The question everyone should ask themselves is "should i go for money instead of good quality of working life"

You are right jaybee.

But even in IB's the tech guys are paid far far less than the guys in finance . This is something i still can't seem to figure out.

Some engineers actually work more insane hours than people working in finance and still their salary is no where comparable. Why is there so much hype about finance when majority of these finance guys don't have a clue of the underlying technology built by the engineers?

money money money
dats the answer
finance guys help make the company grow bigger bigger and even more bigger
They help make the shareholders smiling
They have the very shrewd/rare knowledge of what and when to invest in.


As an engineer methinks the only way to compete is to invent something. James Dyson is just a common engineer like us but didn't accept the role of salaried worker.

Obama on Tonight Show urges students to study engineering, not finance

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9130129/Obama_on_i_Tonight_Show_i_urges_students_to_study_engineering_not_finance

But surely as an engineer you make the shareholders smile with the technologies that was developed

Obviously i think one of the problems we face as engineers is that we are not very visible so management or the shareholders sometimes don't see or get a feel of our contirbutions. This is particularly the case in Non-technical domains like banks (were obviously the money is).

dat basically explains it.
lack of visibility

jay bee:

Obama on Tonight Show urges students to study engineering, not finance

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9130129/Obama_on_i_Tonight_Show_i_urges_students_to_study_engineering_not_finance

America is in danger of loosing out as the most inventive country in the world because a lot more students there are increasingly studing courses like Law  and Accounting

u r definitely right about that and they are just very lucky that they have nuff institutions that enable technology evolution.
They had still be the world most dominant economy come 2015 (read dis in evening standard yesterday)

Look at it this way, they do borrow money from china but will most probably sell technology to her.

jay bee:

dat basically explains it.
lack of visibility

lack of visibility is not a problem in the technical sectors though. Infact most technological companies have highly technical people in management but the pay is just not comparable to a similar level in a non technical sector like a bank.

Why can't engineers earn as high if not higher than finance guys. what is so special about finace?

I actually disagree with above. Only the few finance guys that are lucky enough to work in big IB's can boast of the anomaly you are talking abt. Even at that the salary is not that disproportional. The bonuses are and that's always due to the number of deals they make for the company.

Do you know some lawyers that work for IB's actually earn more than the analysts and wealth managers?
My office is next to Slaughter & May and you should really come and see the kind of cars these guys drive et al

jaybee yea i am actually talkin about finance people working in IB's . I am tryin to make out why they earn so much including bonus for doing probably nothing ( i stand to be corrected here)

you are right about lawyers. Those dudes make an insane amount of money especially the elite ones. but the percentage of lawyers in that league is very small when compared to finance

build the tech, i sell the tech

and who says we aint engineers?

i engineer numbers and financial instruments to make life easy

OK lets dissect it:
You have the following;
fund managers: Supposing one of the funds they are managing have managed to return a whopping increase of +40% value for the year then you'd expect them to get the million pound bonuses we hear about. Remember that some of these funds might be pension fund linked to nuff companies hence it being a high stake job and in return massive returns.

Wealth managers: If i'm managing a millions for the royal family and the value of d investment keeps getting an enormous yearly percentage increase then surely i'd be expected to earn enormous bonuses.

Hedge Fund Managers: These guys are usually the best brain in the business cos they know when to play the economy.

Traders: Have u experienced the pressure of whatching stock prices move up and down. I have and during the time i was heavily trading i used to sleep 4hrs a day. I have to follow the asia market which opens at 12.01am, european market which opens at 8am, US markets which opens at 2.30pm

Analysts:

I hope you know all these bonuses are linked to performance targets and because the job being a high risk career will always require enormous incentives

True, To ENgineer is human!

y'all know how to introduce doubts into a techs mind. . .lol

As an Electronics Engineer myself
if its job satisfaction your are looking for you can't beat engineering
but if its money then banking wins handsdown
Iyobor

Guys,
Tech is worth nothing unless it is financially viable .
Even bible talk am:  'money answereth all things'.

I found it personally painful, cos I studied engineering, but finance, business and economics is the way to go. Engineering guys can solve all the complex problems, then they have to look for a finance guy to make the solutions profitable.

I have had the priviledge of tasting from both sides; tech and finance although at elementary levels. My view is that the higher u rise one either side the more important the other aspect becomes. A tech aspiring to climb the career ladder must be sound in finance and a finance person that wants to snad out tall must be a specialist in some form of techie financing eg project fiance experts, or contruction fiannce specialists are better valued than straight jacketed fiance professionals.

So Why does finance pay so much more especially when you start getting into the higher levels compared to Tech/Engineering in non technical sector sectors like bank( although banking is increasingly becoming very technical these days )

Just as not everyone can be a whizkid in Tech, the behavioural sciences doesn't welcome all Tom, Dick and Harry. There is a purpose for everyone, listen to your heart to hear the still voice.

candylips:

So Why does finance pay so much more especially when you start getting into the higher levels compared to Tech/Engineering in non technical sector sectors like bank( although banking is increasingly becoming very technical these days )

Very simple.
Tech becomes easier to manage at the higher levels. I assume you're referring to banking.
The bank is run by finance people. They need technology to make their job easier.
I suggest you move into a finance career before it's too late.

well tech is not as easy to manage as u think o. IT infrastructure and organisation is one of the most complex systems to manage especially for one who has not had much technology background and experience

AjanleKoko:

Very simple.
Tech becomes easier to manage at the higher levels. I assume you're referring to banking.
The bank is run by finance people. They need technology to make their job easier.
I suggest you move into a finance career before it's too late.

Yes o i am seriously considering a move to finance . . but it might be something like an hybrid role btw engr and finance. I don't see myself leaving engineerin completely because it is in my blood and i don't see myself doing finance full-time becos it gets monotonous and boring

^^^
Financial Engineering then
lol
u too like money

^^ who no like money.

financial engineering can be very technical and they don't make as much money as some MBA's

dude, your best bet is Quants if u wanna av best of both worlds.

u cant have both
its either ure an engineer or ure a financial analyst

drop ur tools and get a TIBA II plus

nobody here is talking about job satisfaction or making a difference, na wa o. . .abi is it because i never enter the market? cos my blood is still hot o, i no even gree apply for any jobs that are not in power not to talk of going to finance!

@tbk
Financial analysis is still low level finance

Engineers are creating tools to automate these to the extent that the role is getting redundant these days.

netotse:

nobody here is talking about job satisfaction or making a difference, na wa o. . .abi is it because i never enter the market? cos my blood is still hot o, i no even gree apply for any jobs that are not in power not to talk of going to finance!

there is a lot of job satisfaction in either career path. but their comes a time in your career when u will be lookin at maximing the amount of money you can earn. My question was that why is it that a career in Finance almost always pays better than Tech/Engineering in the long run.

candylips:

there is a lot of job satisfaction in either career path. but their comes a time in your career when u will be lookin at maximing the amount of money you can earn. My question was that why is it that a career in Finance almost always pays better than Tech/Engineering in the long run.

It's a very old rap song, 1993 in fact. Terminator X featuring Whodini - 'It All Comes Down To Money'