Business is an ever-evolving and diverse field; as time progresses, newer, savvy career options are popping up for graduates. With a business degree, you can join almost any field that interests you. The reason is that any qualification you obtain in a business school trains you not only the textbook theories and practices but also provides real-world knowledge and the art and techniques of the corporate world.
As a result, business graduates enter the workforce with essential skills such as critical thinking, interpersonal communication, relationship management, and market analysis. As such, due to the wide range of skills held by business graduates, there are several significant, high-growth career pathways. Based on your personal preference and interests, you can find your dream job with your business degree.
If you’re a business graduate or currently in a business school and are wondering what road to set, here’s our selection of some of the best career options:
1. Business Consulting
Business consulting is not an unknown concept, but let’s be honest; most of us still need to understand it fully. Well, let us help break it down for you. Business consultants offer consultancy services to organizations to help them achieve their business goals—from corporate finance goals and strategic organizational management to tech management consulting and operations management.
For business graduates, business consulting is a fantastic option. However, to land a role at a top business consulting firm, you need to have an MBA. If you’re a business graduate interested in pursuing a career as a management consultant but can’t afford to dedicate time to a full-time post-graduate degree, don’t worry. You can opt for a distance learning program from a reputed online university. For instance, you can enroll in an UNCW online MBA program and complete the degree at your own pace. Meanwhile, you can keep working full-time to gain valuable experience and manage expenses.
2. Product Management
Product management is a complex field that requires multitasking with various versatile skills. A product manager handles an organization’s specific service or product and oversees all functions related to that portfolio, such as sales, marketing, strategy, operations, and development. Therefore, a role requires an individual to take on the persona of a jack-of-all-trades while simultaneously being a master of the product.
Product management is a great career option for business graduates who are quick on their feet and enjoy working with autonomy and innovation. As the work touches upon almost every sub-field of business, product managers are always on top of their game concerning all market developments. Therefore, those in a product management role are often quick to find their way up the corporate ladder.
3. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
What if you want to do something impactful and meaningful for society? You may think your business degree will be of little use to fulfilling this dream; however, that’s far from the case. With raising awareness regarding societal and environmental problems, more and more organizations are willing to play their part in giving back. All this comes under the CSR department of an organization, where there are plenty of job opportunities for business graduates.
As a business graduate, you can positively impact the world by using your knowledge and skills to help an organization operate more ethically and contribute to societal wellness. CSR departments are a self-regulating function of a business; hence working in CSR requires level-headedness, problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, ethical understanding, and unbiasedness. From introducing employee-friendly policies to sponsoring right-to-education projects, CSR departments work on various facets to reach the organization’s non-business goals.
4. Data Analysis
Data analysts are in extremely high demand in today’s corporate world. Marketing, finance, operations, HR, and all business functions need analysts to improve their performance and address problem areas. Data analysts use information and data collected through research to identify market needs, organizational sustainability, unnecessary expenditures, financial growth, and other intrinsic business facets. They work in a consultancy/advisory role, even as an in-house employee, and act as the bridge between the organization and the market.
Organizations can make more sound and profitable business decisions using the recommendations made by data analysts. Using their expertise and skills, data analysts develop solutions that can benefit the business. Hence, if you love working on solutions and have strong analytical skills, a career in data analysis is the thing for you.
5. Business Operations Coordinator
Operations are the wheel on which all organizations run, and operations coordination is the function that is the heart of the team. Business operations coordinator is the perfect career option if you enjoy organizing and planning tasks, projects, and events. They are responsible for managing inter-departmental communication and coordination. A business operations coordinator is often required to look after several regional offices to ensure everyone remains on the same page.
Business operations coordination entails various tasks, including overseeing day-to-day operations, building relationships with teams, identifying problem areas, and bringing them to the management’s notice. Since a business operations coordinator usually reports to and works directly with senior management, the role provides a lot of visibility, which is great for career progression. Additionally, working with multiple business functions allows a coordinator to develop innate business knowledge, making them an industry expert.
Final Words
A business degree is helpful in every industry, and even specialized functions such as legal have opportunities for business graduates. Although an undergraduate degree will get you most roles, for continued growth and to find a spot in a top company, you might need to obtain a post-graduate degree such as an MBA. However, the critical factor is your ability to sell yourself and prove your worth to an employer.
The business school equips you with all the skills you need to excel as a corporate professional; however, how you present and use those skills is up to you. Everything you learn as a business student is transferable to all functions of an organization. Based on your interest, you can take your pick and find out how you can add value to that specific function. With that sorted, take a leap of faith and start applying. Sooner or later, you’ll find a role that’s perfect for you.