<p>I will be attending college this Fall and was admitted to my school under the International Business (IB) pre-major. This major includes business, language, and regional studies classes and is supposed to prepare students to work in business internationally.</p>
<p>However, to do this the major seems to replace many of the upper division business courses with foreign language and culture classes and this concerns me because I need to have the business skills if I am going to work in business at all.</p>
<p>For this reason I have considered changing to a business pre-major and specializing in accounting or finance while possibly pursuing a minor in a foreign language.</p>
<p>So my question is what is more likely to get me employed and give me the skills to succeed in working in business internationally, an International Business degree or an Accounting or Finance degree with fluency in a foreign language?</p>
<p>In addition, if I were to choose to major in Accounting or Finance which would be better for someone hoping to work for an international company outside the USA?</p>
<p>I was somewhat in the same boat in that International Business appealed to me from early on, but after some research I discovered that it is considered a poor major. It’s too broad and interdisciplinary–basically a version of Bus Admin peppered with language and culture classes–so it doesn’t adequately prepare you for the work environment. I’m not able to speak of the career prospects of working internationally with an Accounting or Finance major instead, but I thought I’d share that I was in a somewhat similar situation and am double majoring in Accounting and Spanish. I imagine that in either capacity, you’d have to work your way toward your goal of working internationally and won’t be placed in such a position immediately upon graduation. Also, I would consider studying abroad, and perhaps complete an internship while there if possible. That would give you any advantage International Business might have otherwise and also provide you with a more marketable degree.</p>
<p>Thank you,
It says on your profile that you are 26. If this isn’t to personal, could I ask is working internationally in business still your goal and are you still doing anything to attain that goal? Are you currently working full-time at a company or are you still in school? Could you give me any advice for college next year?</p>
<p>Working internationally is still something I would like to do but probably not until further in the future. After graduating and working for a few years, joining the Peace Corps doing business advising or some other related field is what I am currently aspiring toward. That’s sort of similar I guess, but it satisfies other wants that I have as well, namely helping others and personal growth. After that, I will explore more options, grad school, etc. depending on what I’ve learned in that time frame. </p>
<p>If I were to give you advice, it would simply be to achieve the highest GPA you can (especially if you choose Accounting) and not to mess around and lose your focus. If you do that then you can graduate on time and not at 27 like me. 
Also to reiterate, studying abroad will only help if you want to gain speaking fluency, and it will open your eyes more so to other countries’ values, attitudes, customs, and cultures than you will learn about in some class in college, which is important when dealing with those from other nations. This may even be required for your International Business degree if you decide not to change it, but my advice above holds true if you do.</p>
<p>I know that in some field to get employed nowadays a master’s degree is almost required would you say the same is true for finance? When I start going to college should it definitely be with the intent of going on to get an MBA?</p>
<p>Also, where would you like to work if you were working internationally? Just out of interest</p>