Major in Business Administration

Parents Forum
1

<p>My oldest son is in his 3rd year of college (but really still sophomore status). He shouldn't have gone his first year and it was basically a waste of time and money. He finally seems to be on track as far as realizing he needs to get decent grades and maintain at least 15 hours/semester. If he continues as is, he will finish in 4.5 year and that's taking summer classes the next 2 summer. However, I'm not holding my breath and it could be 5 years.</p>

<p>Anyway, he never has seemed to know what he wanted to do. He is incredibly interested in sports and we gave him an open ticket to find what he loved. I kept telling him: Athletic Training, sports mgmnt...any other sports related field, but he would have nothing to do with it, to my surprise. I believe he thinks those aren't impressive enough and decided to do business, even though he really doesn't have a passion for it and still doesn't really know what it is and what types of jobs are out there. He says it's just a good rounded education, and thinks he'll be employable with it.</p>

<p>I had a talk with him yesterday and asked him what types of jobs do you get with that degree, vs a more specialized business degree (Finance, Econ, Acct, Mkg, ISOM). He didn't know. Arghh....He's just putting in the time without really giving it much thought.</p>

<p>He didn't want to have the conversation last night, but I made him. I told him now is the time to start researching jobs for that degree, vs. other degrees. Go to Monster.com and see what types of jobs are out there for people with that degree.</p>

<p>I find it frustrating that he still seems unfocused and is just muddling along trying to get the "easiest" degree out of Business school. He said he would do a Finance Minor. I said, "great, for what?" Is an employer going to hire a Finance Major or a Finance Minor with a low GPA?</p>

<p>Anyway, not sure what I'm asking...more venting. But, if anyone's kid did get that degree, or is going for it...what types of jobs are out there?</p>

2

<p>I’m no expert in that degree but he sounds like the kind of person who could do well to combine his education with working. So many employers want experience. He could work his way into managing a store, small business, restaurant and help pay for his education at the same time. So what if it takes him longer to get his degree. He’ll gain maturity and real world experience that will help him answer your questions about what comes next.</p>

3

<p>My S1 wanted and received a 4 year business degree from a small liberal arts college. He is just finishing his 20th straight week of leadership training for a F100 company (he has really racked up the hotel points and has mastered the fine art of expense reports) and will be relocated to Chicago in January to begin his career. </p>

<p>The business degree qualified him to apply for the job, but he really feels it was his internships (Chicago Board of Trade and summer working for transportation/logistics company) and his leadership record (hockey captain and student ambassador) that got him the job. </p>

<p>Take a look at the entry job opportunities online and see what degree/skill sets/experience they are asking for. Have him get his resume in order and get some apps out over Christmas break for the summer internships.</p>

<p>As a side note, my nephew got a sports management degree and was hired by Target Corp as a business analyst. Many of my son’s friends will say that the degree is just to get the first job, after that it doesn’t matter what you majored in…I suppose there is some truth to that statement.</p>

<p>The good news is that your son wants to graduate and he can use those summer courses to beef up his GPA!</p>

4

<p>Does the school have a co-op program? Co-op(s), internship(s), informational interviews, and/or job shadowing could all be helpful for this young man.</p>

5

<p>It does seem that co-ops and internships are a lot more important for new grads than when dh and I graduated eons ago. I’d encourage even students with excellent GPAs to get some related work experience while in college, and it seems to be vital for anyone with lower grades. </p>

<p>It appears that the Big 4 accounting & advisory firms won’t consider anyone with less than a 3.5 unless there’s some personal connection. Banks are choosier these days, too. Is there a chance that your son might transfer to another school? Where my kids went, the university did not count any grades earned elsewhere in their GPA. For the younger S this hurt because all of the As he earned locally didn’t count and then his GPA was hurt by lower marks while he was hospitalized during his last year. He was able to explain it on interviews, but it seemed he often couldn’t get his foot in the door to have the chance to explain. </p>

<p>A generic business degree does not seem to be as attractive as a Finance or Accounting degree. Odds are that your son won’t want to hear this from you. Is there anyone else who could talk with him? Can you persuade him to see his school’s career center for testing and advising? Now’s the time to line up a summer internship (if they’re not already booked) as well as to consider if a different path would make more sense next year.</p>

6

<p>All great advice. I actually talked to him about it 2 days ago and he DIDN’T want to hear it or talk about it, really. He did find that he could get credit for an internship thru the university, but it has to be ok’d by the department head. He hasn’t officially been accepted to the Business school as he has a couple of classes yet to take to qualify, but he’ll get in. He can’t take an internship this summer as he has to take some summer classes, but maybe the summer after is what I’m hoping.</p>

<p>It does give me some hope that he can get that first job with just a general business degree. I do also think work experience would help him while in school. He really needs to get a job, I’ve been after him since he started school and he just<em>won’t</em> go_ do_ it! Thank you all for these suggestions.</p>

7

<p>A little more about doing a co-op which might perk a young person’s interest. I got real live <em>paid</em> for it, full-time, 6 months. I also got to move to a different part of the country with the work already lined up and people there to help me find housing. That’s a really cool way to be able to check out a new area without making a permanent commitment to it. I made friends with co-ops who were there from across the country. The co-op ultimate frisbee game. Hanging out with friends at the warm Florida beach where I didn’t even need a sweater at night! Road trip I took to Naples with friends. Key West. Active social life. Yeah, there was the job, too, lol.</p>

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<p>I don’t know what a co-op programs is. I guess I’ll have look it up!</p>

9

<p>I kept telling him: Athletic Training, sports mgmnt…any other sports related field, but he would have nothing to do with it, to my surprise.</p>

