Business is such a broad major so how do I know how I can get ahead and pick a career right for me?

Hi Kelsey,

I would recommend taking a wide variety of business classes during your freshman and sophomore years of college. Although the course material may not necessarily correspond with the work you would do in that profession, if you are excelling or struggling with certain courses, it could indicate the fit of the career for you as well. Further, I would make sure to network with actual professionals (As well as your professors) to determine and understand the day-to-day of the different careers you are expecting. Some schools or organizations will host panels for professionals to come in to share their experiences. Attending presentations like these and actively asking questions, as well as pursuing one-on-one conversations through your network will help you to understand the positives and negatives of certain career options. Consider also your long term career goals - do you want to be a CFO? Lawyer? Talk to and research different people who have your long term career goals - you may find that many different paths can lead to the same end goal - so don't worry if you reassess your career goals after your sophomore year of college or even after working for a few years!

If possible, I'd actually recommend against a business major. While there's certainly interesting things to learn about business, you have an entire career in front of you to develop that knowledge. In addition, while some universities offer highly regarded Business degrees, many do not as the assumption that is that such knowledge will be accrued through work or business school.

Focusing on a degree that is either more technical or academic in nature will never hinder your ability to have a successful career. In the process, they may well help you identify new passions and learn things about the world that you'd never have thought to ask about otherwise. Be curious and open-minded and good things will come!

Hello Kelsey, that's right business is a great subject to study and work in, especially if you start your own business one day too..

There are lots of different majors to choose from, taking a course in business studies is a good place to be at if you want to work in the corporate marketplace anywhere from Banks and Fintech to international reselling and OEM manufacturing management, retail corporations, airlines etc with lots of opportunities for travel and interesting projects.

You could start applying to different companies, I have a few contacts inside the US at various different companies if you'd like to apply? If you're still studying there are part time work from home opportunities there as well.

Are you interested in ;

Automobiles?

Outdoor and camping equipment?

Tools and DIY equipment?

Airline and travel industry?

Hi Kelsey.

Totally agree with you in that Business is such a broad major. One recommendation I can give is to start by taking the basic courses for each topic within your Freshmen/Sophomore year (for example basic accounting, basic marketing, basic economics, and so on). Another way you could pick a good career is by applying for internships within your first years of college, and the experiences you get on these internships can help you decide what you want to do for a living.

You're right, Business is a broad major. There's a lot that you can do. I would recommend taking a variety of classes your first year of school to see what works best for you. Once you narrow it down to a few, I would consider doing a couple different internships. That's how I decided that I liked working in Accounting.

I would recommend taking a variety of business classes and seeing which ones actually interest you. For example, you might not like marketing, but like your economics/ accounting classes.

The broadness associated with Business can be viewed as positive and negative. The negative is that you don't have the deep skills required to carry detailed credentials in a particular field. The positive is that you have the right skills to become adaptable in any industry and can be viewed as an employee capable of supporting any type of business challenge. If you don't know what field you like best and are keeping your options open, then a business related education path is a great choice as you continue to find what aligns best to your strengths and preferences.

Sales, marketing, customer service and support are just a few career paths that would work well for someone that enjoys interacting with people.

I went to business school in anticipation of being a Finance major but learned alot from my intro to Accounting classes in my fresh/soph year. Unless you are at a top 10 business school in the country my advice would be to graduate with an accounting degree. There is a saying "An accountant can do a finance major's job but a finance major would be lost in accounting". I think this holds true for the most part in the real world. Obviously there are some exceptions like wanting to work in investment banking or on the stock market but I would for a public accounting firm and I have no fear in entering a finance role after.