Types of Communication

In the effort to reach the targeted audience, there are different areas of communication. In turn, there is an array of degrees; for example, the University of Delaware offers a Master of Arts in Strategic Communication. Graduates will be qualified to work in public relations, digital and social media, and corporate communication. Another example is the online Master’s in Strategic Communication and Leadership at Maryville University. There is also the choice of an Emerging and Digital Media sub-specialty in the degree.

The online Master of Science in Communications at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Relations has three specializations:

Advertising: Learn about the creation, planning, and execution of advertising campaigns.

Public Relations:  Learn about the intricacies of handling public relations and forming effective communications.

Journalism:  The coursework covers digital and social media, editing, analyzing information, and delivering news and information.

Is journalism the best field?

The real answer to the question is – it depends on where your interests and career aspirations lie. The answer is subjective. Some students may opt for journalism as their dream job, whereas others see themselves entrenched in digital media or analyzing corporate communications before dissemination to the public or shareholders. Others who embrace technology may prefer to settle into the creativity of digital media.

What is Mass Communication?

It is any form of imparting information through various media types to a large segment of the population. Some of the mediums to transmit the message are newspapers, magazines, brochures, radio, television, social networking, billboards, the internet, and film. The purpose of mass communication varies. Advertising is one type, as are: news reports, social interests, entertainment, knowledge, and more.

Journalism typically involves reporting events through print, newspapers and magazines, television news channels (CNN), radio, e-readers, and cell phones. There are sub-categories, such as investigative journalism that exposes corruption, environmental concerns, health scandals, abuse of power, and similar activity. The journalist feels compelled to reveal something that could be in the public’s best interest to know.

Students interested in investigative journalism would benefit from a program with an emphasis on journalism. The College of Liberal & Applied Arts at Stephen A. Austin University offers a Master of Arts in Mass Communication with three choices:

• Advertising and Public Relations
• Broadcasting
• Journalism

How much can I earn with a degree in Communications?

Journalism does not have the best salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for the category of Reports, Correspondents, and Broadcast News Analysts is $46,270. For those applying their mass communications degree for Public Relations, the pay is better at $61,150 (BLS). More optimistic is PayScale‘s mid-career income for a Public Relations Director at $92,200. The same site ranks journalist at #28 of 28 with a mid-career wage of $44,700 – on their list of professions related to communication

There are exceptions to any job group as some are in the stratosphere of the annual salary data. For example, George Stephanopoulos earns $15 million per year as a host on Good Morning America. Anderson Cooper of CNN has a reported income of $12 million per year.

Jobs and more jobs in Communications

Having a degree in mass communications or related field opens up a myriad of possibilities. If you glance at employment sites like Indeed, there are numerous pages of different positions. Some of the titles are:

• Social Media Specialist
• Corporate Communication Coordinator
• Facility Manager of Communications
• Public Affairs Specialist
• Public Communications Specialist
• Marketing Communication Specialist
• Public Information Officer

The list goes on. What is best for one individual might not be ideal for another. Do you prefer to be the creator of the information or the presenter? Many of these jobs require the skill of public speaking. If that is not for you, then a journalism job or compiling the digital news and information is more suitable. The best area of mass communication is the one that best fits your personality, goals, and comfort zone.

Additional Resources:

What are some of the topics for a thesis in Mass Communications?

30-36 hours doesn’t seem like much. Can I still work while getting my Master’s in Mass Communication?

What areas fall under the umbrella of Mass Media?

What interpersonal skills should I possess to be successful in pursuing a mass communications degree?

Easiest Online Master’s Degrees

What Is the Difference Between Corporate Communications and PR?

Are Companies Looking for Something More Than a Social Media Expert When Thinking About Corporate Communications?

What Are Some Typical Courses I Would Take in a Corporate Communications Master’s Program?

What Areas of Writing Should I Focus on to Be Successful in Corporate Communications?

The post Is journalism the best field to pursue after getting a Master’s in Mass Communications? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Pundits have called the liberal arts useless, some of the best degrees for teaching you how to think, as well as one of the only ways to get a true college education. There may be an element of truth to each of these assessments. However, what we can say more surely is that many, many individuals have found liberal arts degrees as a fantastic way to advance careers, make themselves better thinkers, and fulfill natural curiosity.

