Business Industry Overview

A business career offers many different job options in a nearly endless variety of settings, yet almost all jobs in business have one thing in common: They require quantitative and reasoning skills.

Business managers, general managers, business analysts, management consultants, budget analysts, business strategists and business planners help companies improve performance and profits, identify trends, control budgets, manage programs or products, and analyze economic and business information.

Business Job Market

The number of business jobs depends on the overall economy, the strength of the industry in which you work and your technical skills.

The Federal Reserve predicts economic growth of 1.9 percent to 2.4 percent in 2012, with growth picking up in 2013 and exceeding 3 percent in 2014.

Business jobs the BLS says are likely to expand faster than the average between 2010 and 2010 include:

• Healthcare managers up 22 percent.
• Social and community-service managers up 27 percent.
• Public relations managers up 21 percent.

Business Salaries

Salaries for business jobs depend a lot upon company size. The bigger your employer, the more you’re likely to earn.

For example, a senior budget analyst at a small firm made an average high of $65,750 at a small company in 2011, but $82,000 at a large company, according to the 2012 Salary Guide by Robert Half International (RHI).

Business salaries also rise when you take a job in a high-cost city. A business job in Oakland, for example, would pay 27 percent more than the same job in an average-cost city, while a business job in Duluth, Minnesota, would pay nearly 20 percent less, RHI’s survey found.

Here’s what the BLS says were the median 2011 salaries for some top careers in business:

• IT managers: $118,010
• Marketing managers: $116,010
• Natural sciences managers: $114,770
• HR managers: $99,130
• Healthcare managers: $86,400
• Administrative services managers: $79,540
• Management analysts: $78,490
• Social and community service managers: $58,660