As a Business and Management graduate, you will have developed some great knowledge and fantastic skills that will enable you to seamlessly transition to the professional world of work. A career in business could take you into numerous sectors and industries, so you have plenty of choice when it comes to your career path.
With so much choice, however, it can be difficult to decide which career is right for you. The advice below should make your decision that little bit easier.
Thanks to your business course, you should now possess these skills:
Think about what you consider to be your greatest strengths and which aspects of the course you enjoyed the most. Ideally, you will want to be able to use these in whatever career path you decide to take.
Unsurprisingly, seven of the top ten jobs held by graduates working in the UK are related to business, sales and HR. The table below gives you a break down of the types of roles your fellow graduates have gone into.
| Type of work | Percentage |
| Business, HR and financial | 24.6 |
| Marketing, PR and sales | 20.9 |
| Managers | 12 |
| Secretarial and numerical clerks | 10.9 |
| Other | 31.7 |
Source: https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/what-do-graduates-do
With so many graduate jobs available and so many doors open to you, it’s hard to know which career path to choose. However, this is a decision that only you can make. It has to be based on what sort of tasks you enjoy doing, what your long-term goals are, how you like to work and your personality.
If you’re in need of a helping hand, take a look at the job profiles of some of the most popular choices for business graduates.
Sales can be a lucrative and rewarding career for the right person and there are plenty of opportunities out there to choose from. To succeed in sales, you need to be self-motivated, competitive, a natural influencer and target-driven.
It isn’t for everyone due to the pressurised, fast-paced and dynamic nature of the role. Whereas for others, the generous salaries, bonuses and progression opportunities, not to mention the overall thrill of the job, makes a career in sales the perfect choice.
Find out more about sales careers here >
A career in finance can lead to great things, there is real scope to work your way through the ranks into management roles or other business areas. This sort of role is perfect for analytical graduates who enjoy working with numbers and data. Remember, that finance and accounting require a high level of numeracy, great attention to detail and high levels of focus.
Graduates looking to break out in this field may want to consider doing some professional qualifications such as ACCA or CIMA.
Find out more about accounting careers here >
Unless you have some pretty impressive work experience, it’s unlikely that you’ll stroll straight into a managerial role after finishing your studies. However, management graduate schemes are a popular choice for driven, ambitious and hardworking graduates.
If you have fantastic leadership skills, you’re great with people and have the confidence and independence to make it as a manager, these schemes are great! They offer you excellent training, allowing you to understand the business and develop the necessary skills for leadership.
TOP TIP: When considering management roles, bear in mind that you will have to work your way up and develop your own specialisms along the way. Telling employers that you want to work in management is a bit vague and doesn’t demonstrate a passion for their industry.
Marketing is an extremely popular career choice for graduates. There is a vast range of opportunities available for creative individuals with strong communication and digital skills. You’ll also need the determination to keep up with ever-changing trends and developments.
Find out more about marketing careers here >
If you’re still unsure about what types of roles would best suit you, we recommend taking a career personality test. This should give you some pointers about your natural strengths and what careers would be a good fit for you.
What can you do with a business degree? Perhaps the question should be “what can’t you do?”
While securing a graduate job will require some time and effort on your part, a business degree will only work to your advantage! Thanks to your degree, you have some great transferable skills, commercial awareness, an understanding of many different parts of a business and perhaps even some valuable work experience.
At Bridgewater Graduates, we offer commercial graduate roles with market-leading businesses. Search our graduate jobs here >
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