Best Jobs for Graduates With a Business Degree

Career Options to Consider for Business Majors

Image shows five people in various jobs. Text reads: "Best jobs for business majors: corporate attorney; business teacher; financial analyst; accountant; business reporter"
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Jo Zixuan Zhou / The Balance

Business majors develop many valuable skills and areas of knowledge that enable them to make a significant contribution to the corporate and not-for-profit worlds. They can quantify a set of data, evaluate the financial impact of decisions, and use figures to back up their proposals.

College students who major in business learn to write in a clear and concise manner while crafting case analyses and other business papers for their classes. Professors often require them to complete projects in groups, so they learn the challenges and value of teamwork while refining their presentation and leadership skills.

Skills Business Majors Have

Dissecting business problems and recommending solutions help business majors to enhance their critical thinking and analytical skills. They learn to use information technology tools to gather, organize, and represent data for presentations and papers.

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Knowledge acquired in core subjects like marketing, management, human resources, and accounting prepare business majors to lead others in the workplace.

With classes like business law and business ethics, students gain a legal and ethical perspective of the world around them. In addition, students with a degree in business gain a global perspective and an appreciation for the value of diversity by studying business practices in other cultures.

Top 10 Jobs for Business Majors

1. Accountant

Accountants help organizations to finance their operations, abide by government regulations, save money, and maximize their profits. They tap into the financial knowledge and skills learned in college to make sound decisions about an organization's resources. Accountants represent and communicate business information that is used by colleagues to operate more effectively, and by investors to make sound decisions about their investments.

Accountants conduct audits and provide consulting and tax planning services. They often move on to leadership positions within the finance division of their organization or client organizations.

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All types of business, governmental nonprofit, and educational organizations enlist the services of accountants.

Salary: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual income for accountants in May 2019 was $71,550. The lowest 10% earned less than $44,480, and the highest 10% earned more than $124,450.

Job Outlook: Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow by 4% between 2019 and 2029—about as fast as the average for all occupations.

2. Management Consultant

Management consultants or management analysts carry out a process for clients, not unlike the case analysis method used in many of the classes for business majors. They apply analytical and problem-solving skills to their projects and utilize the teamwork and presentation skills cultivated through their studies.

Consultants are experts at gathering information, organizing it, and composing reports with their findings. Analysts are power users of technology as they process and represent data for their clients.

Analysts enlist the spreadsheet, database, and presentation tools often applied to their class projects as business majors.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual income for management analysts in May 2019 was $85,260. The lowest 10% earned less than $49,700 and the highest 10% earned more than $154,310.

Job Outlook: Employment of management analysts is projected to grow by 11% between 2019 and 2029—faster than the average for all occupations.

3. Social Media Manager

Social media managers utilize their tech savvy and knowledge of marketing communications to coordinate their employer's presence on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. They enhance business activity, establish brand identity, and get the word out about their organization.

Social media managers devise strategic plans, help develop content, and measure the impact of online campaigns. Social media managers enlist the support of staff to gather information for stories that can be placed on social media.

Like business majors, social media managers must be team players and have the people skills to coax cooperation when they don't possess formal authority over colleagues.

Salary: According to PayScale, social media managers earn an average salary of $51,433.

4. Financial Analyst

Business majors learn to assess the strengths and weaknesses of businesses and analyze trends in various industries. Financial analysts capitalize on those skills to evaluate companies, industries, and associated investments for clients or their parent company. They interpret financial statements, calculate ratios and other metrics, and write reports with recommendations for investments and the allocation of corporate resources.

Financial analysts benefit from the coursework in accounting, finance, economics, and mathematics that is traditionally part of a business major.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual income for financial analysts in May 2019 was $81,590. The lowest 10% earned less than $47,230, and the highest 10% earned more than $156,150.

Job Outlook: Employment of financial analysts is projected to grow by 5% between 2019 and 2029—faster than the average for all occupations.

5. Actuary

Business majors with a strong quantitative orientation to their background can become key players in the insurance industry by working as an actuary. Actuaries calculate the probability of risky events occurring, such as death, injury, accidents, fires, and illnesses, when insurance companies would be liable to pay out claims.

They utilize knowledge of accounting, finance, and economics and carry out complex analyses of scenarios based on demographic profiles. Actuaries, like business majors, utilize spreadsheets, databases, and statistical software to conduct their analyses.

