What Can You Do with a Business Administration Degree?

What are some of the possible career paths you can pursue with a degree in business administration?

These experts discuss the vast array of career opportunities before you:

My initial response would be, “What can’t you do with a degree in business administration?”

Every for-profit business and non-profit organization needs the knowledge and skillsets provided by a business administration degree.

Domestic and international employers need people with business skill sets in management, marketing, sales, finance, and accounting. As a business educator for the past 20+ years, it is amazing to look at the career paths of alumni that have found success in a myriad of industries.

These include banking/financial, pharmaceutical, legal, professional sports franchises, education, high tech, robotics, real estate, law enforcement, medical/health, sales, theater, arts, and science.

Choosing to earn a degree in business administration does not mean you are limiting yourself to specializing in business. What it means is that you have acquired the business acumen that every organization needs to succeed and achieve its goals.

If you pair your degree in business administration with a career path and an organization that you are passionate about, then you have achieved some of the elements of a successful life.

One of the wonderful things about earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration is the vast array of career opportunities before you.

Unlike other degrees that prepare you to enter one specific occupation, a degree in business administration can offer broad foundational skills, such as communications and decision-making, that are valuable in a variety of careers.

Careers in the business field are growing, too. Statistics show that employment of business and financial operations occupations will grow 10% from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all occupations. This will add about 773,800 new jobs to the U.S. economy.

Other career possibilities you can pursue with a business administration degree, which is just a small sampling of where the degree may take you.

• Commercial Loan Officers
• City Managers
• Sales Managers
• Human Resources Managers
• Public Relations
• Advertising Executive
• Chief Executive Officer
• Financial Officer
• Market Research Analyst

These represent just some of the career possibilities you may encounter with a business administration degree. It may prove to be a valuable first step if you want a career with the opportunity to be directly involved with top-level strategy and policy decisions.

I started a global marketing and branding firm 18 years ago and got an MBA after college. It is a versatile and practical degree that opens many doors, my classmates can be found doing a variety of things including:

• Big corporate jobs
• Entrepreneurial startups
• Non-profit management
• Government & public service which can be large bureaucracies
• Board service and volunteer work

There is no shortage of organizations that can benefit from a well-trained businessperson who can set a vision and develop strategies, plans, budgets as well as lead and motivate the team.

These are the five things you can do with a business administration degree:

• Accept a career at any business-related job and be a management consultant as a moonlighting option.
• Become a Human Resource Generalist as you learn all the functions of Human Resources and select the place you fit best.
• Work as a junior executive and work your way up to executive in any function of the business environment.
• Teach community college associate-level courses and certificate programs.
• Open up your own practice with an invention or take on a franchise opportunity by doing something you love.

I used my business administration degree to start business consulting

Believe it or not, most people in business do not know simple concepts related to business. For instance, there are only two ways to increase profits in business: reduce costs and increase sales.

I have had a successful consulting firm for over a decade because of this fact. I have helped coach executives and plan strategy for small and large organizations. I have consulted on legal frameworks and tax structures.

Human resources is one of my specialties, so I often help with hiring, firing, and even job placement assistance. All of these are possible with a business administration degree (and an interest in these areas)!

My wife and I also started a non-profit foundation

Believe it or not, a business administration degree helps here too. Every organization, whether run on donations or sales, needs to follow basic principles of operation.

Cash flow is crucial to every organization and our non-profit is no different. Given the fact that more non-profits fail than for-profit businesses, I would argue these skills are more necessary in this field!

Related: How Do Nonprofits Make Money

I shifted my career focus to the education sector

Finally, the two above items led me to change my career focus to the education sector, which is why I am using my business administration skills to earn a higher education administration doctoral degree.

So far in my program, I have been amazed at how many higher education institutions lack business administration know-how in the administration office. Even schools with MBA programs!

School district superintendents and university leadership are good jobs, but many who hold them have education degrees instead of business degrees.

This is one of the reasons US schools are struggling and tuition costs are skyrocketing. The principles you learn about marketing, managing, operations, and systems are extremely valuable and can be applied to one’s personal life too.

I recommend you check out a paper by Frey and Osborne (2013) titled The Future of Employment. Business administration is one of the few careers that will survive the coming boom in robotics and artificial intelligence.

I cannot help but encourage people to earn a business administration degree! We need more people who understand the business, not fewer!