There are so many things that my business fraternity friends and I do every day that our non-business friends question all the time. The fact is, we view the world differently — when we walk into a business, we analyze their business model, sales tactics, and determine how good their business is based on these things rather than JUST their products.
Here are some other things that business majors do differently:
1. You notice marketing tactics when driving on the highway.
But not because they're eye-catching. You check to see if you think their marketing tools will really work and then judge the company.
2. While we're at it, you also notice business location trends.
A chemistry major may just see two coffee shops in the same shopping strip, but you see a poor branding strategy. Yuck.
3. You have seen your university's financial statements.
I can't be the only one who is curious about what Baylor is spending money on when they take thousands of dollars from me every year. Luckily I know how to interpret a 10-K for a large entity, so now I know!
4. And the financial statements of any business you are interested in.
When you are looking for jobs, you don't just look at the work environment. You want to know if you're going to have a job in five years, so you look at the financial statements and make sure they are a solvent company.
5. At least five people in each of your classes, every day, is wearing a full suit.
And you really love to be that person because it means we have an interview or presentation. Otherwise, you just get to look great.
6. Only a third of your classes are female.
Ironically, that's about as often as your/their male classmates take you/them seriously.
7. Your STEM friends assume that your major is easy.
Okay fam, let's just get one thing clear: you would not survive Corporate Finance, and we would not survive Organic Chemistry. We all have letters in our math so let's just agree that we both have classes that are hard and move on.
8. Networking is pretty much the same as friendship.
Your friends? Your network. Your professors? Your network. Your parents? Your network. Let's just assume that everyone here is a potential new networking opportunity.
9. Conversations you have with your business friends are in another language.
You are much more likely to bust out into intellectual, business-savvy conversations with your business major friends than your non-business friends. They just don't understand how organizations work like you do.
10. Fewer than seven of your classes are in your specific major.
The rest are “business core.” You know a little about every subject in business, so when you go into any sector of the workforce you always know what you’re talking about.
11. You have a pretty great resume.
Not only is the formatting perfect because of the dozens of resume workshops you've been to, but you have great jobs to fill it.
12. You know a lot of people who, when asked what they want to do when they graduate, say, "I'm going to be an entrepreneur."
You would think this is code for "I have no idea," but on the contrary - a lot of your classmates have always wanted to own their own business, so they have a lot of broad, scattered plans. In reality, most of them will inherit a pretty large trust and open a business with a "small loan of one million dollars" from their father. This college student locale will probably start as your average small business and then turn into a slightly larger small business.
13. Your handshake is so good, you'd be confident meeting Mark Zuckerberg.
EVERYONE knows that you need a killer handshake if you ever want to be successful in the business world, and yours is better than the rest.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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