In this article, we’re going to list some of the career sectors, paths, and routes you could take with your Business Management Degree.
1. Human resources - this business function goes by many names, it might be referred to as ‘people’, ‘people and talent’ or ‘talent management’. In HR your job is essentially to ensure that employees are satisfied, this is on a personal level within their role and on a larger level across the company culture.
As a HR professional, you’ll deal with tasks like recruitment, payroll, employment policies and benefits. You could also act as a go-between for employees and managers, and can help to interpret company information.
HR is great for people people as to be successful you’ll have to have great interpersonal skills, from communication to the ability to motivate, inspire and make people feel valued. You’ll have to handle your businesses needs as well as that of the employees and act as an intermediary to ensure the business stays profitable and employees feel adequately motivated and remunerated. It’s no easy job!
2. Consulting - this career path can lead you down many avenues! You could decide to be a business consultant, helping businesses maximise their profitability by identifying and cutting out any inefficiencies. Or you could choose another route like combining your business knowledge and background with a passion, like sustainability; this could lead you to become a sustainability business consultant.
As a consultant, you’ll usually get to experience a whole range of businesses, from start-ups to established companies across a variety of sectors. This type of role is great for the naturally curious and those who have a thirst for knowledge as you’ll be learning and developing your skills throughout your career.
Your degree might even have an option to minor in, this could be business and finance, or business and marketing. If you really enjoy your minor subject, you could choose to exclusively consult in that and carve out your niche as an authority in your field/sector.
3. Project manager - as a project manager you’ll be in charge of a whole project, start to end with lots of moving parts. So it comes as no surprise that the project manager role is for the people that like to be organised!
Project managers work in a variety of sectors and industries, from construction to advertising and tech - there’s always a need for people that can see a project through its entire lifecycle, whilst ensuring everything stays within budget and is done on time! You could also choose to combine this role with a niche area like cyber security, there aren't many people that are great at both, so it’s likely to pay the big bucks!
4. Finance - if you’ve got a head for numbers, then you might thrive in a career in finance. Having completed a business management degree you’ll know a whole load of ways to increase your business's profitability; whether it’s creatively coming up with new ways to drive revenue or finding smart ways to decrease your overheads.
You could pursue a career in the finance industry (like corporate finance or mergers and acquisitions) or you could work ‘in-house’ in the finance team at a company that is in a different sector entirely. You’ll likely need to do further finance qualifications but the great thing about working in finance is that it provides a really clear career path. You’ll always be aware of what one stage up looks like and you’ll know what you need to do to get there - they call it a corporate ladder for a reason!
5. Start your own business - this option is perhaps the boldest out there but allows the most growth and there’s no limit to what you could succeed. Our advice is to do your research before you dive into anything, take the time to pad out your business plan and identify how you plan to operate, that way you’ll be prepared for almost every scenario and you can keep focused on activities that drive success.
Starting your own business truly allows you to follow your passion in whatever, whether it's baking, IT or astrology - you could literally find a business idea anywhere, even underneath a moon rock.
If you like the high-level view, but don’t want the responsibility of running your own business or potential financial risk, then why not have a look at management. Whilst you might have to take some time to work your way up, this mix of strategy and big picture thinking could be right up your street.
6. Operations and logistics - these job roles are suited to the movers and shakers, essentially the doers. If you’re a problem solver who likes to be in the background getting stuff done, then this is a great career path for you! Working in operations means working at the heart of a business, across multiple teams - it may not be the most flashy, but without it, businesses would be lost. Having said this, logistics usually offers a whole load of travel opportunities - so if you like the sounds of jet setting, then check it out.
7. Sales - is often confused with marketing, but having completed your Business Degree, you’ll know it’s all about driving revenue for your business. The world is full of products and services to sell, and being in sales means that you are one of the key people driving the business forward. Throughout your business degree, you’ll have looked into and developed loads of techniques to segment your market and come up with sales solutions
To be successful in sales you need to have a head for numbers, great interpersonal skills and creativity to work out how best to sell.
8. Legal - every business needs some help with the law, whether it's advising on best practices or helping to draft employment contracts. As a legal professional, you’ll have a keen eye for detail. Much like finance, you could work in-house in a company’s legal department or for a law firm. If you’re interested in how the law intersects with business, but you’re not so keen on pursuing legal qualifications, it is worth considering working in the civil service to develop policy.
9. IT - if you’re a tech-head with a passion for improving how people work and communicate, why not consider IT? IT has developed over the years to cover a lot more than helping people access their emails, it drives and protects the business, ensuring it can keep up with modern-day advancements and employees can communicate with one another.
You could choose to work in cyber security, data, software development or engineering to name a few. You could even end up doing a job that doesn’t exist yet!
We hope this list helps to make you feel motivated and inspired! If you’ve completed your degree and think you could use some business work experience, then have a look at our business management virtual work experience programme. You’ll get to explore a variety of sectors and industries, make a start on your employability skill and get a recognised and celebrated certificate. What are you waiting for?
