Colleges >> Browse Articles >> Admission Advice

How Do You Plan Academics Around a Career?

Will a business degree get me a job? And if so, what types of business degrees should I look into?

Answer:
No degree will get you a job all by itself. It will most certainly HELP you get a job; it just won’t GUARANTEE you a job.

If you’re already in college — or you soon will be — this is a question you should to bring to a career counselor at your school’s career center. You’ve got a lot of exploring to do if you want to make an informed decision. You need to see which majors are offered at your school, learn more about what each of them entails, and get a better sense of the types of jobs each of them might lead to.

Whatever major you ultimately choose, definitely supplement it with hands-on experience – internships, co-ops, part-time jobs, volunteering. The No. 1 mistake college students make is leaving school with little or, worse, no experience.

I am currently pursuing a BS in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix Online. Will I be given the same opportunities with an online degree as with an on- campus degree?

Answer:
The question you raise is an important one. Employers reactions will probably be mixed. Some won’t notice that you have an online degree, some will notice but won’t care, and some will view it negatively. It’s the latter group that you need to be most concerned about. Be prepared to defend your online degree and illustrate its strengths and what you got out of it. Some employers simply don’t understand what today’s online learning is all about.

Generally speaking, it seems employers are more likely to react positively (or at least neutrally) to your having an online degree if you already have another degree from a “regular,” bricks-and-mortar institution. That is, if you’ve worked in the “real world” for a while — after having gone to college — and you then decide to get an ADDITIONAL degree via distance education, then that’s okay in employers’ eyes.

Some employers might be more worried about someone whose ONLY college experience was/is online.

---