As you likely already know, the liberal arts (plural) are comprised of a wide range of subjects. So the answer to what you can do with a liberal arts degree will depend to some extent on exactly what liberal art one pursues.

With that in mind, our guide will look at the following:

• What are liberal arts degrees?
• What skills do liberal arts degrees hone?
• Can you get a liberal arts degree online?
• What you can do with liberal arts degrees?
• What resources are there for you to choose between liberal arts degrees?

Here at DegreeQuery we’ve covered all sorts of college and graduate degree-related topics. Many of these topics fall under the heading of liberal arts. If you have a specific question, feel free to look through some of our general FAQs below. Additionally, scroll down the page farther to see DegreeQuery’s coverage of “what can I do with a liberal arts degree?

• Top 15 Liberal Arts Schools in America
• What Degree Programs Can I Major in at a Liberal Arts School?
• Where Are the Best Places to Study Abroad While Earning a Bachelor’s Degree?
• Top 20 Highest Paying Online Degrees
• 25 Fastest Online Associate’s Degrees
• The Top 15 Schools for Studying Abroad

What is a Liberal Arts Degree?

The history of the liberal arts is long and nuanced. There is a strong claim that the liberal arts are the oldest degree type known. Dating back to the 5th and 6th century Greek and Roman empires, what we now know of as the liberal arts were taught as the subjects and skills deemed necessary for “free” citizens to know in order to participate in civic life.

As the years passed, the liberal arts were divided into two groups of subjects. One such group was named the Trivium. Topics included in the Trivium include:

• Grammar
• Logic
• And Rhetoric

• Arithmetic
• Geometry
• The theory of music
• And Astronomy

The liberal arts of today are certainly built upon many of the ancient topics of the liberal arts. Though a more general definition of the liberal arts has emerged as topics that are not directly related to professional, vocational, or technical studies.

Today the subjects included in the liberal arts include the following:

• The arts (including fine arts, music, literary arts, and performing arts)
• Philosophy
• Religious Studies
• Social Sciences (including geography, law, linguistics, political science, psychology, sociology, and more)
• Natural Sciences (including biology, chemistry, physics, and more)
• Mathematics

What skills do the liberal arts develop?

• Lifelong learning skills
• The ability to communicate clearly and effectively
• The ability to dissect complex ideas
• The ability to think logically
• Quantitative skills
• Problem solving skills

Many employers explicitly seek liberal arts majors due to their versatile nature as well as their ability to learn new skills quickly. A great proportion of job knowledge occurs in on-the-job training, and many liberal arts majors are particularly well equipped to excel in this area. While technical educations may become out-of-date in the matter of a few years, liberal arts educations tend to prepare graduates with skills applicable to any role throughout their lives.

The importance of the liberal arts can be seen through the fact that they’re a central part of the curriculum of all majors. General education requirements, typically required of all associates and bachelors degree majors are almost entirely liberal arts courses. The purpose of general education requirements is to ensure that graduating students are well-rounded thinkers, articulate, and generally deserving of a higher education degree.

In a sense, some commentators are right when they say that no one is truly educated to higher education standards without the liberal arts.

Think you may be interested in a liberal arts degree? Be sure to check out our ranking of the Top 15 Liberal Arts Schools in America.

Can You Get a Liberal Arts Degree Online?

A traditional image of a liberal arts major includes a small number of students discussing a topic with a teacher around a seminar table, long hours in the library, and impassioned conversations with fellow students.

While there is certainly something to be said for one-on-one attention, access to learning materials, and a scholarly community, today there are more ways than ever to gain access to these educational elements online.

Liberal arts degrees have historically been offered primarily at small, (often) private universities known as liberal arts universities. These universities rarely offer online degrees, and do often provide a traditional collegiate “feel.” Modern life, however, doesn’t often provide the time or resources required for this type of education. Luckily, many institutions of higher education have modernized their liberal arts degree programs and today provide them online.