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<p>I would think that a business degree would lend itself well to sports management - you don’t have to major in “sports management” to be in sports management.</p>

10

<p>Hmmmm…thanks Kelsmom…I’m going to have him look into that.</p>

11

<p>To be bluntly honest, a generic “business administration degree” these days has a negative connotation, basically as the OP said, it is seen as a degree kids choose because it is ‘easy’ (used to be it was what all the frat boys and jocks and such did)… whether true or not, that is what employers are often viewing it as, read too much on LinkedIn and also from what I have seen as a hiring manager and talking to others.</p>

<p>One of the things people have to get into their heads is the idea that college degrees necessarily are direct job training, or that if you don’t major in X, you won’t be able to do Y. In some cases that is true, if you want an engineering job, better have an engineering degree (on the other hand, people with engineering degrees often end up not doing that; the founder of my company, and the current head of our business unit, had degrees in chemical engineering from MIT but got into business, one management consulting, the other as a trader), but that isn’t true for general office jobs. A degree is business administration does have basic training in things like accounting, finance and management principles, but to be honest, that edge is only slightly above a liberal arts degree. Goldman Sachs is going after unconventional degree candidates these days, including music performance majors, because they started realizing that the finance/business admin/economics majors didn’t have everything they were looking for. </p>

<p>And if he isn’t interested in business admin, if his plan is to hook on with a company and get on some sort of management track, what makes him think he will want to do it after college? And does he think that after college that he would want to do something he doesn’t like or really care about? One of the things that is underrated about getting jobs and succeeding is that employers do look for passion, for actually seeming to get into and enjoy what they are doing, it gets people jobs, take it from me. </p>

<p>That doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t major in business admin, but I think he needs to ask himself what he wants to do,because going into something you don’t like is not a good way to be, won’t be good for himself or his employers. As someone else noted, he could use the Bus admin degree to work in sports management or the like, it would be an entry to that.</p>

<p>I think what other people are saying is really, really important,that the key is going to be work experience, that is huge, whether it is internships or working jobs. First of all,it let’s the person see what it is like to work the job, and whether they would want to do it. And when trying to distinguish yourself in an interview, showing you worked is extremely important, a kid with a 4.0 with all these honors at school may not trump a kid with less impressive academic credentials who has done internships and worked. Especially in his case, where he had some issues and such, even more so. The other thing that is important is that he learns to market himself, the things that make him unique that he can sell, and that comes from knowing what is needed and what he has, and that comes from experience. </p>

12

<p>Know someone whose kid got a degree 3 years ago in sports management from a Big 10 school. He never did find a job that required a college degree. He scrapes by on assorted low wage jobs - including a summer job at a golf course as a ball washer $8/hour (plus tips!).</p>

13

<p>I think you are sending mixed messages to your son. If you told him he needs to get a job and he didn’t get one- where does he get his spending money from? You want him in college- he clearly has gotten that message- but he doesn’t seem especially interested in academics or intellectually stretching himself. Nor does he seem particularly interested in following a vocational track (i.e. majoring in accounting).</p>

<p>I think the mechanics of how he will get a job are less important at this stage (especially since he doesn’t seem interested in discussing it with you) than the more existential question- what the heck is he doing in college at all? A poster from a long, long time ago used to say that college is like Disneyland for post-adolescents who don’t know what they heck they want to do with their lives.</p>

<p>And that’s fine- if you can afford Disney for 4 or 5 years (plus those summers).</p>

<p>But if you can’t, I’m not sure your son has absorbed that message.</p>

<p>Does he ever read a newspaper? Does he even know about what people in corporate jobs do for a living? What kind of extra-curricular activities is he involved in and do any of them involve being out in the community? Does he volunteer or have any leadership responsibility???</p>

14

<p>Many college graduates find jobs that are not related at all to their undergraduate college major. Employers are looking for bright folks who they can train to work in their companies. </p>

<p>Let your son complete his degree in whatever he chooses. He is old enough to choose his own college major.</p>

15

<p>I think the focus should be on entering the work world right now. It sounds like he isn’t even responsible for making his own spending money, so I’m not sure how realistic it is for the OP to expect him to be able to plot out the early stages of his post-college work career. Perhaps he could get a job in a coffee shop or liquor store, which could eventually lead to being assistant manager, which along with completing his degree (perhaps at a slower pace) would help transition him into a career. I agree that he should choose his own major, but work experience would be more helpful than a specific minor for someone who is not on the scholarly track.</p>

16

<p>Well, his spending money is from what he earned in the summer…and to break it out for the entire year it leaves him with $35 per week. We give him $70 a week for food…he lives in an apartment. So, he has $105 a week for food, gas, clothing, entertainment. I guess he feels that must be enough.</p>

<p>He met with his counselor over this Xmas break to get back on track with what he needs to do to complete the business degree (another story). Anyway, there is an internship “class” that he can apply for not this coming summer but the following where they can get 3 - 6 credits. They have to have dept. approval, and the university probably helps them get the internship. He seemed quite excited about that, so that’s good.</p>

<p>I do think he’s doing this to take the easy route. Who knows after he takes his first finance class. he might do well enough in it that he might decide to do that. He wants to do a Finance minor. </p>

17

I have MBA - Masters in Business Administration and so does my H. We did not need it, but why not if employers were paying. This type of degree is open to anything, the motivation to find job and work hard there, do your best will determine future. Some positions require more talent, than knowledge, like any sales related, you got to have it or you do not, nobody can teach you that, but most (all?) will not hire without degree, got to have a face for the clients/ customers.

18

…I agree, Business is NOT the hardest major, students have much more time than many others. But that is what they want, so why not?