6 Career Opportunities For Business Graduates

Finishing a business degree has many advantages. One of which is having many career opportunities waiting for you.

A business degree is what you need to pursue if you’re interested in finance, management, marketing, and administration. It's also perfect if you're looking to enter the world of entrepreneurship. Since you learn the ins and outs of company operations, you'll equip yourself with the skills needed for any business-related career. And if you want to try a different professional route, a business degree is versatile enough to land you a job in other industries, including the ones on this list.

However, many fresh graduates still don't know what to do with their business degree. Should you be one of them, here's a list of possible career paths you can take into consideration:

1. Finance

General business degrees typically tackle theories in finance and accountancy. However, gaining knowledge in those two areas may not be enough for business graduates to start a career in either of them. More often than not, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree with a completed specialized qualification if you want to be part of finance or accountancy. But you may not have to worry because a lot of employers cover the cost of specialization programs while you work for them.

But if you’ve set your mind to pursuing finance or accounting, then be ready to review company finances, both past and present, as well as future projections. Your role will require you to advise clients or people in your company regarding taxes and expenditures.

You’ll be the one to manage business transactions and records. It's also your responsibility to ensure that your company is not committing fraud or negligence. Most importantly, you have to be knowledgeable about the legal aspect of finances to know what to do if the company lands in hot water.

2. Accountancy

Accountants are essential employees of a company. They manage business finances to allow for the growth and development of an enterprise. Their main tasks include maximizing profits and minimizing costs. Moreover, they ensure the company follows the financial regulations set by the government.

If you plan to pursue accounting as a career, you should have the proper knowledge and skills to make reasonable decisions when it comes to managing resources. You also have to be prepared to conduct audits and consult about tax planning.

Being an accountant may entail representing the business to investors. You'll be the one who reassures stakeholders about their investments. Generally, accountants move up to leadership positions within the finance department of a company.

3. Operations Management

If your forte isn't financing, then managing operations is something you may want to consider instead. In this role, you oversee the specifics and complexities of a company's business operations. You should have a degree in management if you’re looking to get on this career path.

Operations managers analyze production systems and processes and suggest ways to improve them. If you take this role, you'll be responsible for ensuring efficiency during production and overseeing how your staff works as a team.

Typically, an operations manager sets schedules and oversees the creation of products in a manufacturing company. They also set the system for delivering and storing products while ensuring that the entire system runs smoothly. Operations managers research new schedule systems and determine ways to make production more efficient.

An operations manager's salary depends on how big the company is and how complex its systems are. But on average, operations managers earn between USD$45,000 and USD$200,000. Your exact title will also determine the size of your paycheck. Thus, a chief operating officer may be paid more than a business operations specialist.

4. Meeting And Event Planning

If you enjoy planning events, you can pursue a meeting and event planning career using your business degree. You'll be responsible for coordinating all the aspects of professional events a company has to hold and participate in. Some of these job descriptions may also be part of your role once you decide to become an event planner:

• Meeting with clients to discuss the objectives of the event
• Soliciting bids coming from event vendors and venues
• Arranging locations and other aspects

With this career, you'll likely become an employee of a private company. However, there's a huge chunk of event planners working for religious groups and other organizations as well.

5. Human Resources

Aside from managing events, you can also pursue a career in the human resources (HR) industry. As an HR manager or personnel, you'll be responsible for communicating and overseeing the company's employees.

HR professionals are always in demand since most companies require a large group of people to function and grow. They're among the first employees a company needs when starting out so they can recruit and hire staff members for other departments.

This career opportunity may be ideal if you're excellent at dealing with people. Your salary will even be promising as HR managers have a median salary of about USD$121,220 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

6. University Professor

Not only can business graduates look into becoming employees of business enterprises, but they can also opt to become educators. You can teach business courses to undergraduates of the same degree so long as you pass the teacher education requirement. You’ll tackle various finance, accounting, business operations, and marketing skills.

However, if you plan to pursue a career in the academe, you must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills in addition to your existing business skills. You must be able to impart knowledge effectively and present engaging lessons to your students.

Conclusion

A business degree is one of the most versatile degrees you can get. The curriculum is broad enough to bring you a profession in many industries. Moreover, you can rise to a leadership position by getting a master's or doctoral degree. Advanced education in business will allow you to achieve immense career growth. Plus, it would do you a world of good if a more significant salary boost were what you're looking for in your current role.