How you can transform any undergrad major into a career in business

You may be surprised that landing a job in finance, marketing, or management is possible even if you earned a "non-business" undergraduate degree.  

Arming yourself with a business master’s could help you move into a corporate role thanks to the desirable business fundamentals it’ll equip you with, such as fluency in data, project management, and strategic thinking. That’s why 99% of global employers express confidence in business education, according to the latest GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey.

We spoke with insiders at the University of Oregon (UO), where the school's 10-month MS in Management program is specifically designed for students without a background in business, to find out how you can fast-track your career in business with any undergraduate major.

Learn business fundamentals

Strategic thinking, effective problem-solving, data analysis, finance, and accounting skills are essential for building a successful business career. These skills are key to making informed decisions, overcoming challenges, and having the technical knowledge needed for business growth.

At UO, these skills are integrated into the curriculum through a range of courses and hands-on learning opportunities. Students must transition to become adept at learning these subjects even before the program begins.

 “The way the curriculum is set up over the 10 months gives students an in-depth overview of business—accounting, finance, business writing, marketing—without specializing in any of those areas,” explains Emily Moore, director of UO’s MSM program.

“Before they start, students complete a GMAC fundamentals course online to make sure they have the Excel skills and enough of a background in accounting to be able to jump into the master’s level business classes.”

This preparation helps ease students from a non-business background into the more technical aspects of the program, as well as preparing them for the rigorous learning environment of the MSM.

“The first term has been very quantitative, which has been a hard transition because I’m used to communication classes,” explains Allie Manning Lorino (pictured), a student who majored in communication before joining the MSM. “Before we started, we had to do several different online classes, which definitely helped. The class would have been a lot harder without them.”

“Some people, myself included, have to put in more time and effort, but the program is definitely accessible to everybody,” adds Demitri Kritsepis, an MSM student who previously majored in journalism. “As long as you’re committed, it’s designed for starting at a zero point.”

Expand your professional network

A community of diverse professional connections is one of the key assets business school can provide. A strong network can provide industry insights, valuable mentorship opportunities, and elevated career prospects.

“Networking is one of the biggest parts of the program so I’m definitely meeting a lot of people and getting hands-on experience through that,” explains Allie.

Students are also encouraged to leverage the skills they have already built during their undergraduate studies. As Demitri (pictured) explains, “so much of our program so far has been outreach and talking to people and such a big emphasis has been put on building a network, which is something already ingrained in me from my journalism background.”

MSM students not only benefit from the opportunity to network with business professionals and industry leaders—the program’s unique dynamic means students can learn from the strengths of others in their cohort.

“We currently have students that have majored in communication, journalism, information technology, and computer science, just to name a few,” says Emily.

They are joined by students who previously studied business at undergrad but lacked the work experience to enroll in an MBA, who can add their prior knowledge to the classroom dynamic. The MSM can also act as a stepping stone for students who choose to progress to an MBA—after completing two years of work experience, MSM graduates are eligible for an accelerated MBA at UO.

“Since students are joining the program with different levels of business acumen, it definitely creates a model where there are some students naturally helping others,” Emily continues. “It’s helped the students become a really effective cohort, because they’re really interested in what each other are doing and helping each other out.”

What career paths are available to students?

As a generalist degree, an MSM is designed to equip students with fundamental skills that are essential for any career in business.

“Before the program even starts, students meet with our career services staff to make sure the experiential learning opportunities we offer align with what careers they want to go into and give them experience they can use on their resume,” explains Emily.

Career progression is one of the main aspects of the MSM, providing an in-depth overview of business principles to allow students to apply the skills they’ve built in whichever industry or role they choose to pursue.

“What can often happen, whatever field you go into, is that you’re really good at your job, not managing people. The MSM is designed for people who want to move up in their organization, and be able to understand not just their job, but how organizations work and how to manage people,” Emily (pictured) explains.

“For example, if a student majored in psychology and they wanted to become a practicing clinician, the MSM would set them up to lead their department,” she adds.

Whether you want to manage a team in tech, become a leader in healthcare, or kickstart your career in finance, by studying a generalist degree you can gain the business acumen you need to level-up your career. By building essential skills in areas such as accounting, marketing, and people-management, and establishing a strong network, you can leverage these strengths to succeed no matter the industry or role.