Online learning isn’t the proper choice for all students. But it can be a great way to obtain a degree while juggling work of life responsibilities. Some of the most commonly mentioned benefits to online degrees include the following:

• Online degrees don’t require you to move to pursue a degree
• Many online degrees are built for working students
• Asynchronous degrees allow students to log on 24/7 to “attend” class
• Many traditional learning and support services are now available online
• Many online programs have fewer fees than in-person programs

• Online degrees often require more self-motivation from the student
• Less access to on-campus enrichment and support opportunities
• Less chances to “get to know” professors or classmates
• Many students haven’t learned online before

While many liberal arts degree programs of today are offered online, many liberal arts graduates will attest that some of the most formative experiences of their life were at in-person liberal arts degree programs. With that said, the choice is ultimately up to you, what you feel you can include in your life, and what your ultimate goals are.

For a more detailed look at some of the pros and cons of online education, as well as what online degrees are out there, be sure to check out our 2019 online degree rankings guide page.

What Can I Do With a Liberal Arts Degree?

• The Humanities
• The Arts
• The Natural Sciences
• The Social Sciences
• Mathematics

• History
• Philosophy
• English Literature
• Foreign or Ancient Language

• Humanities graduates are prepared with solid critical thinking and communications skills
• Humanities graduates are prepared for non-science or tech professional degrees
• Humanities graduates are prepared for graduate coursework in their area of study

The critical thinking and communications skills offered by a humanities degree can be great assets to businesses, non-profits, or government organizations that need grant writers, content producers, account executives, and marketing professionals.

As humanities, majors advance in their career, their ability to continue learning throughout their life, communicate effectively and think critically often lead to leadership opportunities including management positions.

While humanities degrees don’t lead to “one single role” like some professional degrees — and thus require some leg work in finding what industry you should enter — in the long run they often pay off with skills that no other degrees teach.

The second option for humanities majors that is listed above includes returning for a professional degree after graduating with a humanities bachelors degree. While humanities majors can return for any graduate degree with a little extra coursework, a straight humanities course of study lends itself most well to attending graduate programs in education or law. Alternatively, students in the humanities are also some of the highest scoring students on graduate admissions exams in business fields.

The final option is to return to school for a humanities topic. Doctoral programs in philosophy, English, foreign languages, and history typically accept students directly from bachelors programs. The terminal degree in all of these fields is a doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.).

Unlike other doctorate types, Ph.D.’s are research doctorates. This means that one of the primary focus areas of the course of study is to produce original research in the form of a dissertation. Additionally, successful Ph.D. candidates should be well prepared to teach at the university level.

While graduates of doctoral programs in the humanities can move into other fields such as marketing and writing, the primary end-points of these programs are teaching or research careers.

One thing we’ll need to distinguish before we proceed is what arts we’re talking about. At the undergraduate level, the most common art-related courses of study include:

• Performing Arts
• Theater Arts
• Fine Arts
• Music
• the Literary Arts

For a lucky few in all of these arts, their art will become their career. This is particularly true of the most prestigious conservatories as well as master of fine arts (MFA) programs in creative writing.

A second and much more common track is that students of the arts may enter into arts education. Coupling a degree in the arts with a bachelor’s in education, pursuing a master’s in education, or an alternative teacher licensure track like Teach for America are common routes to gain a teacher’s license.

Arts educators work in a variety of settings, though most commonly public K-12 schools. Additional locations of employment may include local museums, in private art instruction, theaters, for non-profits, and other settings.

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Physics
• Geology
• Astronomy
• And related degrees

1. Obtaining employment directly in their field of study
2. Becoming a K-12 educator in their field of study
3. Pursuing a graduate degree in their field of study
4. Pursuing a graduate degree in a separate field

For most of the above scientific disciplines, employment with a job title similar to your degree requires at least a master’s degree. Exceptions to this rule include undergraduates with degrees in biology taking lab or research positions under the supervision of a more educated biologist and those with bachelors in geology entering fields related to geology.

Teachers of STEM disciplines including most of the natural sciences are in high demand. Many states provide alternative licensing tracks that students may endeavor upon after receiving their bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline. Alternatively, bachelors-level students in the natural sciences may elect to follow up their degree with a master’s in education or a dual bachelor’s in education to obtain licensure.

