An associate degree in business can be more than a stepping stone to a bachelor’s degree in business administration or even an MBA. With an associate degree in business, you can be prepared for a job or career in almost any industry. That’s because employers in industries ranging from healthcare to entertainment and everything in between are looking for new employees who have top business skills that they can put to use right away.
Whether you plan to transfer to a four-year university or enter into the working world with your associate degree from Austin Community College, the skills you learn here will help you meet your career goals.
In this Article
Benefits of an Associate Degree in Business
Why study business? A business degree covers much more than just ways that companies make money.
That’s because at its heart, business is about people – what they want, what they need, how they feel, and what makes them tick.
Take a look at the program map for the associate degree in business administration from ACC and you’ll see what that means. You’ll take courses in writing, math, and computers. You’ll also take classes in government, law, accounting principles, economics, history, arts, and more.
You will also take courses in creative arts, language, and culture.
How do all of these different classes lead to an associate degree in business? They are all designed to teach the skills you’ll need to be successful in your working life.
Advantages of an Associate Degree
Here are a few important things to know about getting your associate degree in business. The associate degree has become increasingly important to employers. Many corporations see the value of workers who have specific technical education that an associate degree provides. They no longer require a bachelor’s degree for these jobs.
An associate degree is usually 60 credit hours, or takes about two years to complete if you go to school full-time. An associate degree is much less expensive than a bachelor’s degree and prepares you for the workforce in half the time and with less student loan debt.
A community college associate degree focuses on the courses you need that will help you the most in your career. It trains you in the technical skills you need and prepares you for the soft skills that will help you succeed.
Business Skills
As with any career, you’ll need to learn both technical and interpersonal skills. These are often termed “hard” skills and “soft” skills. Both hard and soft skills are necessary for a successful career, and yes, sometimes soft skills are just as important, if not more so, than any technical training
What are the skills you’ll learn in a business program at ACC?
Hard Skills
Hard skills can be defined as anything technical that you need to know in order to do your job. For example:
- Bookkeeping and accounting. Even if you don’t go into accounting, it’s essential to understand profits and loss, ledgers, and basic principles of accounting.
- Spreadsheets and reporting. Building spreadsheets and understanding how to read the data is also critical.
- Math skills. For jobs such as bank teller or salesperson, math skills are key.
- Communications. Being able to communicate clearly in person or via text or e-mail is necessary, whether you’re speaking with your boss, a customer, or a peer.
- Data analysis. Successful businesses use data to support decision making, so analytical skills can help support a company’s success.
Soft Skills
Technical skills are about what you know and the tasks you perform. Soft skills are about who you are, and how you relate to other people.
- Empathy. Understanding how other people feel can help you understand what they need. Whether you’re in sales, customer service, retail, or other role, you’ll need to understand where people are coming from.
- Emotional intelligence. EQ as it’s sometimes called is about the ability to express emotions without overreacting, and to understand other people’s emotions.
- Drive and initiative. Self-motivation is a great skill and one that employers appreciate. It’s critical for people who are starting their own business.
- Attention to detail. Certain jobs require a detail-oriented focus. Becoming detail-oriented may require practice as it doesn’t always come easily, but preventing errors before they happen is a valuable ability.
- Critical thinking and problem solving. At the same time, being able to see the bigger picture can help with problem solving.
- Negotiation. Being a successful negotiator requires a combination of hard and soft skills. You’ll need to understand another person’s point of view and communicate well.
Associate Degree Salaries
By the time you’ve completed your associate degree in business, you’ll have a basis for taking your next step. That may be transferring to a four-year university to get your bachelor’s degree in business or related field. Or you may want to put that education to use and enter the workforce.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median weekly earnings for a worker with any associate degree is $1,058. The median salary is the midway point of the range – half of all workers would make less than the median, and half would make more.
For a graduate with an associate degree in business, salaries can vary widely, depending on location, overall years of work experience, and specific industry.
According to ZipRecruiter, the median entry level business degree salary in Austin TX is $40, with the lowest salary in the $14 per hour range, and the highest salary more than $65 per hour.
It’s important to recognize that most graduates with an associate degree in business will likely start with an entry-level job. As your experience grows, you should see salary increases. Your work experience will build on your education and help you develop those valuable hard and soft skills.You can also build on your associate degree with professional business certifications in accounting, human resources, logistics, and more.
Top 5 Industries for an Associate Degree in Business
The advantage of a business degree is that it applies across so many job types. A business degree prepares you for several different roles, from data wrangler to customer support, to manager, to more. With a business degree, your skills apply in so many different industries that you may find yourself in a dream job in a career you never thought possible.
Once you are in an industry, you can find out which technical certifications you need to increase your skills and earning potential.
The following industry sectors are some of the fastest growing in the world, and they have one thing in common: they need employees at all levels who have business training.
Health Care
The US healthcare sector is one of the largest in the country, with national health expenditures at $4.5 trillion. But you don’t have to be a medical care provider to work in health care. Jobs also include medical records transcriptionists, front desk personnel, health information technologists, office managers, and more. Skills such as database use, customer service, and attention to detail are all part of the job – and these are skills you learn with an associate of business degree.
Logistics
Logistics is the process by which items are acquired and then moved to where they’re supposed to be – often our front porches. But even before we click Buy on a shopping cart icon, the logistics industry works behind the scenes to make sure that the products we buy are in stock and ready for shipment. Logistics and business skills go hand in hand, with skills such as spreadsheets, database knowledge, and scheduling important for success.
Marketing and Advertising
Sales are the engine that runs a business, and marketing and advertising are the fuel. Marketing and advertising has a creative side, which can be seen in engaging ads on websites, TV, and social media. But marketing and advertising is also analytical, since the point of ads is to convert leads (potential customers) into sales. Marketers must understand their prospective audience before they can create those marketing messages and so they can understand how each ad performed at converting leads into sales. And for that, they need to understand their business, their products, and their customers.
Real Estate
The real estate industry is roughly divided into two markets: residential (homes, duplexes, apartment buildings, condos) and commercial (office and industrial buildings, and other nonresidential properties). The real estate sector employs about 1.9 million employees in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Besides real estate agents, the industry sector employs bookkeepers, operations managers, office clerks, and property managers, among other job titles. Whether you want to get your real estate license and become a broker or use your business skills in these other roles, the $224 billion real estate industry can be a rewarding career choice.
Hospitality
Whether you are interested in running a quaint bed & breakfast or working for an international hotel chain, a business degree is a great fit for the $235 billion hospitality market. Make use of your technical skills in bookkeeping and accounting, scheduling, and marketing as well as soft skills in customer care and employee management.
Get a Jump on Your Career with an Associate Degree in Business
Prepare for a career in any industry with an associate degree in business from ACC. No matter what your goal, you’ll get an excellent foundation in business skills for any job. Whether you want to go directly into the workforce or get your bachelor’s degree, Austin Community College helps you get there. Explore an associate degree in business administration and start on your journey with us.
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