Degree in business management

[NewUser1990]

Hello
would like to know what kind of jobs am i able to get if am holding a degree in business management? what are the possible career paths? Thanks

[fusioncat]

Hi,

Could you share more about yourself?
Firstly, I think you made the right decision to take a business degree.
While it is a general degree, its opportunity is limitless. Its also because its a general degree, employment might be difficult because companies are looking for people with specialised skills. There are also tons of business degree holders out there. Supply and demand after all.

I have many friends with MBA and BBA becoming property agent and financial planners. Its a sad situation though. I personally hold an MBA too and find it difficult so its very common these days. If not for my experience in IT, I would have been jobless. Taking into consideration globalization (Foreign Talents). This is because the old analogy holds true, just throw a stone and you can hit a degree holder.

I personally suggest you specialise.

Here are a few questions first.

Firstly
Where is this degree from? Local university like NTU, NUS, SMU or External degree program?

If your degree is from an oversea institution than the chance of you being employed in executive/management is slimmer.
(There are many debates out there, but I had experiences in HR recruitment for placement in public services and the instruction given to us was plain simple, non NTU, NUS or SMU, offer them diploma salary. While this may be sensitive issue, you can't change the recruiter perception


Secondly,
What is your background? Which industry did you come from?
Finance, HR, Technology, Logistics, Oil and Gases, Food etc?

My background have always been in IT Infrastructure.

I personally am deciding to venture into either BI/BA or Auditing/Security.

Fyi, marketing is no bed of roses too. Most marketing people I know are doing events logistics. The HR guys/girls I know are stuck to payroll. Don't mention the accounting folks, they work till midnights.

am getting an external degree.
currently does not have any working experience.
any suggestions on what i should do ? i having a full time course now. left with 1 more year

[fusioncat]

Hi in my opinion, (not a suggestion), is to first complete your program first before deciding on your specialization.

Yet At the same time, you might want to send out resumes to see which opportunities are available (test the market). The market ultimately decides the demand and salary. You might want to work for a year to two to decide later.

Here are my humble experiences as well as the (general) feedbacks I gathered from fellow colleagues for fresh grads. There are always exceptions though:

Marketing: Executive level deal mainly with events (BTL), collaterals, prints, etc. Its more of a logistic operation role than a strategic planning one.
Can be very tiring.
Job opportunity is lower than accounts/finance because many (small) companies in Singapore don't understand the importance of marketing and would lump it as sales.

Accounting: Same thing, long hours, OTs, tight deadline for monthly payroll as well as other major events like auditing, financial reporting, etc. Can suffer burnout too. You need professional certs like ACCA to be considered for promotions or enjoy a good income, passing rate is almost 30-40%

Human Resource: Same thing, long hours, tight deadline for monthly payroll, recruitment etc. Executive level is also more of operations. Headache if there is high turnover. In addition, You need to understand labour laws, compensation benefits etc. You are the one who has to relate the bad news as well as the good news. You don't get to decide because that is left to the management and is more of a messenger role

Logistics: Can't comment. I only know there are inbound and outbound. Inbound deals with procurement, warehousing, sourcing for raw materials, etc. While outbound deals with warehousing, delivery of final products to customers, etc. It depends on companies, but I doubt you need to do OT as much as accounting. The procurement process for some companies can be extremely lengthy. From 3 quotations to PO, etc.

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Other Considerations
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Finance: Can't comment too because finance is very competitive. Valuation of companies, profitability, leverage, debt etc
(More on reporting and analysis)

Sales: Honestly, you don't need a degree, because sales is more on salesmanship (EQ), Experience and Empathy (understand what customers need and how your company can provide at the right price.

Business Intelligence/Analytic: Worth a look (actually I am exploring this)..

Originally Posted by fusioncat

Hi in my opinion, (not a suggestion), is to first complete your program first before deciding on your specialization.

Yet At the same time, you might want to send out resumes to see which opportunities are available (test the market). The market ultimately decides the demand and salary. You might want to work for a year to two to decide later.

Here are my humble experiences as well as the (general) feedbacks I gathered from fellow colleagues for fresh grads. There are always exceptions though:

Marketing: Executive level deal mainly with events (BTL), collaterals, prints, etc. Its more of a logistic operation role than a strategic planning one.
Can be very tiring.
Job opportunity is lower than accounts/finance because many (small) companies in Singapore don't understand the importance of marketing and would lump it as sales.

Accounting: Same thing, long hours, OTs, tight deadline for monthly payroll as well as other major events like auditing, financial reporting, etc. Can suffer burnout too. You need professional certs like ACCA to be considered for promotions or enjoy a good income, passing rate is almost 30-40%

Human Resource: Same thing, long hours, tight deadline for monthly payroll, recruitment etc. Executive level is also more of operations. Headache if there is high turnover. In addition, You need to understand labour laws, compensation benefits etc. You are the one who has to relate the bad news as well as the good news. You don't get to decide because that is left to the management and is more of a messenger role

Logistics: Can't comment. I only know there are inbound and outbound. Inbound deals with procurement, warehousing, sourcing for raw materials, etc. While outbound deals with warehousing, delivery of final products to customers, etc. It depends on companies, but I doubt you need to do OT as much as accounting. The procurement process for some companies can be extremely lengthy. From 3 quotations to PO, etc.

===========
Other Considerations
===========
Finance: Can't comment too because finance is very competitive. Valuation of companies, profitability, leverage, debt etc
(More on reporting and analysis)

Sales: Honestly, you don't need a degree, because sales is more on salesmanship (EQ), Experience and Empathy (understand what customers need and how your company can provide at the right price.

Business Intelligence/Analytic: Worth a look (actually I am exploring this)..

thank you , from my point of view, i think that having experience first the most impt factor. most of the ads were seeking for ppl with experiences min. 2 years.
i be around 25 once i grad, hopefully i be able to gain experiences ASAP. else i will be at the losing end.
can i have a rough idea about the salaries?

[ChampionTutor]

I agree with the above point.

[NewUser1990]

after 2 years, am here to update this post.
currently am working as a fresh grad and draw an lowest average pay for a fresh grad in Business. 2.2k.
my roles are as follows :
Capture.jpg
does it actually match my pay grade? and may i know what are the possibilities for future career prospects?
Thanks to all the helpful people in this forum