What do business graduates go on to do?
Here’s what business and administrative studies graduates who finished their degrees in 2018 were doing around fifteen months after graduating, according to the graduate outcomes statistics reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2020.
Destination
Percentage
Full-time employment
62
Part-time employment
7
Voluntary or unpaid work
1
Working and studying
10
Further study
6
Unemployed
6
Source: HESA's higher education graduate outcomes statistics, 2020
Key areas of employment for business graduates
These are the top five areas of work taken up by 2018 business and administrative studies graduates around fifteen months after graduating, according to the graduate outcomes statistics reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2020.
Areas of employment
Percentage
Professional, scientific and technical
16
Wholesale and retail trade
12
Information and communication
8
Manufacturing
7
Source: HESA's higher education graduate outcomes statistics, 2020
Which careers attract business and management students?
Hospitality, leisure and tourism was the most popular career choice for business and management students identified by a 2020 survey of more than 71,000 undergraduates carried out by Cibyl, a research business owned by the same company as GTI. Over half ( 57.8% ) of business and management students who participated in the survey said they were interested in this area. The most popular careers were as follows:
Career
Percentage
Hospitality, leisure and tourism
57.8% expressed an interest
Accounting and financial management
54.8
Consulting
47.0
Investment banking and investment
44.8
Banking, insurance and financial service
42.2
Source: Graduate Survey 2020
What salaries can business management and economics graduates earn?
Want to know what graduates in your degree discipline typically earn in different locations? The Pay Index has provided targetjobs with a handy graduate salary tool showing just that.
Famous people with economics or business degrees
If none of these career ideas tickle your fancy, consider the following, who all studied either business or economics:
- Russell Howard – started his stand-up career while studying economics at the University of the West of England.
- Cate Blanchett – originally studied economics and fine arts before starring in films including Elizabeth , The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Thor: Ragnarok .
- Ivanka Trump – the daughter of the US president has an economics degree.
- Konnie Huq – the former Blue Peter presenter studied economics at the University of Cambridge.
- Mick Jagger – began playing with the Rolling Stones while studying at the London School of Economics.
- Kunal Nayyar – landed the role of Raj in The Big Bang Theory shortly after graduating from the University of Portland.
