Business, management and administration is arguably the most wide-ranging of all possible graduate careers, with many functions across almost all industries and services. A natural career option for many economics and business students, it is also open to candidates of any discipline who meet the criteria.
Think of business functions and you immediately think of positions such as accountancy and human resource management (HRM) . For more information on these areas, see the separate sector pages for
Finance and Financial Servicesand
Human Resources, Recruitment and Training.
Other exciting graduate opportunities lie in the field of
management consulting, a fashionable career sector with the potential to earn salaries way above the graduate average. Entry is highly competitive. Management consulting (sometimes called strategy consulting) is concerned with improving a company’s performance, looking at issues such as profit-making ability, management and market position. Consultancies can also specialise in particular sectors or functions, such as IT and HRM.
Consultants often have wide expertise and graduates often get involved later in their careers and are able to draw on wider expertise. New graduates entering as trainees will:
- take responsibility for gathering, collating and processing data for presentation to the client’s senior management
- interview ‘key’ people in the organisation to help compile recommendations
- carry out research.
Consultants work in high-pressure environments and to tight deadlines. Travel, overseas assignments and long hours can be part of the job, although many consultancy firms are concerned with providing the right work/life balance for their employees.
Graduate strategy consulting opportunities are frequently located in London, while local recruitment is more often focused in IT consultancy.
Further information
For more information see the sector career guide
Careers for business studies, commerce and economics graduates, available to download from our
Publications page.
