Moving On magazine Careers and Qualifications for School Leavers
Some people are drawn to a career in business but you may not be certain exactly what you can do with a business degree so let’s take a look.
A career in business can mean many things and you could work in any industry. Studying for a business degree can be combined with gaining a professional qualification that is specific to the field of work that you are interested in.
Some facts and figures
- There were 18,590 business degree graduates in 2014/15
- 77.1% of business graduates were employed 6 months after completing
- 25.1% were employed in business, HR or as financial professionals
- 20.8% were employed in marketing, PR or as sales professionals
The variety of occupations that can be entered through studying business include:
- Business analyst
- Management consultant
- Project manager
- Product manager
- Marketing and sales manager
- Data analyst
- Chartered management accountant
- Forensic accountant
- Actuary
- HR officer
Some of the professional qualifications that can be combined with business studies are which give you the professional status needed for some jobs are:
An Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification
A Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) qualification
A Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) qualification
A Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualification
A Chartered Management Institute (CMI) qualification
A project management qualification such as PRINCE2
Although you can study for a business degree full time at university it is possible to do a higher apprenticeship with some companies. This allows you to work whilst gaining a degree and the relevant professional qualification.
The kind of skills that you develop by studying business are problem solving and critical thinking skills, which you need for a career in business, decision making skills, project management skills, an understanding of finance and data interpretation and an understanding of economic factors relating to business and leadership and management skills.