The third option for what you do with a degree in the natural sciences is to attempt to obtain admission to a graduate program in your area of study. There are both master’s and doctoral-level programs for each of the natural sciences. Master’s degrees typically take less time and in some fields can lead to employment as a scientist of the type you studied to be. Generally the title of “physicist,” or “biologist,” or “chemist,” however, is reserved for those that have completed a doctoral degree in their discipline.

Doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees are the go-to degree type in all of the natural sciences. While other related degrees may offer professional doctorates, Ph.D. programs are always research doctorates. This means that students must complete a dissertation filled with original research. This also means that Ph.D. candidates should be capable of teaching at the university level upon completion of their degree.

Both master’s and Ph.D. programs may be pursued directly after undergraduate study. In Ph.D. programs, students that do not already hold a master’s degree are granted a master’s part way through their course of study.

The final option for students of the natural sciences is to pursue a graduate degree in another field. The natural sciences are some of the most well-rounded and provide a strong basis for many professional degrees. Physics, geology, and chemistry are all strong degree to follow up with engineering degrees. Chemistry and biology degrees provide most all of the prerequisites needed to attend nursing or medical school. While most quantitative sciences may also lead to admission in technical graduate school as well.

Of course, graduates of the natural sciences may find they would like to pursue a very different route upon graduation. Natural science majors have some of the highest average scores on both law and business school admissions exams.

Taken all together, the undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences can lead to a wide range of fields.

For a more detailed look at where natural science degrees can take you, be sure to check out our science degree guide as well as our page specifically on biology degrees.

Similarly to the natural sciences, degrees in the social sciences often lead to careers in those very same sciences when pursued at the graduate level. At the bachelor’s level, students of the social sciences may find employment at a lower level in their discipline, can pursue unrelated disciplines, or pursue teaching careers related to the social sciences.

The most common social sciences seen at the undergraduate level include the following:

• Economics
• Sociology
• Social Science
• History
• Anthropology
• Psychology
• Geography

Perhaps the most common undergraduate degree in the social sciences, psychology degrees can lead to a variety of therapy, counseling, and psychologist jobs with graduate training. For more in-depth information on what you can do with a degree in psychology, check out our psychology degree guide.

Sociology, social sciences, and anthropology all focus on studying how humans relate to one another on a systemic level. These degrees can lead to employment in the area of study with graduate degrees, as well as a number of related positions including social work, counseling, and human resources.

Geography degrees are quite specialized but can lead to important positions within the academic world with graduate education. Geography informs a wide variety of disciplines including history, biology, political science, physics, and geology.

The fact that mathematics is one of the liberal arts often surprises students. This is because a degree in mathematics pursues a “pure” discipline that does not prescribe or prepare students for a particular career track.

With that said, mathematics majors may be the single most sought after of major types. Mathematics forms the basis for all quantitative disciplines. Applied mathematics is at the heart of health care, finance, the natural sciences, management, and technology.

Particularly lucrative and in-demand paths that mathematics can take with just a bachelors degree include training to be an actuary, statistician, or data scientist. Actuaries work with insurance and finance companies to assign levels of risk to scenarios. Statisticians work in a variety of scientific and business roles. While data science has recently become an incredibly in-demand skill set.

Many fields within graduate level mathematics programs are also quite applied. This is unique among liberal arts of which mathematics is counted a discipline because “pure” or theoretical mathematics is not career or vocation centered. With that said, many graduate-level mathematics disciplines are.

For a more detailed run-down of what exactly you can do with a degree in mathematics, what degree types are available, and what courses are taken, be sure to check out our mathematics degree guide.

