People cannot live on Ramen alone, at least not after the college years! If you like money and you want a fighting chance to pay back your student loans, a business degree may just be the ticket to your future success. There are few degrees that you can earn both online and through business colleges that offer such a wide variety of potential jobs. If you have strong analytical and communication skills, a business degree can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go.
By earning an online business degree or a degree from a business college, you open yourself up to many opportunities, from owning a small business to being the chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 company. And there are many positions in between. Read on to find a list of occupations that will put your business degree to good use.
Market Research Analyst
Are you usually the first to know about the latest trends? If so, you may be able to channel your consumer know-how into a position in market research. As a market research analyst, you would report on sales trends, consumer demographics, and spending habits. This occupation will see huge growth – more than 18% – by 2024. As competition increases, it is more important than ever for businesses to know their customers through focus groups and surveys.
Market research analysts also have many other tools at their disposal, including advertisements that pop up with a consumer reaches a particular location (e.g., while in a store) and even technology that monitors where your eye travels while on a website. Like many of the other positions available to those with business degrees, strong communication and analytical skills are important to this job, since you’d be responsible for many consumer reports on sales trends and audience demographics.
Average Salary: $68,700
Statistician
Are you looking for a fast-growing field within business? Statistics may just be what you’ve been looking for. This field is likely to grow by 34% between 2014 and 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In fact, U.S. News and World Reports ranked statistician as the number one business job. Statistics is the science of using data to make decisions. Sounds pretty useful, right?
Statisticians determine what type of data they need to make a decision, then they collect, analyze, and interpret this data. It’s not always as easy as it sounds, but for those with the right training and capacity to analyze data, this could be an interesting job that allows you to find work in a number of fields, including the sciences, environmental, public safety, healthcare, and even sports. Head to California if you want to find the highest-paying jobs as statisticians in San Jose and San Francisco earn the most on average.
Average Salary: $84,010
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Financial Analyst
Have you ever fantasized about ringing the bell at the New York Stock Exchange? Well, you’ll be one step closer to that life goal as a financial analyst. If you can handle the long hours of this position, you’ll reap the benefits through a relatively large salary and be a part of a growing industry–financial analysts have a low unemployment rate at 2.2%, and they are part of a growing field with 12% projected growth by 2024.
As a financial analyst, you’ll spend time reviewing the economy and making recommendations to your clients about when they should buy or sell their investments. To be successful in this job, you need to stay up to date on the economy and business news. In addition to a Bachelor’s degree in business, many financial analysts get a master’s degree in finance or business administration and take additional financial analyst training. And according to U.S. News and World Reports, financial analysts get paid the most in New York City and San Francisco.
Average Salary: $92,250
Medical and Health Services Manager
You don’t need to go to medical school to make a difference in the field of medicine. Your business degree can help you find positions in numerous industries, including healthcare. Medical and health service managers are key to ensuring effective running of medical facilities. These positions spend their days working with doctors, insurance agencies, and other healthcare administrators to make sure facilities are running smoothly behind the scenes.
If you are an organized, Type-A person, then your local nursing home or medical facility will likely benefit from your analytical skills and attention to detail. In this position, you would have many employment opportunities as it is projecting a growth rate of 17% through 2024. You’ll also benefit from job security, with an only 1.7% unemployment rate. You’ll find the highest salaries for this position in California; although the median salary nears six figures across the country.
Average Salary: $103,680
Sales Manager
Looking for a great entry-level job after earning your business degree? Consider sales. What better way to use your training in economics and marketing right out of school? Although you may not command the top salary range as a new graduate, your opportunities for advancement and salary growth are high in the area of sales. As a sales manager, you would oversee a team of salespeople, by setting territories, sales quotas, and goals. Also, you would need to have strong communication skills since you’ll be dealing with a lot of different departments, including marketing.
Many sales managers start out in direct sales to learn the ropes in their business before becoming a supervisor, and eventually a manager. Degrees in business with a focus in marketing will help you earn a high-paying job in sales management, in addition to computer skills to help with data management and record keeping.
Average Salary: $110,660
Business Operations Manager
Want to run it all as your company’s “go-to” person? A job as a business operations manager may be a good fit. Duties vary, but you would typically be involved in hiring, negotiating contracts, budgeting, and managing business operations. You would oversee everything, including knowing customer buying patterns and determining company policies and procedures. This position should see 7% growth through 2024 and a 3.7% unemployment rate.
Operations managers have one of the highest-paying jobs in the United States, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Having a business degree will get you in the door at most organizations, and a master’s degree will make you even more likely to get a high-paying position. Communication skills are a must in this position as you would be communicating with many different departments, and even be responsible for setting your organization’s communication policies.
Average Salary: $117,200
Sourced from: therichest.com
Featured Image Source: Thinkstock / monkeybusinessimages
