My apologies if this thread is not in the right section. Anyways, is it necessary to major in Business in college if you’re thinking about going into business in the future? I’ve talked to a couple of people, and they say that pursuing a business degree is not necessary as an undergrad, and that many people end up doing Business later on despite not majoring in it in college. So my question is, would it be a lot more beneficial/worthy for me to major in something that I love that’s not necessarily a practical degree like business(something humanities related), or not miss out on possible opportunities that business school people get to have? Thanks!
A business degree is not necessary as many people are in business who majored in economics, engineering, political science, etc. You can always get an MBA down the road that will be very useful in business. However if you want a good career in business, what school you go to matters, especially since you might want to major in the humanities. Many companies will hire a person with an irrelevant major at an Ivy over a person with a business degree from a no name school. Thats just how it works.
Major in what you love. You will have the rest of your life to develop and invest in your career and who knows that direction your major will take you? You can always go back and get an MBA, or an advanced degree that is more relevant to your work, once you know what that is.
I’m most familiar with Harvard and Stanford’s business schools. There were many students - probably more than half - who did not major in business or economics. Lots of engineers, for example. But also a surprising number in the humanities, the arts, sciences and the social sciences. What they had in common was a track record of achievement in their chosen professions.
This doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from some good basic statistics and econ courses early on, as well as some work experience over the summers. If quant is your thing, there are lots of entry level positions for people with very strong math and/or comp sci skills. A high GPA and yes, a brand name school, help. But you can still be successful with decent grades from your State U - it’s more about you and what you have to offer your future employer than the school or what you learned as a finance major in college.
It is certainly possible to move into business with another undergraduate major. The MBA programs are filled with people who have tons of different liberal arts majors, have worked a few years, and then choose to go back for business degrees. You can also consider double majoring. When I did my undergrad many years ago I knew I’d need a good job straight out of college so I majored in accounting (practical) and minored in history (purely out of interest). Many ways to go.
Accounting is the only area of business where you need to actually major in something specific. Successful sales, marketing and finance people come from all kinds of majors. It is still a good idea to take some business classes so you are capable in discussion during interviews.
Salespeople are essentially born, not made. A good HR department knows exactly the type of person that will do well is sales.
One common criticism of business majors is they can’t write well, so if you do major in business stock up on writing and if available a Rhetoric class or three.
I personally think Finance is a waste as a major in undergraduate.
Why do you think Finance would be a waste in undergraduate? @ScaredNJDad
Because except for grads from very elite schools, which also have heavy core curriculum requirements, grads will find the available jobs in Finance to be extremely boring staff jobs with lower prestige in a company than junior accountants. The Accounting grads will always get the better jobs in the field of Finance. Accounting curriculum sorts of gets away from pure Accounting and into Finance. That’s just the way it has always been.
Finance as an academic subject is based on a few simple concepts using middle-school math, no matter what the application.
Accounting grads from even average AACSB accredited schools will have jobs before graduation and even the most prestigious Accounting firms recruit at them. This is not the case in Finance.
If you go to school outside the elite business schools prepare for job opportunities in Finance to be extremely unattractive and in low prestige areas of the firm that report to Accounting people.
If you have the personality, Sales is the way to go, even in investment banking.
Do you mean to be a (small?) business owner yourself or work for someone else?
In case it’s the former:
It’s very desirable to take courses in accounting, business law, finance and general principles of marketing. But you absolutely also need to know the specifics of the service/product you are going to sell, the market for it, the competition and how to market and sell that particular thing. Business courses will just give you general information.
One will likely benefit a lot from a mentor who has been successful as a small business owner in the field you want to enter. One can get a (“free”) business mentor through organizations such as SCORE (https://www.score.org/mentors).
Of the ways to get into successful small business ownership, probably the most reliable is through apprenticing (not titled that, but that’s effectively what it is) for a long time in a management role in a business extremely close in characteristics to the one you propose to head. You may, in fact, get to assume ownership of that very business eventually when the owners want to retire or go elsewhere. Getting into the management of somebody else’s small business does not appear to be much facilitated by a 4-year college degree; in the jobs I see advertised at http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=small+business&l= , 4-year college degrees aren’t mentioned. Management there can be reached the “apprentice” way.
Of course, if you propose to run a business as a professional person such as a dentist or architect, naturally you need the applicable degrees.