The business administration field has careers that suit everyone, regardless of your particular aptitudes or preferences. If you’ve considered starting a business administration career, there are several related career paths that offer unique opportunities and responsibilities. Business administration is part of a greater field of careers, encompassing everything from project management and finance to operations management and marketing. Whichever specialization you choose to focus on, you can increase your chances of finding a job by learning more about each subject and deciding which will suit your interests. By understanding these related career paths, you can better align your skills and interests with roles that offer you all the opportunities you could hope for within the broader field of business.
What is a Business Administrator?
A Business Administrator is a business professional who is tasked with managing and optimizing various aspects of an organization to ensure smooth operations and success. This role requires a blend of skills ranging from financial management and project management to communication and adaptability. In this position, a Business Administrator will often monitor projects to achieve certain objectives. For instance, they will often promote products through different marketing techniques and manage resources to help develop the project in less time and with maximum efficiency.
Moreover, Business Administrators work in all kinds of industries, including healthcare, finance, retail, technology, education, and tourism. They are also hired in different departments across the organization, so they are virtually everywhere. This career path is highly desirable and requires learning several skills that are preferable to Hiring Managers. Mostly, companies look for Business Administrators who can use tools like Microsoft Project or Trello. They may also prefer candidates who are familiar with Agile and Waterfall methodologies. All in all, the skills you’ll acquire will directly impact the organization’s ability to manage their projects and reach their goals.
An average work week for a Business Administrator may differ based on what’s going on in the organization. Typically, they’ll complete a variety of tasks aimed at monitoring project success, improving organizational processes, and increasing profits. Business Administrators may also handle finances by compiling reports, allocating resources, and budgeting for new projects. They will also plan projects, make sure everyone stays on task, and meet with teams and department leaders to confirm with them that the project is running smoothly. Additionally, they will handle staff duties like conducting and planning meetings, resolving employee concerns, and preparing for the next day.
Project Manager
What is a Project Manager?
A Project Manager is in charge of the project process from start to finish, including everything from planning, executing, monitoring, and completing projects. They typically oversee multiple departments to ensure everyone is working cohesively to finish the project within budget, according to company guidelines, and on time. Project Managers will use different technologies, techniques, and methodologies to track the project’s progress, mitigate any issues that arise, and ensure that the project is completed successfully. This role is necessary in multiple industries, particularly those that result in a product meant for consumer use.
How Does This Job Relate to Business Administration?
The role of a Project Manager has numerous skills that intersect with that of a Business Administrator. Both fields involve monitoring critical aspects of an organization’s efficiency and production. While Business Administrators may oversee overall business operations, Project Managers tend to focus solely on the specific projects within those operations. Both roles require skills in leadership, time management, resource allocation, budgeting, and communication. Essentially, these two positions work together to drive the project, the team, and the company as a whole through a successful project.
Business Analyst
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What is a Business Analyst?
Business Analysts examine large amounts of data to gain a clearer understanding of business processes, systems, and operations. From the insights gained from the data sets, they can help the company identify any areas of improvement and take measured, data-driven steps toward improvement. The average Business Analyst will share their findings with others in the department and deliver insights to stakeholders to keep everyone up to speed. Their role involves translating complex business data into actionable plans and helping even the layman understand what needs to be done next.
How Does This Job Relate to Business Administration?
These two roles are closely related as they both involve evaluating and improving organizational success. Business Administrators manage the operations while Business Analysts analyze specific areas for improvement. Both require a strong understanding of business processes, must have critical and analytical thinking skills, and should be profound problem solvers. In essence, the Business Analyst often supplies the Business Administrator with the information needed to help move the business operations along more smoothly.
Marketing Manager
What is a Marketing Manager?
Someone responsible for the development, implementation, and execution of various marketing campaigns is often referred to as a Marketing Manager. They may oversee teams of different marketing professionals, such as Digital Marketers or Marketing Analysts, and come up with new strategies to share and promote a company’s products and services to consumers. Their role mostly involves devising marketing campaigns, creating content, managing advertising activities, and following along with consumer feedback. They’ll conduct outreach to consumers through different means like social media pages, email, and newsletters.
How Does This Job Relate to Business Administration?
Business Administrators and Marketing Managers often work together or even complete projects with one another. They both have to have strong planning and management skills to develop strong marketing campaigns. For example, while Marketing Managers focus specifically on promoting services and products offered by the company, the Business Administrator may oversee the actual act of delivering said campaign. Both must understand the market dynamics and have strong communication skills if they want to effectively reach an intended audience. With that being said, both contribute to the company’s success and increase profits based on the effectiveness of the campaigns.
Financial Manager
What is a Financial Manager?
A Financial Manager handles all the financial aspects of a business. They typically maintain a budget, monitor trends in the market, analyze financial data, report on budgeting updates, and ensure the overall financial health of the company. They are incredibly skilled in finance and economics, as the name suggests, but are also capable of data analysis, financial forecasting, and investment decisions. Overall, they ensure the company can remain a stable competitor in the market and help keep the business afloat through their strong decision-making and data-based suggestions.
How Does This Job Relate to Business Administration?
