Business on the brain
Students, teachers share insight about future careers
F
Katrell Readus
readukat000@hsestudents.org
or some, the only reason to enroll in a business class is the required credit. For others, it is a career plan. Senior Katie Bott is interested in a business career in hospitality and tourism or marketing. “I have taken a few business classes and plan to take more,” Bott said. “Classes are starting blocks to help us in the business world. They teach us lessons that we can apply and build on. The classes I have taken have helped to shape my opinion on what I would like to do in the future.” According to business teacher Braden Tribolet, understanding and being successful in business is dependent on knowing the little things. “It’s understanding things that go into business life, understanding and interacting with coworkers, how to write an email, how to act in a meeting, how to speak to a manager and how to take feedback,” Tribolet said.“It’s the small things, not necessarily the nitty-gritty, of what we actually do in a business.” Tribolet advises students to look for or create a company where they can stand firm in their values. “Find a company where you can stick to your values, every company you go to is going to have different values, they're going to have morals,” Tribolet said. “I’m all about respect, honesty and trust. At my previous job, that was never really there, that’s one thing I struggled with in keeping the job.” There are many careers thrown under the blanket term business,Tribolet and business
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owner and teacher Jeremy Guler, explain the difference between fields they are familiar with, through years of prior job experience and, or in-depth knowledge. Internal Finance vs Accounting Tribolet explains his prior job in finance and its divergence from another field, accounting. “In finance, we manage the money whereas accounting does stuff with it,” he said. “They balance the accounts, deal with the credits and debits, journal entries, paying people and getting paid.” The work expected of Tribolet in finance differed in a few places. In finance, they looked at and determined where the money goes, how much money is being spent, and what each branch is doing. Another part of finance is budgeting. “The budget was 50 thousand rows by like 40 columns deep in Excel, it’s populating forms and making sure all the information is correct, working with managers, department heads and supervisors to make sure you have everything in the budget they need for the coming year,” Tribolet said.” Tribolet offers some direction to students looking to chase a business career who are unsure of which subset to follow. “If you like math, go into accounting. If you like the people aspect more, go into finance,” Tribolet said. “There were days in finance where all I did was work in Excel, working with numbers. There were days where I didn’t touch my computer once and was in meetings and interacting with people. In finance, each day could look different. You get
to do a lot, we had our hands in every department, we got spread out a lot, but also learned a lot and talked to a lot of people.” Guler believes there is more to business skills and techniques than numbers. To him, the things learned in a business setting or class will allow individuals to thrive in business and life. “For instance, marketing, we think of marketing as trying to sell products or services, but marketing is also marketing yourself,” Guler said.“When you’re in a meeting for any job, the PTA, or a sport, if you have an idea you want to pursue, you have to know how to convince people of your idea and how good it is. We are constantly marketing regardless of what field or career we’re in.” Marketing vs Sales According to Guler, the line between marketing and sales is blurred. “Marketing can be a huge part of sales, but you can be in marketing and never sell a product,” Guler said. “Someone in sales is marketing a product, trying to sell against another product, company, or sales rep., you’re marketing your company, skills and product while selling.” According to Guler, the multiple categories of marketing play a role in where the line falls in between marketing and sales. He is adamant that the lack of selling in maketing creates the divide. “You must work hard to be in the businIess field and put in many hours and effort,” Bott said. “Business is an everchanging field and there is always something new,” Bott said. “Classes, school are the foundation for college, your job, and anywhere you go.”
School-based information provided by Linda Brown, College & Career Counselor. Infographic by Katrell Readus.
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