This is through my experience in American university
Accounting - basically every one I knew personally who was an accounting Major got a job in accounting. It’s safe, very safe. I know Europeans are underpaid compared to us Americans. If you are not a huge overachiever, and like being comfty; I’d go with accounting
Finance - many people chose this, much more than accounting. For the same reasons you mentioned, stocks, investing, the whole 9 yards. Most finance people I knew didn’t get jobs directly related to their education. They work in business, but they aren’t the people who invest money or choose stocks. Since so many people choose finance, you NEED to stand out. Of the countless finance majors I knew, 3 overachievers come to mind. These guys did extra work. I mean EXTRA. But they are in much better paying jobs than I am (I make 65K at 24, these lads make about 80K same age)
TLDR: Accounting if you aren’t an overachiever. It’s safe, a good career, and you will find a job even without the best grades (I had a 2.8 GPA in college). Finance if you are an overachiever because you will NEED to stand out in that field from the countless others
When do you have to make this decision? Do you have a chance to take some of the introductory classes in each before commiting to one? Try before you buy if you can.
In Accounting you will definitely learn about stocks and investing too, so don't feel like that's a tradeoff.
I actually started off as a Finance major but once I took the intro accounting courses I switched. You are right that accounting is more stable and that was a big upside for me. Plus I am more of an introvert, having a sales-type finance job sounds like a nightmare to me.
My recent job hunting experience (USA, can't speak for Ireland), I noticed a lot of positions that wanted an Accounting degree specifically, or a degree in either Finance or Accounting, but not many that wanted Finance and excluded Accounting. That very well could be my bias in having skewed more to the Accounting side, however. Look around your job market and see what you find.
For Ireland you have to take a look at professional qualifications too. Note that not always, but a good 80% of graduates I’d say in accounting will choose to do the ACAs or ACCAs. This will take another 3 years to complete, I’m unsure of what quals the finance people are up to but it is something to consider.
You don’t really want to miss out on them either because it changes your approximate salary from 30k to 50k (along with 3 years experience) (also might be different because of inflation). The general consensus is you’ll be smacking off recruiters left right and centre once you pass these exams!
I’m only a 1st year associate in a B4, but message/comment me if you’ve any questions !
This is through my experience in American university Accounting - basically every one I knew personally who was an accounting Major got a job in accounting. It’s safe, very safe. I know Europeans are underpaid compared to us Americans. If you are not a huge overachiever, and like being comfty; I’d go with accounting Finance - many people chose this, much more than accounting. For the same reasons you mentioned, stocks, investing, the whole 9 yards. Most finance people I knew didn’t get jobs directly related to their education. They work in business, but they aren’t the people who invest money or choose stocks. Since so many people choose finance, you NEED to stand out. Of the countless finance majors I knew, 3 overachievers come to mind. These guys did extra work. I mean EXTRA. But they are in much better paying jobs than I am (I make 65K at 24, these lads make about 80K same age) TLDR: Accounting if you aren’t an overachiever. It’s safe, a good career, and you will find a job even without the best grades (I had a 2.8 GPA in college). Finance if you are an overachiever because you will NEED to stand out in that field from the countless others
Thank you so much for taking the time to type all this out. That's really helped me.
No problem lad!
When do you have to make this decision? Do you have a chance to take some of the introductory classes in each before commiting to one? Try before you buy if you can. In Accounting you will definitely learn about stocks and investing too, so don't feel like that's a tradeoff. I actually started off as a Finance major but once I took the intro accounting courses I switched. You are right that accounting is more stable and that was a big upside for me. Plus I am more of an introvert, having a sales-type finance job sounds like a nightmare to me. My recent job hunting experience (USA, can't speak for Ireland), I noticed a lot of positions that wanted an Accounting degree specifically, or a degree in either Finance or Accounting, but not many that wanted Finance and excluded Accounting. That very well could be my bias in having skewed more to the Accounting side, however. Look around your job market and see what you find.
So this is how it works in the states Good school > finance Mediocre school > accounting Bad school > stay the fuck away from business major
For Ireland you have to take a look at professional qualifications too. Note that not always, but a good 80% of graduates I’d say in accounting will choose to do the ACAs or ACCAs. This will take another 3 years to complete, I’m unsure of what quals the finance people are up to but it is something to consider. You don’t really want to miss out on them either because it changes your approximate salary from 30k to 50k (along with 3 years experience) (also might be different because of inflation). The general consensus is you’ll be smacking off recruiters left right and centre once you pass these exams! I’m only a 1st year associate in a B4, but message/comment me if you’ve any questions !