A career in business is lucrative on many levels. Business careers pay well, offer excellent progression and job satisfaction, and are intellectually challenging. It is no wonder that many people choose to embark on a business career, and a solid education is an excellent way to improve your chances of success.
Why education is important for getting a job in business
Successful businesspeople make use of a wealth of knowledge in their day-to-day jobs. This knowledge is accumulated through years of operating in a commercial environment, but a formal educational course can pack a lot of these lessons into a much shorter period. You will need a lot of knowledge to be a skilled businessperson, and formal education is an excellent way to quickly acquire the skills and information you need.
Business education courses range from the short and specific to multi-year degrees that cover a broad selection of business topics. It is common for individuals in high-level business positions to have completed a business degree as this multi-year education route fills a lot of knowledge gaps that can stay unfilled if relying on experience alone. This rounded level of knowledge is what makes a successful businessperson.
Which routes and courses you should look at
Business careers are very varied; there is no singular educational route to a business career. Your choices will depend on whether you are looking to enter into sales and marketing positions, or whether you plan on doing something numerically intensive, in which case a degree in mathematics might in fact be your best option.
Some careers in business require very intensive training on a specific topic – for example, accountancy – and it is common for people to do a degree specific to a certain career path to take care of the initial stages of training. For example, doing an accountancy degree will significantly shorten the number of years that you spend in training while you are already working.
Options for adult students
Mature students take business courses for a range of reasons. If you have been an expert in a certain field for a number of years but would like to step into a managerial role, you could opt for a senior-level business degree such as an MBA. An MBA will give you a well-rounded business education, which will enable you to deal with a range of business issues at a decent skills level. These degrees cover topics that range from elementary accountancy through to marketing questions and business strategy.
Adult students who cannot afford to go to college have other options. For example, Maryville’s online MBA will provide you with an equally well-rounded business education. There are also a number of shorter, affordable courses that can teach you some of the essential numeracy and analytic skills that you would need to move into a more business-focused role. These short courses are particularly useful if you have already moved into a business-focused job and find that you have some specific areas in which you need to improve your knowledge.
What you can expect in return
Attaining any level of education involves hard work and some degree of financial sacrifice, so the returns need to be clear and substantial. Business education and the resulting career in business offers students very obvious returns, starting with a high salary. Qualified business workers are highly paid because they are essential to the profitable running of businesses. Jobs in business also come with perks and benefits, ranging from generous holiday allowances to fully funded pension schemes.
A business career can also lead to starting your own business. If you are a highly educated businessperson with extensive career experience, you will be able to put these skills to work in your own business, successfully managing other employees to build a valuable enterprise that you can later sell on. Only people who are very highly skilled in business affairs are successful at managing and growing their own business, but the pay-off involved in wholly owning a successful business is huge.
Mix formal education with experience for the best results
Though a formal education is enormously beneficial to working in business, your experience as a businessperson is equally important. Focus on completing a course or degree that suits your needs, but try to get some business experience at the same time. Employers are particularly keen on workers who are well educated and who can illustrate relevant experience, so try to up your learning efforts with real-world business experience whenever you can.