The third assumption is that the business administration major always obtains his job through on-campus interviewing. This assumption is also false. Like any other major, he may also obtain his job through Mends, family, faculty, direct job listings, want ads and his own job search. Like any other major, he does his part of informational interviewing and library research.
So, like any business major, the first place for you to start if you are interested in working in business is to identify what areas of business interest you. There are many opportunities in any business, each of which differs widely in tasks performed and skills and qualifications required.
You must be specific in identifying your objective when applying to work in any business. It is not enough to say that you are interested in management or in a management trainee program, for example. Few, if any, new college graduates are initially qualified for a position as a manager, yet almost any position they might take could lead to managerial responsibilities involving resources, dollars, and people. Any initial position would also develop the skills of planning, organizing, implementing, and controlling-all of which are essential management skills. Once employed, you may take advantage of formal and "on the job" training. Employers are educators; in fact, employers now spend more money for educational and training programs than is spent by all US. colleges and universities combined.
Most businesses have in common four specific organizational areas:
- Sales/Marketing
- Administration
- Production/Manufacturing
- Finance
Positions in sales/marketing include such activities as market research, advertising and sales, which exist to identify customer needs, research new product markets, establish sales goals, develop advertising campaigns, and directly sell the product.
Individuals in administration are responsible for providing legal, personnel, labor relations, and public relations support for the production, finance, and marketing areas. These individuals maintain positive internal and external relations among management, employees, government, and the public.
Employees in production/manufacturing research, design, develop, produce, and distribute the product or service sold to customers. These employees are usually technical personnel, such as researchers, engineers, quality control and transportation specialists.
Financial analysts summarize the financial position of a business for top decision makers. These analysts develop systems and procedures for gathering, processing, and analyzing data on income and expenses. They analyze potential investments, prepare budgets and economic forecasts.
They may also audit company accounts to determine if projects remain within budget limitations as well as prepare data for tax computation. Individuals working in finance usually have very strong analytical skills and have usually received a bachelor's or master's degree in finance, accounting, mathematics, computer science, or economics.
Typical Entry- Great Opportunities
Sales
Although the role of the sales representative is regarded with ambivalence by many liberal arts students, the unfavorable image of sales people is largely incorrect. Alert, ethical sales representatives are needed to "educate" increasingly sophisticated customers about increasingly sophisticated products. In short, they are needed to sell understanding. For the liberal arts student interested in business, sales offers positions with great opportunity to learn about the company's products and services. Good sales people are always in demand, so plenty of opportunities exist which tend to have high compensation and opportunity for advancement.
Marketing research and sales are not synonymous. Marketing researchers analyze data about potential sales markets, often in order to predict the sales volume of a product or service. It usually is necessary to have a degree in a quantitative field which includes statistics to compete successfully for professional marketing jobs. Sales is a function which is specifically established to generate purchases from new and existing customers for the company's products or services. Successful sales representatives must have the intelligence and flexibility to constantly learn new information and techniques; the perseverance and self-discipline to organize their time; and the self-confidence and communication skills to approach strangers and handle frequent rejection or to work effectively with an established client anticipating needs and ensuring good service.
Many businesses will start sales representative trainees with a base, or guaranteed, salary plus a commission on sales. Often after a stipulated training period the trainee is gradually shifted to strictly commission, de pending on the company and the product being sold. Sales representatives can choose to remain in direct sales or move into sales training and supervision. Those who remain in direct sales often handle larger and more complex sales of sophisticated products to larger accounts. Sales trainers and supervisors recruit and train new sales representatives and motivate and evaluate the performance of the sales force.
Another common route into sales supervision for recent graduates is through retail store supervision. Retail store supervisors plan and evaluate the work of sales clerks and other employees, and often arrange sales displays. Retail store supervisors can be promoted to buyer positions, purchasing wholesale merchandise for resale. Such positions may offer extensive travel opportunities. Experienced sales representatives with approximately five to seven years of experience may move into management, to help identify new customer markets and their product needs.
Sales Support Positions
After a sales representative has completed a sale, a variety of workers help insure that the product or service is delivered and operating properly. For example, a computer operator trainer will teach the customer's employees how to use newly purchased computer equipment An account executive for a copy machine distributor visits current customers to see that the machines are meeting the customer's needs. Insurance claims adjusters will investigate losses suffered by a policy holder to determine how much should be paid on a claim. An underwriter reviews an insurance contract to determine if the potential policy holder is paying adequate premiums to cover the risk to be assumed by the insurance company. Workers in these jobs need the tact to deal with complaining customers and the patience to be good teachers.
Personnel
Often those liberal arts majors who want to work with people will consider working in personnel as their career objective. The assumption, however, that all personnel workers work strictly with people is inaccurate.
