Management

Careers In Business Administration

When you think about how our society is structured, there are careers in business administration and there are careers in everything else. A lawyer, for instance, either works in a for-proft firm which is just like any other of the careers in business administration, or she works for a government agency or non-profit.

Nurses, teachers, and social workers all work in the non-profit sector. But most people work for profit making enterprises.

And, if you are going to look at careers in business administration, you might as well look at the categories of jobs.

First, there are the product producers. This could be a factory worker putting tab "A" into slot "B." Or it could be the computer programmer who generates the code that makes the software run. Anyone whose direct job is generating a product is a producer.

Then there are the service producers. These people's careers in business administration revolve around providing a service for money. An accountant in an accounting firm or a lawyer in a law firm are examples of this.

Next come the salesmen. These are the people who work in marketing and sales. While they don't produce a product or service, none of the product or service moves without their help.

Finally, there is the administrative staff. These people do not directly benefit the bottom line. These are the human resource personnel, the accounting clerks, and the secretarial staff. Interestingly, an accountant who works for an accounting firm that sells his service to another business is a service provider while an accountant who works directly for a company is administrative staff.

The administrative staff is often paid less than producers and salesmen even when their jobs involve the same level of skill and difficulty because they can't make the case that they are as valuable to the bottom line. Many women have jobs that are categorized as administrative staff which accounts for the fact that women are paid significantly less than men.

When considering careers in business administration, think about where your job will fall. If you have your choice between two professions and one contributes to the bottom line and one is a cost to the company, you can be comfortable in the knowledge that the contributing job will pay more over your lifetime.

Many people develop careers in business administration without thinking about where their value lies. This guide is for people who want to make their careers in business administration as profitable as possible.

Article Published: Monday 17th December 2007