Participating in the workforce is a necessary part of life, because people need to make money in order to sustain themselves. However, work isn’t the entire story. Many have a mentality that working hard is the end all be all of one’s career, but there are other factors that can influence your success. First and foremost among these factors is education. Here’s what you need to know.
Pursuing a Business Degree
College serves many purposes, some personal and some professional. While universities can enrich a person’s life, it can also make someone a greater asset in the world of business. One of the main reasons for this is that there are an assortment of degrees that pertain to business, itself. For example, pursuing an MBA at USC will make you a candidate well suited to business administration, which will in turn make you a tremendous asset to businesses of all kinds. Likewise, degrees in economics are a useful addition, because they focus on all things pertaining to money, such as how economies fluctuate and why, as well as how to analyze financial risks. These degrees, among others, are great choices for those who want to pursue managing or owning a business, as well as those who simply want to be financial advisors or accountants, all of which are potentially very lucrative career paths.
Developing Marketable Skills
Another way in which a college degree can help you in your professional life is by developing skills. Skills are an important part of any person’s resume, as they help employers decide whether or not you’re the right fit for a job. Likewise, displaying your skills on the job is how employers judge your aptitude within the company. For example, failing to display competence in your field can see you demoted or terminated, while exemplary performance is grounds for a promotion. One part of the equation of developing your skills is work experience, which will come naturally as you spend time working within a certain industry.
The other major way in which one develops skills is via education. Generally speaking, developing a skill is one part theory, one part practice, and education provides the former, as well as some of the latter. This is especially true when the skill pertains to numbers and calculations, so education forms a greater part of the process of developing economic, mathematical, and scientific skill sets. However, every skill stands to benefit from a formal education, and many skills can be enhanced by studying multiple disciplines. One surprising example is that cooking and science complement each other rather well, as a scientific understanding of cooking techniques can allow you to take full advantage of those techniques and even improve on them. Likewise, working in an industry while simultaneously pursuing a degree in that industry can offer the best of both worlds.
Having Any Degree Makes Your More Valuable
While specializing in a certain craft is the ticket to the highest paying careers, having a degree opens up the job market in general. This means that having an English degree can still provide an edge when applying for businesses that have nothing to do with the skill set or knowledge of an English major. While college is meant in part to hone the skills and knowledge needed to work in a certain field, the very presence of a degree of any kind makes a graduate more valuable, even in fields to which a given degree doesn’t correspond. This is important, because having a degree in general is becoming all but a necessity. A modern undergraduate degree has the weight that a high school diploma had a few decades ago, so it is crucial that specialization doesn’t lock you out of other career choices, especially early on in your career. Hard work is a necessary part of long term financial success, but the mantra “work smarter, not harder” holds plenty of water. By investing in a good education, one dramatically increases his or her professional prospects. Using this guide, you can see the many benefits education can have on your career and act accordingly.
