Business Studies & Commerce

Business Studies & Commerce

As with Arts, Business Studies and Commerce courses are a mainstay of higher education and always popular with school leavers. They are perfect for students who are interested in a career in business, but are not sure what particular area they would like to work in. We can’t all learn about business selling Bill Cullen’s legendary penny apples, thankfully the courses in Ireland’s universities, ITs and colleges are kept constantly in line with the latest trends and demands of the modern economy.

Education

Courses are readily available nationwide from Level 5 Certificates to Level 8 Honours Degrees.

A general business or commerce qualification introduces students to all forms of business activity: management, human resources, accounting, finance, marketing, and information systems, etc. Understanding the relationship between these various activities is an excellent preparation for managerial roles. Students are also taught the soft skills – communication, negotiation, teamwork, etc - that are essential in every business.

Typically, degree students have a choice of subjects to specialise in during the second half of the course. This may be traditional business subjects like marketing, or interesting alternatives such as Globalisation – An Economic Perspective (Business Studies in UL), Sports Marketing (Waterford IT) or Food Business and Development (Commerce in UCC).

There are large differences between business programmes. Do your research and do not assume they are all the same. Unique attributes may include the opportunity to spend a semester abroad, a work placement, or exemptions from the examinations of professional bodies (e.g. accountancy). Many business and commerce programmes are strong on enterprise and innovation – particularly valuable for students who have an ambition to set up their own business.

Besides pure Business and Commerce courses, there is a multitude of programmes that specialise in a particular area, e.g. Management, Human Resources, Accounting; and yet more that offer the opportunity to study business in tandem with (and in the context of) other subjects such as Law, Tourism, or Psychology. In other words, there’s something for everyone.

A dizzying array of Business Studies courses is also available in further education; with Level 5 Certificates and more advanced diplomas. These offer a great introduction to the workplace as well as affording progression to a higher level course. Among the many specialised programmes are Secretarial, IT, Administration, Languages, Legal Studies and Start Your Own Business courses.

The Work

Working in any business role requires a few key attributes such as the ability to communicate well with others (especially customers) and a willingness to work as part of a team.

Your characteristics and personal preference will help determine which particular role is for you. A head for figures and a good level of concentration are useful for accountancy. An outgoing and warm personality is very useful for sales work, as personal relationships are vital when it comes to dealing with clients. While an ability to listen and an enjoyment in helping others is a good indication of a predisposition for HR, which involves dealing with staff problems and helping employees to improve their performance. Managers need to have a grasp of all these tasks and more, which is why a general business course is so useful for career prospects.

Entrepreneurs have a tough task in that they usually must take responsibility for every aspect of their business until it has grown sufficiently for extra staff to come on board. They need to be driven by a desire for their enterprise to succeed, and often must work at unsocial hours in the early days at least.

Did you know?

A 2009 survey entitled The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur revealed some very interesting facts, e.g. over 95% had a degree; and entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family - more than 50% were the first in their families to launch a business.

Further Resources

• Young Entrepreneur Programme & Awards: www.youngentrepreneur.ie
• The Sunday Business Post: www.sbpost.ie
• Enterprise Ireland: www.enterpriseireland.ie