What can you do with a degree from business school?

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A degree from business school can equip you with a diverse skillset and specialised knowledge for a successful career, from business management to operations, accounting to consultancy, marketing to entrepreneurship.

Business school graduates are in high demand from employers all over the world and at Montpellier Business School, graduates have gone on to pursue career paths spanning various industries and sectors. Here are just some of the options awaiting you if you decide to apply to business school…

Business consultancy

Many consultancy roles are open to graduates and generally garner substantial starting salaries. Having a specialised business degree can be advantageous depending on the service (the type of work a firm does) and industry (the fields the firm works in) of the role.

Consultancy is known for its competitive working environments and demanding workload, but it is also considered a sociable profession with plenty of networking and career development opportunities – both of which are crucial elements if you want to climb the consultancy career ladder.

Projects and clients can vary, meaning typical roles and responsibilities can also vary considerably. General duties and responsibilities can include providing objective advice, expertise and analysis for:

• Optimising a specific project for a client
• Improving and streamlining an area of a client’s business such as operations, management, structure, productivity, or strategy
• Implementing agreed solutions

• Ultimately increasing overall business performance for the client

Accounting and finance

General business degrees usually cover the basics of accounting and finance, but if you know that you want to work specifically in this field – whether in industry or practice – it’s important to have studied an accounting and finance degree.

Typical roles and responsibilities of someone who works in accounting and finance can include:

• Reviewing and assessing your company’s or clients’ financial situation and status
• Advising on financial issues associated with business mergers and acquisitions
• Managing and monitoring income and expenditure while advising on efficiency improvements and how to increase profits
• Compiling and presenting reports, budgets, business plans, commentaries and financial statements
• Auditing and analysing accounts, business plans and financial performances
• Supporting financial investigations including dealing with insolvency cases

Marketing

Opportunities in marketing are plentiful for business graduates, particularly for individuals who have a creative flair and the ability to come up with innovative and original ideas. Those with a marketing degree will be able to hone in on these specialised skills and gain a unique insight into how they can apply such skills and knowledge to any marketing role, whether it’s in advertising, event organisation, product development, public relations, sponsorship and so much more.

Roles and responsibilities can vary depending on which area of marketing you work in. General duties can include:

• Developing marketing strategies to build brand awareness 
• Managing client and consumer relationships
• Liaising with designers, printers and copywriters
• Evaluating and reviewing marketing campaigns and their results
• Stay up-to-date with current industry trends and competitor activity by conducting regular market research.

While traditional pathways in accounting and finance, consultancy and management are still very popular, a growing number of business school graduates are taking on business and management roles within more creative industries, while some are even turning their hand to starting their own business.

An increasing number of business school graduates are setting up their own businesses and a degree from business school can give you a wealth of skills and knowledge to create and run your own business.

Manping Lin studied the MSc in Marketing at Montpellier Business School and went on to set up not one, but two businesses after graduating. He says his marketing degree equipped him with the crucial skills, knowledge and expertise needed to build a business from scratch.

He said: “For me, I personally benefited from learning all the useful analytic tools. Also, the teaching approach at MBS is very promising as they use case studies to teach theories and students leave with a better understanding.”

Business management

Business managers are needed in every industry and sector, meaning career progression and development opportunities are often in abundance. You will, however, need several years of professional working experience to work your way up the ladder into a management role. Fortunately, the skills and knowledge gained from a business school degree means you will be well-prepared when the opportunity does arrive.

Managers tend to be well paid to compensate for the often-demanding working hours and various responsibilities they undertake.

Roles and responsibilities can vary significantly depending on the industry you work in, but general duties can include:

• Developing, coordinating, and enforcing systems, policies, procedures and productivity standards
• Establishing strategic goals by gathering relevant and important business, financial, service, and operations information
• Defining, planning and setting department, team and individual employee targets and objectives
• Tracking and reporting on department, team and individual employee targets and objectives
• Evaluating department, team and individual employee targets, objectives and activities
• Initiating appropriate actions to further improve current results if necessary

Business operations

Operations is as an essential function of any company – regardless of its size, function or industry. Working in business operations requires an in-depth and holistic understanding of how to streamline a range of resources and processes including materials, equipment, technology and staff across all areas of the company to improve efficiency, productivity and growth.

Business operations and operations management are common specialisations among leading business schools worldwide. The MSc in Business Excellence at Montpellier Business School offers a diverse curriculum that exposes students to a variety of key business operation management principles, tools, challenges and insights in order to prepare them for an exciting and rewarding career in the field. 

Katherine Lugo Valdez is a master’s in management graduate from Montpellier Business School. She is now the business operations associate for the graphic tablets and accessories company, Wacom, in Barcelona. She has also recently been appointed the Montpellier Business School Social & Sustainable Finance chair ambassador.

She said: “I got the incentive for corporate social responsibility when I arrived in France. I am from the Dominican Republic and over there we don’t have the resources to sort and guarantee good waste recycling.

“It was only once I arrived in Montpellier that I understood that I have a personal responsibility and that every personal effort for the environment has a positive impact.”

Typical roles and responsibilities of someone who works in operations management can include, but are not limited to:

• Working in a multidisciplinary team and across various areas of the business, such as logistics, engineering, supply chain design and supply chain management in order to manage and improve daily functions of the business.
• Employing and overseeing strategies to boost the company’s productivity and growth
• Managing inner workings of the company to ensure it runs as efficiently as possible
• Using your initiative to make complex decisions quickly and efficiently
• Analysing and evaluating data in order to make recommendations and devise solutions

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If we've got you interested in studying a specialised business master’s but you aren’t sure which one is right for you and your career ambitions, check out Montpellier Business School’s dedicated ‘Which MSc in Business is right for you?’ quiz.