Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Employers are increasingly seeking candidates with specialised knowledge and skills that directly align with their industry and job requirements. And many universities – including Curtin – offer business degrees that can be customised to suit these different needs.
Customising your business degree through your choice of majors and specialisations is a powerful way to set yourself up for career success. By tailoring your degree to your passions, skills and aspirations, you can create a roadmap to achieve your career goals. It’s also an influential way of demonstrating your dedication, passion, and commitment to excel in your chosen field.
In this article, we’ll show you 5 steps to choosing the best business degree for your dream job, and ways to get set for a successful career.
Step 1: Identify your career goals
A business degree is a great choice for many career areas – all industries need business professionals. But before you begin customising your business degree, it’s important to identify your career goals. Thinking about what you want to do after university can help you figure out what you want to study.
Take some time to reflect on what excites and motivates you. Consider your interests, strengths, and values. Do our career quiz to help you identify which jobs might be a good match. This self-reflection will help you determine the specific industry or field you want to pursue.
Step 2: Research your business degree options
Once you have a good handle on what you want to do career-wise, it’s time to look at which business degree is best for you.
At Curtin University, we offer three undergraduate business degrees:
- Bachelor of Business Administration[AS1] : the all-rounder business degree, providing broad business knowledge and management skills
- Bachelor of Commerce: for specialist or industry-specific business roles
- Bachelor of Innovation: to drive change and innovation from a solid business platform.
Each degree is built to provide the right skillsets to meet the need of today’s industries. We’ve put together a detailed guide that compares these business degrees (we’ll have a link for you). It’s pretty handy when you’re trying to figure out which degree is the right fit for your future plans.
Sometimes it’s clear which degree is the right one for you. But if you’re torn between a few options, it’s worth looking deeper into what each degree covers. Look at the different majors and specialisations and think about how they match up with the skills that are in demand for the job you’re after. This step is super important – it’s all about making sure you pick a degree that sets you up with the skills to do well in your dream job.
Step 3: Map your career path
Mapping your career path is a really useful step for any prospective business student. But you don’t have to do it before you start your degree. At Curtin, mapping your career path is done in the first semester of your business degree, as part of the Strategic Career Design unit. This unit will help you learn more about yourself and the majors and specialisations on offer.
You can also leverage online resources like SEEK and LinkedIn, which can provide valuable insights into the specific skillsets required for success in your chosen field. Begin by exploring job listings for positions related to your career goals. Look for patterns in the qualifications and skills employers are seeking. Consider also engaging with professional associations and industry forums related to business. These platforms often feature discussions, webinars and resources that shed light on emerging trends and in-demand skills within specific sectors.
This research can inform how you tailor your business degree, ensuring you gain the knowledge and skills that will make you a competitive candidate in the job market.
Tip: If you’re an international student, you could benefit from exploring global job platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor, which offer a wealth of information on job trends and skill requirements across various industries worldwide. For Australian students, sites like GradConnection and CareerOne can complement SEEK and LinkedIn by providing additional job opportunities and industry insights.
Step 4: Prioritise work experience and internship opportunities
In today’s competitive job market, practical experience is highly valued by employers. Seek out internships, work placements or other types of industry engagement that aligns with your career goals. These opportunities provide invaluable hands-on experience, allowing you to apply what you’ve learned in class to real business situations. Additionally, these opportunities often offer networking events and the chance to build professional relationships within your desired industry.
Real-world experience is an essential component in every business degree at Curtin. Our Commerce and Business Administration degrees include the opportunity to study at least one real-world experience unit of your choice. This is referred to as a capstone experience, and you’ll complete this in your final year to ‘cap’ off your study and put your skills into practice.
Our Innovation degree includes extra opportunities for real-world experiences, offering four real-world experiences throughout the degree, known as transformative experiences. These are designed to transform your learning at pivotal moments throughout your academic journey. These experiences range from internships and hackathons, to international study tours and exchange opportunities.
Step 5: Double your expertise with a double degree (optional!)
Many business degrees are also offered as part of a double degree. Studying a double degree will add an extra 12 to 18 months to your study, but will result in two degrees. It might also be the strategic choice that propels your career forward.
You get to master not just one, but two fields, and carve out a unique skill set that can set you apart in the job market. Whether you’re looking to blend finance with law or psychology with marketing, or any other combination that suits your vision, a double degree could be the perfect way to equip yourself with the right skills to thrive in your chosen career.
Curtin offers both our Commerce and Innovation degrees to study as part of a double degree program.
You can study Commerce as a double degree with:
- Arts
- Engineering
- Law
- Psychology (Psychology, and Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations; or Psychology and Marketing)
- Science (Applied Geology and Finance; or Science and Commerce).
Our Innovation degree is available to study as a double degree with Law or Science.
Careers where having a double degree could be an advantage
Here are a few examples of careers where studying a double degree could provide you with a stronger skillset and a competitive edge in the job market:
- clean energy project manager (Science and Commerce, majoring in Environmental Biology and Finance)
- supply chain manager (Arts and Commerce, majoring in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Chinese)
- corporate lawyer (Law and Commerce, majoring in Finance)
- consumer behaviour specialist (Psychology and Marketing)
- engineering manager (Engineering and Commerce, majoring in Management).
Next steps
Customising your business degree is an empowering journey that allows you to shape your future career. By leveraging the resources and opportunities available at Curtin University, you can create a degree pathway that aligns with your passions and ambitions. Remember, your career is in your hands. With the right mindset and dedication, you can turn your career dreams into reality.