Financial Managers are closely related to Business Administrators in a few key ways. They both share the common goal of improving business operations and, ultimately, increasing profits. However, the way each role goes about this is different. Financial Managers will explore all the financial data, trends, and metrics to then report back to others in the company who can implement changes based on their findings. Business Administrators, however, oversee the broader aspects of the business and can accomplish this goal by doling out new tasks, putting in place new policies, and handling other daily business operations.
How to Decide Which Career is Right for You
If you are interested in starting a business administration career but aren’t sure which path is the right one for you, you will want to consider a few key aspects before choosing. This requires evaluating everything from your interests and goals to education and salary expectations. Below are a few key considerations to factor into your choice before taking the plunge into a career.
Personal Interests and Goals
When deciding on a career path, you have to reflect on your interests and long-term goals. Consider what activities or industries you are passionate about and how these may align with any potential business administration career options. This can help you decide whether to specialize in a particular subject or field. For example, if you are enthusiastic about consumer outreach and feel like a relatively creative person, you may be a strong candidate as a marketing professional. Reflecting on your interests will help you set goals, and ultimately, achieve them.
Acquired Skills and Education
Your current skills and educational background play a significant role in deciding what types of job positions you can land right now versus what you may need more training in if you want to go down a new career path. If you have all the required skill sets to work as a successful business administration professional, it may be time to take the leap and apply for a few jobs. However, you may feel ill-equipped and need to enroll in a training course. You can take classes to learn how to use search engine optimization techniques, manage multiple complex projects at once, or analyze financial data. Regardless, your educational background and aptitudes will play a role in determining which direction your future career will likely lead you.
Desired Salary
Because there is so much variety in business administration, there is also a wide range of salary expectations for each role. A Business Administrator will earn their salary based on different factors, such as location, education, certifications, experience, and specialization. Some positions, such as Business Analysts, may earn more than Human Resource Specialists. Likewise, if you work for a large company, your salary expectations may be higher than if you work for a small start-up. However, beyond salary expectations, you will have to consider the cost of living where you are and factor that into your desired salary range. It is also important to balance salary expectations with job satisfaction and whether the job provides a healthy work-life balance. Ensuring that your financial and personal needs are met is crucial during the job search.
Work Style Preferences
Your preferred work style is another important factor in career decision-making. You’ll want to find a job that aligns with your preferred work environment, whether that is a traditional, in-office setting, hybrid, or completely remote. If you thrive in group settings and enjoy face-to-face collaboration with others, you’ll do best working in-house. However, some prefer to work from the comfort of home where they can minimize distractions and focus wholly on the work at hand. If this applies, you may want to seek out remote options or at least hybrid, which give you the best of both worlds. Matching your work style preferences with the nature of the job can lead to a more enjoyable work experience and will help you produce the best work possible, whether you work in administration, marketing, management, or analytics.
Career Growth, Job Market, and Professional Opportunities
Lastly, you will want to find yourself working in a career that provides you with stability, growth, and opportunities for further development. As such, it is important to evaluate the potential for growth in each job that you consider. You will want to explore the current local job market, the opportunities for advancement, and the ability to expand your horizons. The business administration field will continue to grow exponentially in the coming years, so this is a stable field in which to begin a career. Consider whether the specific industry you are curious about offers career progression, long-term stability, and opportunities that align with your aspirations.
Learn the Skills to Become a Business Administrator at Noble Desktop
If you want to learn essential skills that will help you become a Business Administrator, Noble Desktop has numerous programs, bootcamps, and classes to help you prepare yourself accordingly. For example, the 132-hour “MBA” Business Certificate program gives you insight into all the necessary tools and concepts to help you excel in the business world. You’ll build strong project management skills and learn how to handle financial reports, accounts, and other budgeting concerns. Moreover, you will learn to develop marketing strategies that help connect the business with consumers and improve visibility, engagement, and profits. The instructor will even show you how to leverage generative AI to become a more productive workplace. Overall, you’ll gain a basic understanding of daily business operations and take your business acumen to the next level. By the end, you will feel confident enough to work in a business setting and benefit from a plethora of resources such as a free retake, additional mentoring sessions, and a digital certificate of completion.
Throughout the ChatGPT and AI for Business Bootcamp, students will learn how to use generative AI and ChatGPT to improve business operations and make otherwise menial or time-consuming tasks much easier. As a student in this bootcamp, your instructor will guide you through real-world applications of ChatGPT such as task automation, project management, and data analysis. You will also learn how to use ChatGPT to improve your communication and write prompts that generate the most meaningful and useful responses. Through completing hands-on projects and reviewing real-life case studies, you will see all the different ways AI can be used in a business setting. After 12 hours of instruction, you will feel confident using generative AI and will earn a certificate of completion.
If you want to sharpen your writing skills, the six-hour Advanced Business Writing class will help you do just that. You will prepare complex business documents and feel more confident communicating different concepts to others. Through an easy-to-follow four-step process, your instructor will teach you how to write out schedules, proposals, project plans, and contracts. Likewise, you will learn how to outline and format different business documents as each will have different requirements. You should complete the Effective Business Writing course or have equivalent knowledge before enrolling in this course, as it is an advanced-level class. Once you complete the course, you’ll be able to retake it for free within one year and will earn a certificate.