In addition, actuaries must have strong writing, presentation, and persuasive skills to secure support from colleagues for their proposals.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual income for actuaries in May 2019 was $108,350. The lowest 10% earned less than $64,860, and the highest 10% earned more than $193,600.

Job Outlook: Employment of actuaries is projected to grow by 18% between 2019 and 2029—much faster than the average growth rate for all occupations.

6. College Admissions Representative

Business majors who are interested in working in a college environment should consider a position with the admissions office as an option. Admissions staff draw upon the strong communication, presentation, and persuasive skills of the business major to reach out to prospective students.

They develop marketing plans to strategically promote the college and encourage applications. Admissions staff, like business majors, must collaborate with other team members on projects and to deliver programs.

A college admissions role is essentially a sales position for a college, so business majors with a strong foundation in sales and marketing and an outgoing personality are likely to be successful in this niche.

Salary: According to Glassdoor, admissions representatives earn a median income of $43,088.

7. Business Teacher

Educating high-school students about the business world is an option for business majors who also complete the teacher education requirements. Business majors need the broad-based knowledge gained in marketing, management, finance, and accounting to carry out this role effectively.

Strong verbal communication and interpersonal skills are required to engage students. Planning and presenting stimulating lessons are key to success as a teacher.

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Business majors can draw upon the wide array of instructional approaches that they have encountered while completing their degree.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual income for high-school teachers in May 2019 was $61,660. The lowest 10% earned less than $40,540, and the highest 10% earned more than $99,660.

Job Outlook: Employment of high-school teachers is projected to grow by 4% between 2019 and 2029—about the same as the average growth rate for all occupations.

8. Business Reporter

Print, broadcast, and electronic media all provide extensive coverage of events and developments in the business and financial sectors. Business majors learn to analyze companies and industries and compose written summaries of their findings, just like reporters. They develop the communications and presentation skills needed to clearly articulate content about the business world.

If you are fascinated by business, but would rather report on it than conduct business, this kind of reporting might be for you.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual income for reporters in May 2019 was $46,270. The lowest 10% earned less than $24,520 and the highest 10% earned more than $117,170.

Job Outlook: Employment of reporters as a whole is projected to decline by 11% between 2019 and 2029. However, the proliferation of broadcast and online media coverage in relation to economic and business developments may provide better opportunities for those specializing in business reporting.

9. Corporate Attorney

Attorneys who practice corporate or business law benefit from the broad knowledge of business entities and practices acquired by business majors. The business major develops a solid foundation for areas of corporate law like bankruptcy, securities, contracts, mergers, collections, business successions, and incorporations. The research, writing, and presentation skills developed by business majors help corporate lawyers to carry out their work.

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Business majors with solid academic records and LSAT scores can gain acceptance at elite law schools.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual wage for lawyers was $122,960 in May 2019. The lowest 10% earned less than $59,670, and the highest 10% earned more than $208,000.

Job Outlook: Employment of lawyers is projected to grow by 4% between 2019 and 2029—about the same as the average growth rate for all occupations.

10. Healthcare Administrator

Administrators in the healthcare sector must have knowledge of accounting, budgeting, human resources, marketing, management, business law, ethics, and information technology—all subjects that are covered in the business curriculum. Many business majors with an interest in the field will go on to graduate work in healthcare management.

Teamwork, communication, analytical, and presentation skills of the business major are critical to the success of a healthcare administrator.

Salary: According to the BLS, the median annual wage for medical and health service managers was $100,980 in May 2019. The lowest 10% earned less than $58,820, and the highest 10% earned more than $189,000.

Job Outlook: Employment of medical and health service managers is projected to grow by 32% between 2019 and 2029—much faster than the average growth rate for all occupations.

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Sources
The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Accountants and Auditors." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Management Analysts." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  3. PayScale. "Average Social Media Manager Salary." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  4. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Financial Analysts." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  5. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Actuaries." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  6. Glassdoor. "Admissions Representative Salaries." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  7. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "High School Teachers." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  8. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Reporters, Correspondents, and Broadcast News Analysts." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  9. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Lawyers." Accessed March 18, 2021.

  10. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Medical and Health Services Managers." Accessed March 18, 2021.

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