If you desire to seek a career in business administration, the good news is, you do not necessarily have to spend four years completing a bachelor’s degree to do so. Another path you can follow is by pursuing an associate’s degree in business.
As with all other associate’s degrees, this type also helps prepare students to begin or progress their careers. For more details, continue reading as we establish what an associate’s degree in business can mean for you and the options you have in the future.
What Is an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration?
An Associate’s Degree in Business Administration is a type of undergraduate degree specifically devised to help prepare the students for transfer to entry-level positions in business and industry, which we will be discussing in more detail further in this article. This degree aims to help provide students with the essential skills and technical and academic knowledge needed to succeed in the business world. It does so in a shorter period than a bachelor’s degree by immediately tackling only the core subject needed in the business field.
What Do You Learn in an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration?
Suppose you are intrigued about starting your journey into the business world. In that case, you must surely be interested in knowing what you will learn while pursuing an associate’s degree in business administration. Such programs include a variety of courses related to fields such as finance, accounting, statistics, economics, management, and marketing so that you can learn the mechanics of business and its various functional areas. In addition, you will also further develop your communication, managerial, and organizational skills, which are crucial for any position in the business area.
Overall, such an associate’s degree program will help you better understand the business world and what you should expect in the workplace.
What Can You Do With an Associate’s in Business Administration?
To further help convince you that pursuing an associate’s degree in business administration is a good idea, let’s look at jobs hiring with associate’s degree in business. Some of the many career options for which you will be eligible once you complete the program include various areas of business, starting from assistant and consultants to managerial roles.
1. Administrative assistant
As an administrative assistant, you would be responsible for various general clerical tasks that help support other workers in the company. Some of the duties may include: preparing for meetings and presentations, coordinating calendars and scheduling appointments, sending emails, taking notes in meetings, handling phone calls and messages, and many other similar tasks.
If you are outgoing and have strong communication skills, then this might be the job for you! You will quickly rise through the ranks and progress into higher-level positions with some hard work and perseverance.
2. Relationship banker
As a relationship banker, you will be responsible for helping maintain the association between the customer and the financial institution by assisting in resolving any issues they might have with the accounts. Furthermore, you will be suggesting the best road of action regarding potential investments or loans and helping the customers optimize their funds.
Communication skills, both written and verbal, along with financial skills, are crucial for succeeding in this position. It is also best to have a thorough understanding of the services offered by the financial institution you work for and carefully take into consideration your clients’ requirements and needs so you can properly do your job and help both parties.
3. Customer service associate
One of the top responsibilities of a customer service associate is maintaining a positive relationship between the organization and customers by interacting directly with customers, listening to the concerns they have, and then helping resolve them.
It is essential to be familiar with the products and services offered by the organization you work for to provide the best recommendations to the customers, as well as maintain a positive attitude and use appropriate language when communicating with customers.
4. Sales support specialist
Another position aiming to help support customers directly is the sales support specialist who assists with all steps of a sale process, including tracking orders, resolving any potential shipping issues, and ensuring the orders are shipped efficiently. In addition to all that, you will also be responsible for maintaining a sales database and providing reports to the sales department.
Some of the most valuable skills for such a position include being organized, goal-oriented, good with managing time and various tasks at one, as well as strong communication skills since the aim of the job is to provide customer support.
5. Store manager
Store managers deal with the general oversight of a store or a chain of locations by ensuring that all operations run smoothly. Some of the tasks you would have to tackle as a store manager include training, encouraging, and providing feedback to the sales staff, ensuring the staff’s compliance with the store’s guidelines and policies, as well as dealing with customer issues and complaints.
It is crucial to have strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills in addition to a good understanding of business and management.
6. Executive assistant
Executive assistants provide administrative support to the executive team within the company by writing e-mails, drafting memos, arranging meetings on the team’s behalf, analyzing documents and preparing reports, and at times dealing with minor accounting duties.
Generally, the road to becoming an executive assistant begins by first gaining experience as an administrative assistant. The critical skills required for the job, such as strong communication skills and the ability to work well with various personalities, are similar for both positions.
7. Sales consultant
Sales consultants are responsible for finding potential customers and informing them about their company’s products and services. They explain how the products function and even provide training to customers about how to use the product.
To establish and maintain long-term relationships with clients which can generate more business and referrals, you must have good communication skills and use those skills through promotional methods like phone calls, emails, and social media posts to reach potential clients. With time and hard work, you can be promoted from consultant to managerial roles.
✅ Request information on BAU's programs TODAY!
8. Human resource manager
As a human resources manager, you would serve as the link between employees and the company’s management. You would be in charge of planning and overseeing the recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and hiring process of new staff, reviewing the workers’ performance and promoting corporate policies and values.
Since you will be working closely with all other workers in the company, you must be people-oriented and have good communication, active listening, and presentation skills. The main objective of an HR manager should be to ensure that employers feel safe and happy in the workplace to work towards achieving the company’s shared mission.
Job Outlook and Salary
With businesses looking for ways to grow and expand, the demand for professionals who have acquired the necessary business skills and knowledge through earning valuable degrees such as an associate degree in business administration is growing as well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the career outlook for business and financial occupations is projected to grow 8 percent from 2020 to 2030, which is as fast as the average for all occupations, helping generate about 750,800 new jobs.
In addition to the promising job outlook, the associate’s degree in business administration salary you will earn is encouraging. The exact salary depends on your position since some job roles pay better than others. The average salary for a Business Administrator in the United States is estimated to be $45,839 per year. Still, on the higher end of the spectrum, when pursuing a career as a store manager, you can expect to earn around $51,959 per year, and if you work as an executive assistant, you can make about $62,898 per year.
You have many career options to choose from when earning an associate’s degree in business in various fields since the program prepares you for numerous corporate divisions as well as gives you a general perspective of business processes. If you are interested in any of the roles we mentioned throughout the article, then consider pursuing this degree.
In addition to the options presented to you upon earning the degree, nowadays, with the development of technology, you can even pursue an online associate degree in business or do it the old-fashioned way and attend lectures physically.
So many alternatives to choose from, and it is all in your hands. As long as you are determined and work hard, you will be able to open any door in the business world.