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Career Paths in Business Administration

As a starting point for your own further research, here is a sample of career paths sorted by field of study. This list, while extensive, is by no means exhaustive. Please note that a Bachelor’s degree alone often does not qualify you to enter into many of these occupational fields. A Master’s degree or doctorate, practical work experience, and/or key skills may also be expected. Therefore, we recommend that you conduct further research into the specific requirements of these occupational fields early on in your journey.

• Business Research
• Business Communications and Marketing
• Human Resources (Education)
• Business Consulting
• Management
• Organization
• International Business Development

The fundamental component of business administration is “calculation”: from prices to budgets and eventually to (investment) risks. Right from the moment a student decides to study business, they are they confronted with the phrase: “There’s no avoiding math!” Largely gone are the days of pen and paper math though – an affinity towards IT-supported calculation methods is increasingly important.

The applied knowledge of business administration revolves around the topics of “analysis, traceability, and management”, whether it be in bookkeeping and accounting, in management control, or in the planning and implementation of business activities. All graduates will benefit professionally from learning the principles of accounting.

Central to business administration, and thus our curriculum, is the concept of “management.” This is the art of discovering, distributing, and delegating tasks, initiating and monitoring their implementation, and allocating and quantifying the results. This runs through practical areas such as marketing and human resource management and, more broadly, through approaches to innovation and risk management.

The methods you will learn in your studies, provided you can prove your proficiency in them through your exams, suffice for starting your career. For an accelerated career entry and improved career development opportunities, it may be worthwhile to pursue further certifications from renowned providers (SAP, Oracle, Prince2, etc.).

The bridge to professional success has been and remains to be practical experience, whether by means of semester projects, involvement in student initiatives, internships and employment, or through conceptualizing the Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis as if it were “for” a company or organization. Employers, both in the private and public sectors, have long been aware of this phenomenon and offer a variety of structured career entry programs (“on-the-job training”).

Essential to internationally-oriented career development are an emphasis on international or intercultural topics, foreign language skills (e.g. all EU languages, English, Russian, Chinese, etc.), and experience abroad. Certifications are also recommended here, especially for language skills.

This information is based on information provided by the BERUFENET of the German Federal Employment Agency and surveys conducted with graduates of Marburg University. We would like to thank Edgar Losse from the Marburg branch of the Federal Employment Agency for the suggestions and support.