Before jumping into an undergraduate business program, it's important to know what career options are out there. The business world offers a variety of job opportunities that range from number crunching to engagement with potential clients. Knowing the sort of career you want will help you to decide which path to take when applying to schools as a business major.
An important consideration for any college student is what career they will enter upon graduating. This is especially importants for business majors, considering the wide range of options. Careers for business majors span across multiple fields and exist in just about every setting imagineable. International students should make it a priority to seriously look at the various jobs in business and guide their path in school toward some preferred career. Job skills vary, locations vary, and pay scales vary, so it is easy to get lost thinking about the future. Below are just a few of the possible types of careers and examples of specific jobs in business that international students might want to consider.
Types of Careers for Business Majors
Essentially, most business careers can be categorized into five types: management, analysis, personal finance, information technology (IT), and human resources.
Management jobs are the standard "boss" jobs with which we are all familiar. Within the management category, though, the available jobs are anything but uniform and can take on a wide spectrum of descriptions depending on the field.
Analysis jobs heavily focus on analytical research both internally and externally, crunching numbers to help businesses and other organizations run smoothly.
Personal finance types of careers involve the application of analytical business skills with individual people. Thus these sorts of careers call for people skills and adequate teaching skills as well.
In the fast-growing category of information technology jobs, technology-savvy business majors get to work in a fast-paced, data-heavy world that can vary from hardware manufacturing to media and advertising.
Finally, human resource jobs take care of the internal workings of a business or organization, focusing on employees and their roles within the company.
Of course, with any field as broad as business, many actual jobs in business for international students blur these categorical lines and may fall into other categories not listed here. It is very important to research what jobs are out there and what they actually entail before you lock in to a particular path in school.
Examples of Careers for Business Majors
- Personal Finance Advisor
- A personal finance advisor organizes finances for individuals. This job involves dealing with not only income and expenditures, but also tax considerations, legal issues, and investment concerns. These advisors spend time meeting with clients a few times a year handling the above issues as well as providing financial advice on large purchases, such as a new home, new car, etc. Often personal finance advisors are self-employed, but they can also work as part of an agency. With the wide range of opportunities for this career comes a wide range of pay scales, falling anywhere between $40,000 and $120,000 US dollars a year.
- Accountant
- International students trained as accountants also have a wide range of job opportunities, spanning from private businesses to government and national security. Accounting remains a fast-growing field and accountants are always in need. Accountants are in charge of balancing the books for a business or organization, taking into consideration taxes, and other financial responsibilities in order to accurately determine profit and loss. Most accountants work for a company, but self-employment is certainly an option. Accountants tend to make between $50,000 and $60,000 dollars a year in the US.
- Budget Analyst
- Budget analysts analyze financial data within a business in order to produce company budgets and reports. Just about every business and organization, whether they are private, non-profit, international, public, or governmental, needs a budget analyst to keep things running smoothly. Efficiency is the top priority for budget analysts, and those who succeed in their jobs can expect to make from $50,000 to $70,000 per year.
- Market Research Analyst
- A market research analyst is one of the more dynamic and interdisciplinary jobs in business. In short, a market research analyst analyzes financial and related data outside of a business or organization and reports how those data affect the company. This includes formulating surveys to gauge consumer trends, engaging in actuarial work that calculates risk, and understanding the implications of market fluctuations in terms of investment issues. Thus, market research analysts not only exhibit the usual business skills, but also apply certain psychological research into their reports. Market research analysts can be found in credit companies, governmental agencies, and just about any consumer-based company, and they can expect to make between $55,000 and $75,000 a year in the US.
- IT Project Manager
- An information technology project manager is one of the fastest growing and highest paying careers for business majors. An IT project manager plans important programs or ventures across multiple departments with heavy use of technology in both the coordination itself and often the product or service being offered. With new tech companies starting up every day, technology retailers, hardware manufacturers, software publishers, etc. are always on the lookout for competent and efficient IP project managers. International students who plan to pursue this career can expect to see up to $90,000 per year.
- Human Resources Specialist
- A human resources specialist's main job is to ensure the well-being of employees within a business or organization. They are often in charge of recruiting potential employees, hiring qualified employees, appropriately training new and veteran employees, and maintaining those employees within the company. In other words, while most other jobs in business deal with consumers and products, human resources specialists make sure the business itself is running smoothly from the inside. Depending on location, type of business, and experience, human resources specialists can make up to $90,000 per year and beyond.
As you can see from just this short survey, skills picked up by business majors can be applied in a variety of ways across multiple subfields. Make every moment count throughout your business education so that you can use your collected skills to find and maintain your ideal career.