<p>D is in the business school at her U. Everyone takes the same core of classes, then has a major (in areas such as Finance, Marketing, etc. Due to AP credits, D has time to pick up a second major (both in the business school.) She wants to add one in Management. </p>
<p>I’ve always said that she needs to get a very good education, because she will need to be “the Boss.” She truly always viewed herself as second in command to me in our family of 5 (and no, she’s not even the oldest kid.)</p>
<p>But in reality, what does one do with a Management major? I assume one starts out the same as anyone with a Business Admin degree. Don’t you have to have some experience in something in order to manage anything?</p>
<p>She wouldn’t start out as a manager. In the business world, one needs experience to be a manager, no amount of studying is going to give anyone the title. I also don’t know much she is going to get out of management degree if she’s never had the experience. For that reason, many top MBA schools require few years of work experience.</p>
<p>… depends. A friend of mine managed 60+ IT people and made like $90k with no related experience for a government contractor. That said, this friend doesn’t have a business degree either. IMO this friend is way over their head and could potentially crash and burn at some point in a very big flame, but for now they are doing well enough to stay employed and make very good money.</p>
<p>I wonder if Business Admin would be responsible for administrating versus Management which would be responsible for multiple functional areas - Human resources, Operations, Finance, Sales, etc</p>
<p>I think a second major in economics, marketing or a second language would be beneficial if one is planning on a career in business.</p>
<p>Missypie…you don’t “need” to have a Management degree to be a manager. D1’s H has a Business degree…major was Operations…and he was hired right out of college by a large international company to be a manager of an entire shift of workers. I also know kids who have been hired right out of college by Target ( not in the stores…more distribution) who start as managers. It all depends on what area she is interested in.</p>
<p>Jobs in Health Care Administration are booming around here. Is she interested in that area?</p>
<p>It’s probably too late for her to change, but if she really wants to be a manager in a major corporation, she needs to obtain an undergraduate degree in accounting, work for two or three years and the obtain an MBA. Once you get an undergraduate degree in business, getting an MBA does not add too many new subjects. </p>
<p>If she has a strong first major, a second major in management can’t hurt.</p>
<p>When I was in business school (at a top state university), I think a “management” concentration or major would have allowed you to sign up for interviews with most any company coming to the b-school to interview except maybe the core accounting firms (looking to hire in the accounting practice). I have recruited at some similar schools, and can tell you – the actual major isn’t what matters. Someone who has taken the core business courses, presents themselves well, and has some decent internship/summer work/or coop-type experience can get hired for a lot of different types of jobs.</p>
<p>In the dark ages, at my school, our business majors were BS Business Administration with Concentrations in Marketing, Finance, Accounting, etc. Those concentrations were typically the directions of our job searches.</p>
<p>To manage people, you need skills, the right personality, and experience. A college degree could certainly help but does not guarantee success. Management training also involves other knowledge and it is more likely that a new grad will begin by “managing” projects and learning how to get things done in their employer’s organization.</p>
<p>Also be very careful about the decision that it is best to “be the boss.” Often that is a job that fits a certain type individual. Quite often that can mean being career obsessed, working long hours and living the job 24/7. Those people also tend to die young and often have conflicts at home.</p>
<p>In the last years of my career, I regretted being the “boss.” There was just too much work and stress. I could have lived a more satisfying, balanced life and made as much money doing something different.</p>
<p>Not her words. Just the words of a mother who has observed her personality since she was a toddler “taking on” her father from her high chair.</p>
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<p>That’s basically what it is at her school, only they call the concentrations “majors.” So while it would take a lot of extra classes to have a double major from an entirely different college (e.g. communications or foreign language), she can basiciallly pick up this second major in a semester.</p>
<p>I was pushing Accounting, but it’s not her thing. I keep pushing Finance.</p>
<p>Agreed. At the companies I worked for, Business majors, including Management majors weren’t treated differently than their arts & sciences counterparts. </p>
<p>Only fresh graduates whose summer work experiences and personalities gave good indications they had the experience and temperament to manage other projects and people or those with honorable prior military service were immediately directed towards managerial roles. Weren’t too many of the former who met that standard.</p>
<p>Most Management Majors I knew ended up working in the same entry-level positions as everyone else. A few are still happily working in non-managerial positions even 10+ years out from college.</p>
At most schools, Management seems to be the default, jack-of-all-trades major. While it does not give you a leg up on specific corporate positions like other majors do, it also doesn’t place you OUT of specific corporate positions like other majors do. You can be hired for anything but won’t have any kind of edge.</p>
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You generally have to have either more experience or more education than the people you manage. Out of school you do NOT have more experience, so the only people you are going to manage are going to be those without college degrees, not even associates or trade qualifications since those people will still value experience over education.</p>
<p>I keep thinking about the npr story about Olympic athletes in India getting government jobs. If they do well enough at the Olympics, when they retire they may be the boss, even if they’ve never actually shown up for work before.</p>
<p>Agree for the most part once they get in the door. Although a basic knowledge of accounting, finance, marketing, operations, etc. often pays off in the ability to see the business ramifications of things more readily than those without that background. My business coursework has paid off many times over the years.</p>
<p>But I still think the bigger payoff of the business management (or any other business degree) is in getting the interviews to start with. The interview schedules at the college I went to for entry level positions were heavily weighted to the business majors. They might have 3 schedules (recruiters for a full day) at the business school, and one for the liberal arts college recruiting office. They were separate offices at my college, and expect they are to this day.</p>
<p>Depends on the company and school. At one company I worked for, they were burned so badly by business majors from all except elite undergrad b-schools like Wharton and NYU-Stern in the past that they made it a point to avoid hiring undergrad b-school majors except from those elite undergrad b-schools. </p>
<p>They were more likely to hire arts and sciences students from a larger range of schools than undergrad b-school students.</p>
<p>Also, in many undergrad b-schools, Management is regarded as the default/joke major…especially when compared to those perceived as more rigorous like Finance or Accounting.</p>
<p>Can’t hurt to have extra major in your toolkit for first jobs. Degree helps get foot in door attaining employment; after you are on job, how you perform at work will determine how far and fast one moves up business ladder. Degree is just a tool in the toolkit, how you use the tools determines advancement in business world. Companies want employees who can contribute to the company’s growth…with profit. Companies don’t really care how many majors or degrees you have if you are making money for the company and contributing to the bottom line.</p>