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Boost your business-degree savvy

You need the right tools to make it in the business world, and one of the most important tools, experts say, is a good education.

With all the business schools and degree options out there, it’s easy to be apprehensive or confused about where to go and what to study. Fortunately, employer demand for good business skills is as plentiful as the choices that exist.

That means the knowledge you acquire in any good undergraduate or graduate business program likely will put you on a fast track to success.

Best bachelor’s degrees

“Anything coming out of business right now is still the way to go,” said Dr. William Moncrief, senior associate dean and professor of international business at Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business.

Neeley is one of BusinessWeek’s top 50 undergraduate business programs in the nation.

While the traditional big-player majors of finance and marketing continue to be hot, Moncrief said a nationwide shortage of accountants has led to an upswing in that major’s popularity.

And one military specialty is taking the business world by storm.

“Supply chain is probably the hottest area of business right now,” Moncrief said, as companies work to manage the physical flow of materials and products throughout the supply chain to save the most money.

“There is probably no better supply-chain player than the military,” he said.

‘Career accelerator’

Want to get an even bigger leg up? Go for an MBA, said Kristin Fry, an associate at the global strategy and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.

Fry refers to an MBA — a master in business administration degree — as a “career accelerator.”

“Ultimately, with your MBA, you are going to accelerate your understanding of the different functions of a business. It’s a kick-start into applying that knowledge,” she said.

Consider a study by Military MBA (www.militarymba.net), a Web site dedicated to helping military officers and noncommissioned officers find MBA educational information and employment resources. The study found that people who have MBAs combined with prior military experience tend to earn more — nearly one-third more — than their civilian MBA counterparts.

Former Army Capt. Marc Ortiz can attest to the apparent popularity of hiring former military people with MBAs. The West Point graduate and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran won’t graduate from TCU’s Neeley School of Business until May, but he’s already received job offers from Booz Allen Hamilton as well as global investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs.

Hard work pays

Leadership skills learned in the military are what civilian employers value, Ortiz said.

“A lot of people can crunch numbers and have those skills, but [employers] really want someone who can do that and has leadership skills,” he said.

Henry Guy is president and CEO of Modern Holdings, a private equity firm. Guy’s company recruits employees with MBAs and looks for candidates who stand out in a growing crowd.

“We are looking for that person who gets it, who understands how the business world, and the world in general, works — people who have a fantastic work ethic and see that hard work is a means to an end,” said Guy, a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy lieutenant.

Choose carefully

One final note: Where you go to school matters — especially if you pursue an MBA. Our experts across the board recommend getting your MBA in a traditional, classroom-based program at a well-recognized business school.

Booz Allen’s Fry said her company values degrees from the top MBA schools.

“When there are multiple candidates applying for a position and all else is equal, where they receive their MBA degree will definitely come into play,” Fry said.

A quick look at five of the most popular business degrees:

• Accounting

An accounting major prepares you to measure and report the financial events of a business and provides you with the ability to understand the elements of the auditing process, analyze financial statements and apply accounting information to management-level decisions.

• Finance

Finance is the art and science of managing money. Major in it, and you’ll study topics such as commercial and investment banking, forecasting and budgeting, and asset and liability management.

• Management

Management degrees prepare students to plan, organize, direct and control a company’s activities. The goal of any management course is to develop business competencies such as accounting, business law, economics, management and marketing.

• Marketing

Marketing is the study of how to determine consumer needs and translate those needs into products and services to sell locally, nationally and globally. You’ll learn about the distribution of goods and services, consumer behavior, pricing policies, channels of retail and wholesale distribution, advertising, sales, research, and management.

• Supply-chain management

Supply-chain management is the identification, acquisition, access, positioning and management of resources an organization requires, or anticipates it will, to meet strategic goals.

Sources: The Princeton Review, WorldWideLearn.com