A degree in business management can prepare you for a wide variety of job opportunities. Management skills are useful in just about any type of occupation. From expected roles like supervising people to managing specific business functions to starting your own business or other types of roles that require management skills, there are many career paths you can take with a degree in this field. Nine great options to consider include:
Manager/Supervisor
Working as a manager or supervisor is an obvious possibility for people with a degree in business management. The most common jobs for business management graduates involve supervising a team of people or overseeing a department or function within an organization. Many companies promote workers to supervisory roles or hire in people with formal management education to work as supervisors or as assistant managers. Some even have special management fast-track on-the-job training programs just for recent college graduates.
B2B Sales
While sales jobs require marketing skills, those who sell goods or services to a business-to-business (B2B) market need to be able to speak the language of business. For that reason, business management majors who also have a flair for sales can really excel in this line of work. Being able to communicate with business owners and managers in terms of their unique perspective can give B2B sales pros who have an academic background in management unique advantage in this highly competitive field. B2B sales professionals might sell things like merchant accounts for credit card processing, point of sale systems, or group employee benefits plans. Paired with a successful track record in sales, your management degree may help you be considered for a promotion to sales manager.
Nonprofit Leadership
The skills needed to lead a nonprofit organization are not dissimilar from those needed to manage a for-profit enterprise. So, the skills that you'll learn when studying for a degree in business management can be a great background for working as a nonprofit executive. You could put your skills to work as an executive director, volunteer coordinator, or development (fundraising) director for a charitable organization.
Event Planning
While event management careers, such as event planner and event coordinator jobs, are often considered to be public relations jobs, the fact is that planning, organizing, and hosting complex events like weddings, business conferences, fundraising events, parties, and more requires strong management skills. Large corporations sometimes have event professionals on staff. These jobs can also sometimes be found with resorts, professional associations, convention centers, and (of course), event planning companies. This type of job can be a great job opportunity for a college graduate with a degree in management who wants to oversee events rather than supervising a staff.
Project Management
Project management is another way to put your business management degree to work without taking on a traditional supervisory job. In this type of role, rather than being a boss, you will be responsible for overseeing the work of one or more project teams. Project managers often oversee large-scale undertakings, such as construction projects, or cross-departmental teams brought together for a specific purpose. Successful project team management requires applying a wide variety of management skills. With a degree in business management and a successful track record working as a project manager, you could even earn a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification to demonstrate your expertise and help advance your career in this field.
Property Management
A business management degree is a good background to work as a property manager. This type of job may involve overseeing the overall operations of one or more apartment complexes, rental homes, or commercial office spaces. Property managers are responsible for things like meeting financial targets, ensuring that properties are maintained to standard, handling communication with tenants, ensuring lease agreements are met, and other managerial tasks associated with keeping rental property operations running smoothly.
Human Resources
While it is possible to get a degree specific to human resources (HR), it is not necessary for entry to the field. Many people who become HR professionals have a degree in management or other related field. Since HR professionals are responsible for key people functions within the organizations for which they work, it's important for them to have insight into what is involved in running a business and how to manage employees, even if they aren't in supervisory roles themselves. A business management background can help HR practitioners understand the needs and perspective of those who manage specific functions and teams and be able to communicate effectively with leaders at all levels of the organization.
Medical Practice Manager
If you have experience or a special interest in the healthcare field, you can leverage your educational background in management to seek employment working as a manager in a medical practice. You may start out as a supervisor over a specific aspect of the practice or as a medical office manager, but possibly have an opportunity to move up to a role as the overall practice manager or operations manager.
Entrepreneur
Rather than putting your management education to work in someone else's business, you might want to use what you learned in college to start your own business. Becoming an entrepreneur is definitely a good option if you like the idea of being your own boss, have key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, and are willing to put the hard work required in to building a successful company from the ground up. There are plenty of business opportunities to consider, from franchise operations to online or home-based businesses to enterprises based on special skills or interests you may have, such as real estate investing, security services, or office cleaning (just to name a few suggestions).
Many Options for Business Management Degree Holders
Pursuing a degree in business management is a great way to prepare for a successful career in the world of business. Virtually every organization has a need for people with management skills, in both traditional supervisory roles and as other types of positions where managerial knowledge is beneficial or even required. Pair your formal management studies with your other interests, skills, and experience to identify your ideal career opportunity.
