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What major should I take, If I want to be a CEO of a company at other country?

I am a high school student I am thinking what my major is. #business #international

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Jared’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team

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Before doing what I do now, I worked at a consulting company where I advised many CEOs of large companies on running their businesses. I was able to see the path they took to becoming CEO of their company. First of all, you can become the CEO of many types of companies, and the experiences will all be different. The experience of being CEO of General Electric, one of the very largest companies in the world which employs over 300,000 people will be very different from being the CEO of a small startup that you found with a couple of friends in your garage. For now, I'll assume that you're asking about being the CEO of a large company.


The easy answer to your question is: your college major does not directly relate to your ability to get a CEO role at a large company. Your candidacy for the CEO position is usually based on decades of experience demonstrating your leadership, judgement, and cool head under pressure. You must often be considered a visionary. You will most likely have to be an exceptionally political person (in terms of office politics, not electoral politics). While you may begin to learn some of these skills in college, you will not be qualified to become the CEO of a large company until you have demonstrated these talents over a number of years. I've met CEOs who started with medical degrees, law degrees, history degrees, and sometimes no degrees at all. The one thing the all had in common was a successful track record and a very impressive business career.


If you want to give your business career a jumpstart, you can consider majoring in Economics or in Business. That will give you the qualifications required to begin working in the business field.


It's good to have a goal like becoming a CEO because it will keep you motivated to always be your best. Plus, it is an incredibly rewarding job if you can get it. Do your best to improve your leadership, judgement, and cool head under pressure, be visionary, inspirational, and politically astute. There are many stepping stones to get to your goal, but it's a very worthy goal to pursue. Good luck, Henry.

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Catherine’s Answer

There is no definite course/major for a CEO position in a company. I am an auditor and have dealt with many CEOs from different company and industries. Each of them came from different background (i.e. finance, operations, etc.). I believe that if you are aiming to be a CEO of a company you may take up any course/major that interests you. Do your best to excel on your chosen course/major. After college, make sure you go to a company that will give you great amount of experience. Often times, it matters to have experience from multinational companies. Moving up to the ladder in the corporate world is quite challenging, you need hardwork and connections at the same time so make sure you surround yourself with the right people (i.e. look for the best mentor within the company).
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Simeon’s Answer

You can end up in leadership positions from almost any background. The types of companies out there are only limited by one's imagination, so the skill sets needed will be just as diverse. To move up the ladder quickly, I'd recommend getting into one of the big four accounting firms: PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, or EY. They have internal cultures that greatly encourage moving up the ladder as quickly as possible. People often seek to get the title of Manager or Director as quick as they can at one of these consulting firms and then transfer to industry. Additionally, in these large firms, you work with many different client companies, so you have a great shot at networking your way up as well. That combined with the international reach of these companies, and you have a pretty reliable way of ending up at the top of a company in another country.
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