If you want to major in any business department, you are expected to meet specific requirements. But beyond the classroom, you are also advised to learn certain skills that will improve your chances of becoming exceptional in your chosen field.
Here are some skills you should learn if you want to major in business.
Before we get started: why do students choose business degrees?
Tertiary education offers students the opportunity to broaden knowledge and sharpen skills to increase their career opportunities. It also helps to increase chances of being gainfully employed afterward.
Like other majors, undergraduate students are free to select a course of study from the various options available to them, as long as they meet the requirements.
Of the many options that students can major in, only a few are as prestigious and beneficial as business majors. It’s no surprise why many qualified students often choose this line of study.
However, it is advisable for students to first attend college admission counseling or seek professional advice from expert student admission counselors before opting for any major.
Now, let’s discuss what skills you should learn as a high school student to prepare!
Communication
Communication is a fundamental skill that any business student or aspiring business person must master.
It is safe to say that any career option requires certain degrees of communication—but this is even more true for businesspeople who network and hold meetings with clients. In other words, since businesses are run by people and with people, it becomes almost impossible to conduct a successful business without knowing how to communicate correctly.
For this reason, you should learn and master the act of communicating clearly and effectively if you wish to succeed in a major in business.
Organization
Running a business involves implementing several strategies for optimizing the organization’s success. However, this involves coordinating many moving parts. Therefore, you must develop the skill of organization as a student of business.
Yes, this skill helps you to keep your desk and office space tidy. But more importantly, it gives you the ability to build and develop good strategies to tackle business opportunities.
Not to mention, organized business persons have an advantage because they are often in control, hence, always finishing tasks on time.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking refers to the disciplined analysis and functional evaluation of facts for better judgments and decision-making.
This skill helps business students to reflect on prior knowledge and use the information they have to analyze any situation. It also demands that they ascertain the source of any information at their disposal, to make sure it is genuine before applying it to problems.
Paying attention to context and questioning your facts will push you to demonstrate initiative when problem-solving.
You can develop this skill by learning from experiences and applying the little you have learned for smaller tasks every day. Listening to unconventional opinions can also help you improve your critical thinking skill significantly.
Leadership
Leadership is one skill that every business owner needs to manage their business successfully. But this skill does not often come naturally. You must start to make efforts to develop this talent even before deciding to major in business.
The leadership skill will not only help you succeed, but it will also rub off on others and increase your influence on them. Even if you are not the head of a group, your leadership qualities can still be what it takes for the group to succeed, especially under pressure.
Negotiation
You already know that most businesses deal with the exchange of products and services for profit.
Logically, you should learn and master the elements of principled negotiation if you wish to major in business. This skill will help you in your studies and beyond when you face real situations requiring expert negotiations.
Financial Awareness
The primary purpose of any business is profit-making, and it comes before other secondary aims and objectives.
As an aspiring business student, you should already expect to come across several financial situations, whether in the accounting department or not. Therefore, developing a financial awareness skill beforehand will help ensure that you do not fumble when needed.
How To Develop Skills For Business School
As challenging as getting into business schools may seem, it is just the tip of the iceberg compared to going through with business studies. However, these basic skills will help simplify many tasks for you in any business major of your choice.
Here are some tips on how to develop these skills:
- Do proper research
- Find an experienced mentor
- Read business-related books
- Attend formal training
And reach out to Empowerly if you need support along the way!
