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What do I do to find a job in the business field without it being so daunting?

The business field is so broad and I don't how to narrow my searches.

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Samantha’s Answer

Hey Milan! Great question - I also was initially very drawn to the field of business but needed to take more time to narrow down what kinds of business jobs are most interesting to me.

The first thing I would recommend doing is more closely assessing whether you enjoy and are good at more qualitative or quantitative tasks. People in business who gravitate to more quantitative tasks tend to gravitate to more accounting or finance heavy rolls. People who are also interesting in coding might be more interested in data analytics focused roles. People who are more interested in more qualitative tasks might be drawn to more HR or more qualitative based marketing roles.

I would recommend looking up a few business schools and looking at their majors to see which fields most closely align to your interests. You can also look through different course syllabi to look for good keywords and buzzwords to use when searching for jobs that might be of the most interest to you. You can also try searching LinkedIn for people who had specific majors at some of the business schools you look up to see what kinds of jobs they have now. Keywords in their job titles or companies they work at could also serve as inspiration for you. Best of luck with the job search!

Samantha recommends the following next steps:

Look up business school majors & class syllabi
Search LinkedIn for people who studied things you are interested in
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Kieran’s Answer

Hey there! My best advice in addition to all the great advise you've already received is to be open to business paths that you might not have thought you'd go down. This is where I have learned and grown the most, and found myself enjoying things I never imagined (and to the contrary, found things I thought I would love to be unfulfilling).
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Arthur’s Answer

You are so correct. The business field is so broad that it can be daunting to find your way. The most important thing is to focus on what you enjoy doing. Find your passion, or something that interests you and start there.
Are you a people person? This is a great fit for Human Resources opportunities (as well as others)
Do you enjoy numbers and math? For that I would totally recommend finance
Do you enjoy writing? There are many opportunities here that include writing technical documents, compiling and publishing procedures, and documenting processes.
Can you herd cats? Ok, I am joking a little here, but if you enjoy pulling different groups of people together, Program and Project Management are great opportunities here.
The above are all starting places. As an example, I went to college as an Electronics Engineer, and am now working in Data Science doing project management. The most important thing is to start out with something that you enjoy (or think you might), and use that as your entry point. As your career progresses, you will most likely find other paths that spark your interest, especially when working for larger companies.
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Emily’s Answer

Hi Milan, this is a great question! Having so many possible career paths is exciting, but can be daunting. I would recommend finding opportunities to shadow business professionals in your area or even potential internships. The best way to find out if you like something is to jump in. Find a few areas that you might be interested in and ask teachers, advisors, and other trusted adults if they have connections to anyone in that area. You would be surprised how many business professionals would love to share advice and offer guidance. The best thing to remember is that if you find yourself in a business area that you don't love, you can always change your course and try something new!
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Sharon’s Answer

Sometimes it's better to start working at a small business so you can get hands-on with various areas and learn a lot about business areas.
Another idea is to use an employment agency to help place you in temporary or permanent roles to get experience.
Good luck!
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david’s Answer

Hi, Milan,
What are you searching for? A job? Or are you still a student? If you are a student, my recommendation is to put this question on the shelf for now and focus on the business-oriented degree itself. You are correct, in that there are many opportunities in business, and that is the strength of majoring in the business area. If you are a graduate and looking for a job, be aware that most positions in business are not so specific that you would be denied the opportunity to spend time in topics you enjoy. Whether you are in finance or HR or department administration functions, you will have growth opportunities. The key is getting that first position, as then you are in a position to further explore other areas within a company to exercise your skills.
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Daniel’s Answer

Great Question Milan!

The business field is broad but that is one of the nice things about this field. Business allows you to keep your options open and does not force you into one particular category. This may be daunting but I would encourage you to look at it as an opportunity to not limit yourself and make yourself more valuable to companies. In high school I had trouble determining what career path I wanted to take in life. This led to a lot of stress and feeling lost compared to some of my fiends who knew exactly what career/field they wanted to go into. I chose a business path since it would keep my options open and not limit me to one particular field.

To help narrow down your search below are just a few types of jobs you could do with a business degree.

1. Operations
2. Finance
3. Sales
4. Marketing
5. Human Resources

After looking into the different business fields I decided to go into Business Operations. Also, many larger companies will start you in a rotational analyst program. By doing this you will get to see usually 2-4 different sections of the business. Companies offer this to not only help you hone in on your career path but many companies have realized that if there employees actually enjoy their job they will get better overall performance.

Good Luck on the journey!
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Josh’s Answer

Think first about what companies you would be interested in working for. Make a list of those companies. Then, go to each company's website, find the careers page, and look at the types of open jobs they have. Also, many companies have summaries on those pages that explain broadly what departments they have, which can be helpful. Once you see a job that interests you, look at the description and see what the qualifications are. Then work to see what you need to do to become qualified for that job if you aren't already. Also, once you see a job that interests you, you can search for that title or the keywords in the title on job boards like Indeed or career sites like LinkedIn.
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Terrell’s Answer

Business is one of the best majors because the field is so broad. But because the field is so broad, you may want to research areas in business that interest you. I was a business major in college. I started out majoring in accounting, but when I got to my junior year, I changed to finance (most of the coursework was the same for finance and accounting, but without all of the additional accounting courses). I was good with money and wanted to help others with their money, so I started my post-college career in banking. That was a great starting point for me. Find out what interests you in the field of business. Do you like crunching numbers? Do you like sales? Does marketing interest you? All of these areas fall under business. You can apply your business skills even in the medical field, for example, by working in the finance department of a hospital. So, without making my answer too long, start with what you like about business, then follow that path to almost any industry.

Best of luck to you!
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Kali’s Answer

Business is a very broad field, so you might start by thinking more about what kind of businesses you’d be interested in working for and what aspect of a business you’d like to work on.

For example are there certain products or services you’d be interested in providing for people? Are there businesses in your local community that you think do important work and you’d like to be a part of?

Are you interested in working for a small business or a big business? Do you like the idea of working for a startup or new company versus one that’s well-established?

Within a business, what kind of roles interest you? Are you developing or creating content? Working to manage people (Human Resources?)? Do you like working on financial aspects, such as doing accounting or payroll? Do you like to organize and oversee projects (project manager)? Do you like working with people and providing customer service?

I recommend thinking through some of these questions so you can start imagining what type of position in the business world might suit you. If you still aren’t sure, you might look into books or online resources that talk about roles in the business world. If you know anyone who has studied or worked in business, maybe ask if you can sit down with them to ask more questions and learn about their experiences- and based on their experiences and what catches your interest, you could then ask if they know anyone else you could talk to about working in business. If you are currently or soon going to be in college, this is a great thing to work on with a career advisor.
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Pam’s Answer

There are a lot of options out there, so I understand how you feel. One of the things I did when I was younger was to get signed up at a Temporary Agency. You can take a lot of different short term assignments at different companies and get a feel for the work and the culture at each location. I did this twice early on in my career and ended up getting hired by one of the companies I temped for each time. In fact, I'm here at Verizon because of a temp job I did at AT&T many, many years ago! Although I didn't get paid a lot and didn't have my dream job, I took that opportunity to tell people there what I was looking for long term. I showed up every day dressed professionally and even asked for more work when I was done with my assignments. I was on time or early every day and worked hard, which got me noticed. It wasn't long before some of the leaders there started putting me in contact with hiring managers in the area. I had sent out 100's of resumes with no replies, but this one temp job led to several interviews and ultimately my dream job. It's a great stepping stone and a way to "sample" different companies. Good luck!
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