General Career Information: Business & Commerce Jobs
Business career opportunities are going to those with a solid business school education and experience. Learn more about where business careers are headed.
Business Careers: Future Job Outlook
Business careers are growing more diverse. If you're thinking of switching to a business career or you are already in one, your experiences in other industries can help you grow. If you want a business education, your studies should include many opportunities for specialization, which businesses are expected to want more of in the future.
Diverse Work Environments
Many industries want employees to be more educated in specialized fields. This creates an opportunity for business professionals. You may have an MBA, but you could find yourself in a warehouse, a restaurant chain, a corporate skyscraper, a construction site, or a tiny office working as a consultant.
Health care is the economic sector that should see the most future growth, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In response to this trend, many of today's business schools are offering degrees in business and health care management. As the health care industry grows, so should opportunities for a rewarding (and lucrative) career in health administration, as well as accountants, risk managers, and human resource specialists.
Best Industries for Business
The BLS predicts management, scientific, and technical consulting services should grow more than 80 percent between 2008 and 2018, making it the fastest growing of all industries. A career in consulting requires a lot of hard work and experience. Consultants are usually seasoned experts in their chosen career fields. The majority have a bachelor's degree, if not a master's, as most jobs are in management, business, finance or other professional occupations. Salaries for consultants are generally high--an average of $913 per week compared to $608 for workers across occupations in the private sector.
Best Occupations for Business
According to the BLS, financial examiner is the fastest growing business-related occupation, and fifth overall, with just over 40 percent projected growth. Many examiners work in government, while others work in the private sector as compliance officers, auditors, and the like. Financial examiners with enough experience may also work in consulting businesses. The BLS also states that the San Francisco Bay area, Washington, DC., White Plains, NY/Wayne, NJ., and Charlotte, NC are the best paying areas in the country for financial examiners.
Several different industries such as research and development, wholesale electronics, information services, and software publishing were also at the top of the growth chart. These careers can be a perfect fit if you have the right business education. Those interested in careers in more traditional business fields such as accounting, marketing, statistics, human resources, and finance should be able to find jobs in all kinds of different industries.
Best Locations
Many areas still have strong unemployment rates, but some states are bucking the trend. These are the top five:
- North Dakota, 3.6 percent
- South Dakota, 4.4 percent
- Nebraska, 4.7 percent
- New Hampshire, 5.8 percent
- Vermont, 6 percent.
These positive numbers are in a variety of industries, most notably, energy and mining production, which offer employment opportunities to those with business degrees in positions like accounting, human resources management, or sales.
Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is a freelance writer based out of Reno, Nev. A journalism graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno, Riddle was a newspaper reporter and then an account coordinator for a political consultant in Reno where he worked for several successful campaigns. His interests are many, but CrossFit, rock climbing, reading and writing, skiing, snowboarding, fatherhood and acting round up the list.
National Employment Matrix: Search by Occupation: Percent change in employment, 2008-2018: Total, al • Dec 10, 2009 • Bureau of Labor Statistics
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Servic • Bureau of Labor Statistics
The 30 fastest-growing occupations, 2008-18 • Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wages: Financial Examiners • Bureau of Labor Statistics
Unemployment Rates for States Monthly Rankings Seasonally Adjusted • Bureau of Labor Statistics
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