If you have opted to take a business degree, then that chances are you are happy to be challenged on a daily basis. You like gaining knowledge at a rapid pace, and late nights are okay with you.
It’s the extensive learning during a business management degree that can be applied to so many different careers paths. And, if you choose to, you can up your employability by checking out Aston Online’s business administration masters. As a business graduate, you have a lot of options and opportunity – but you still need to stand out. Your skillset, as well as how you put your knowledge into practice, will be what defines you. So, you should always be looking to improve and expand both.
But, there are some skills that are inbuilt to the business administration degree, and if you are lucky you might already have some – and you’ll be building upon skills you already have.
Strategic Thinking
This is going to be much easier for others, some of us are naturally strategic and logical thinkers. But, that is not to say that it isn’t possible for others. The material you’ll be studying from, and the tutors and teachers will all be very critical strategy based thinkers.
This is because, in many of the career options, you will be looking at solutions to business based problems. And, they can’t be run of the mill – they’ll need to be innovative and at the cutting edge of new methods, using modern technology. So, while not everyone taking a business administration degree will have real-world working experience, the skills you have are worth their weight in gold.
Problem-solving and strategics are the best of friends – you will apply one to the other, and the sum of the whole should always equal more than the parts.
Goal Setting
When you are in college and indeed university, you are very used to setting clearly defined goals. You have to have your work completed on a particular day, you need to attend classes at certain times. However, there is much research to back up the fact that if you actually hope to achieve a goal, first you must set it. And in fact, more than that, consider how you will realize that goal.
Business administration degrees can take you in many directions. Marketing, finance, organizational management – and that is just the tip of the iceberg. All of those are only made possible by setting, and meeting clearly defined goals.
Your goals should always have a practical element, with measurable smaller goals on the way toward a final goal and a plan of how to execute it.
Practical Marketplace Knowledge
And, in some cases, you will get experience too. If you know that you want to attend a business administration degree, or perhaps you are considering topping yours up further into a masters degree. Then, you should always be looking to make headway in a company as an intern. Some courses will have space and companies lined up, other times you’re going to need to forge your own path.
While you don’t need experience, knowing how to apply your knowledge in a practical application is going to put your ahead of the rest – and that is no bad thing.
The more real-life experience you can garner the better. Many business schools have deep links with local and global businesses, so use them.
This will also give you more insight into where you are likely to want to work in the future too – as in, marketing, organizational, finance, and so on.
Relationship Building
If you want to succeed in business, you’re going to need to be a people person. Relationship building is one of the most integral skills for you. Not only do you need to develop good relationships with your peers, you need to navigate, but the people above and below you.
Outside of the workplace, you will be needing to be able to have good working relationships with suppliers and clients alike.
Often it is more about who you know, not what you know. So knowing as much as you can, and making an effort with people – you’ll be armed enough.
During your classes, you should treat the people in there both as competition and as contemporaries. This will be good practice for later in your career.
Make a point of attending and networking events. Not only will you begin to build your personal network, but even the ones that are not quite in your remit will mean you have a lot of experience about what works and what doesn’t.
Relationship building will also feed heavily into your ability to work in a team. And, each time, you will be working with a different group of personalities. So, you can begin to apply one (or more) of the many theories you will have been taught. Collaboration and teamwork can often lead to giving you a deeper understanding of what you are best at. Much of the business world is based on multiple groups (companies) of people, who all work together (with contractual agreements and payments), to achieve a mutual goal.
Teamwork is the backbone of a lot of great business.
Communication
Aside from written articles, you will also be giving presentations (both group and individual). Your aim will be to deliver the correct information, well researched and developed into more than just a ‘maybe this’ theory.
Being able to explore your thoughts and deliver them to others entirely is essential.
On from that, learning what effective communication really is, and how body language will be playing a part in what you are saying. You will learn what tools really make communication easier, how to deliver in different mediums and most important find your style and tone.
Time Management
You might think you are already great at managing your time, but the truth is we could all be better. In business school – of any time- one of the things that the drive home all the time is how not to waste your time. Time is, for most people, money. Either your personal income or the income of your business.
Time management, you might assume is about prioritizing your time, but actually, it’s about taking the same amount of time that everyone else has – and making it double and more. Optimization tools and techniques that mean you are a master of time.
Work-Life Balance
If there is such a thing, it is hard to find and harder to maintain. The trick is to know when you are sliding in one direction or the other. Initially, you might have no significant other or family. But later, after you have landed that job you so coveted, and then your family begins to grow, you might wonder how to make it all make sense. This is where the time management skills will really come into play too.
Learning that if you can do today, what will free up time tomorrow – then you get it done. Essentially, the balance you are looking for will always come down to the best to double your time.
Business Administration courses aren’t just about business. They cover the theory behind techniques, they have the most solid cases studies to back up their findings. The courses push you, and your thinking to another level. So that you can see opportunities or problems at the same speed. And know how to handle them. This type of study adds new dimensions to your personality and shines a light on your strongest points. That is what makes these type of studies not just a course, but a new way of living and working.
