Let’s talk business! If just those three words intrigued you, you should definitely consider majoring in business. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll just find out how to improve that lemonade stand you had when you were 10 years old. No, it’s so much more. Fall in love with a whole universe of planning, organizing and understanding the control functions of a firm. Being the next Steve Jobs will not happen overnight—or will it?
Continue reading to find out if the business major fits you.
What You’ll Be Doing
As a business major, you’ll explore the ins and outs of the business world. To continue with this major, you will definitely have to have a passion for the basic functions of a business. You’ll discover marketing strategies and how to create a profitable franchise of your own. With all the fun and playing around with concepts you use in class, you’ll eventually pick up on essential skills that any business owner would need. “I have held roles in many different functions in business: sales, supply chain, and finance.” University of Florida alumnus Edwin Herard said.
The Classes You’ll Take
As with any other typical business major, you’ll start off with your regular shmegular critical-tracking courses. This means classes such as microeconomics and macroeconomics. Then once you’ve completed those courses you get to the fun stuff—yep, those core classes like finance, management and marketing. By this time, you should have an idea as to what part of the business field you want to pursue, e.g. business computer information systems, finance or business administration. “And lastly, the last sixteen credit hours are usually unique to your specific major within the college. Sounds like a lot but trust me by semester two, you’ll get the hang of it. Don’t stress just yet,” University of Florida alumnus Chrisford Belizaire said.
Internships for This Major
Business majors typically want to intern with the big and varied corporations like Google, Pepsi or Wells Fargo. But also consider interning in those small businesses to get more personalized mentorship and hands-on experience. Take advantage of any impactful experience that can aid you along the way. Don’t know how to start finding these internships? No worries, make sure to check out those awesome career fairs your school offers. “I feel like students should really take advantage of career fairs and other events their school puts on geared toward finding internships. A lot of the companies that participate in those fairs are looking for students to intern with them and hopefully accept a job with them after graduation if they do well. It’s a great way to get a job offer lined up for after graduation while you’re still in school,” University of Florida alumna Adrielle Conner said.
Career Opportunities
Of course, you can’t stay in college forever—you have to put those skills you’ve learned into good use. Finding which career you want to pursue can sound intimidating, but don’t worry—it’s actually the fun part.
1. Financial Analyst
As a financial analyst, you’ll take what you’ve learned from micro- and macroeconomics to make important financial decisions for a company.
2. Accountant
Taking on a role as an accountant, you’ll basically live off of preparing assets, liability and capital account entries for a company. Your job would consist of compiling and analyzing account information.
3. Business Teacher
You couldn’t be where you are today without the help from those great teachers along the way. Take on this role as being another influential business teacher by teaching students the ins and outs of the business world.
4. Corporate Attorney
Yes, this means law school after business school. The business skills you’ve now obtained can transfer over to a great lawyer whose job is to ensure that their clients’ business transactions are in compliance with the law.
5. Management Consultant
As a management consultant, you’ll help organize and solve any issues that a company may have. You’ll ensure that any business will have value, growth and improved business performance.
Reviews
1. “I had a blast. It was lit! Business/IT totally made sense for me as I’ve always enjoyed numbers, probably due to the fact that was the standard at home. Growing up Haitian, you were destined to either be good at math, or pick a career in medicine, law, or my grandparents’ favorite go-to, nursing school. I could write a book about those years but not to go any further off on a tangent, being a business major granted me many of the tools I needed to live in the real world. We’re all part of a financial system (whether we like it or not), we are all data points on somebody’s chart somewhere. Thus, being able to truly understand and apply tools like Excel and SQL, understanding how financial markets work, debits and credits, leveraging information in the digital age, are just a few of what I’ve gained (in/outside the classroom) from being a business student at UF that directly correlates to decisions that I make daily.” –University of Florida alumnus Chrisford Belizaire said
2. “Currently I am in law school, and I do not feel like my major directly relates to what I am doing now. However, I do feel that a lot of what takes place in the legal field revolves around what businesses are doing, are not doing, or should be doing. So, I think having some background knowledge about business is helpful.” University of Florida alumna Adrielle Conner said.
3. “I enjoy being a business major because I am able to develop my interpersonal skills and quantitative skills. Likewise, I enjoy being able to apply the things that I am learning in the classroom to my personal life; business concepts are very practical and are used unknowingly every day by every person. The dynamic environment in businesses constantly challenges me and serves my for intellectual curiosity desires,” University of Florida alumnus Edwin Herard said.