Additional Resources for Choosing a Liberal Arts Degree

• Top 15 Liberal Arts Schools in America
• What Degree Programs Can I Major in at a Liberal Arts School?
• Where Are the Best Places to Study Abroad While Earning a Bachelor’s Degree?
• Top 20 Highest Paying Online Degrees
• 25 Fastest Online Associate’s Degrees
• The Top 15 Schools for Studying Abroad
• How do I become an Organic Farmer?
• Top 10 Careers for Extroverts
• Top 10 Careers for Introverts
• Top 10 Online Bachelor’s Degree Programs in Environmental Science
• What are the best degrees to get?
• What can I do with a degree in American Studies?
• What can I do with a Political Science degree?
• What Classes will I take for a Degree in Public Relations?
• What degree do I need to be a Natural Science Manager?
• What Degree do I need to be a Policy Analyst?
• What degree do I need to be a Training and Development Specialist?
• What degree do I need to become a Case Manager?
• What degree do I need to become a Journalist?
• What degree do I need to become a Judge?
• What degree do I need to become a Librarian?
• What degree do I need to become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative?
• What degree do I need to become a Probation Officer?
• What degree do I need to become a Public Relations Specialist?
• What degree do I need to become a Translator?
• What degree do I need to become an Urban Planner?
• What Jobs Can I Get With a Liberal Arts Degree?
• What Should You Know When You Interview for a Job With a Degree in Math?
• Where Should I Go to Earn a STEM Degree?
• Why Do Some Degree Programs Require Undergraduate Students to Study Abroad?

The post What Can I Do With a Liberal Arts Degree? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Earning the Same Degree Online

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

Whether you choose to study journalism on campus or online, pursuing a master’s degree in this subject will allow you to develop advanced skills and, if desired, knowledge of an area of specialization. Many online graduate degree programs cover the same coursework as traditional classroom-based programs, and they are often taught by the same faculty.

Both online and classroom-based graduate students of journalism typically take classes in research and investigation, writing and storytelling in other media, communication practices and laws and ethics in journalism, according to U.S. News & World Report. Core courses in an online master’s in journalism program might include media research and analysis, news writing and reporting, feature writing, specialty reporting, multimedia reporting, civic journalism, technology tools for journalism and media law and ethics. You might also be able to choose electives to customize your online journalism degree program.

Some students want to earn a master’s degree as fast as possible. Others want to complete their coursework in more manageable chunks. Online master’s programs may offer flexibility to graduate in one year, one and a half years, two years, or a longer timeframe.

What You Miss With Online Learning

What about the graduate school “experience”? It’s true that students sometimes report a different level of camaraderie with their peers when studying online rather than in person. Further, online students might not have the same classroom-based and extracurricular opportunities as students who set foot on campus regularly.

This doesn’t mean that choosing online learning means resigning yourself to an isolated, hands-off educational experience. You might just need to put in a little more of a focused effort to make professional networking contacts and get involved on campus. For example, you might need to search for, or coordinate, online meetup opportunities with fellow online students and alumni.

Participating in a school newspaper can be difficult if you’re studying online from hundreds of miles away. You won’t just happen across a meeting while strolling through the student center one afternoon. However, college newspapers that have a long history of print editions are increasingly adding digital editions.

If you don’t have a lot of journalism experience as an entering graduate student and you need experience as a reporter or editor of a school newspaper for your resumé, find out whether the school newspaper has space for contributors from the online program. Don’t be afraid to ask what other extracurricular opportunities would be available to you as an online student.

Some journalism schools boast a full-service television and multimedia facility on campus that students use to develop a range of skills and learn new technologies. If you’re studying strictly online, this selling point may, unfortunately, not be available to you.

The Benefits of Online Learning

Not every graduate student of journalism is looking for extracurricular opportunities. One of the biggest advantages of learning online is that it opens up a graduate education to working professionals in the field. If you’re already an established journalist, continuing to work your beat and add high-quality stories to your portfolio and your professional reputation may be a lot more important than contributing unpaid stories to a college newspaper.

Online journalism degrees tend to attract students with experience in the field and multiple obligations going on, including an established career and family or personal responsibilities. These students may be looking to get something different out of graduate school than career changers and students who are fresh out of an undergraduate degree program.

A traditional, full-time on-campus master’s degree program might interrupt your career. If your school isn’t close to the area where you have built your professional reputation as a journalist, going back to school might mean uprooting your life. Studying online allows you to keep moving up in the field of journalism and stay relevant in your geographical area and your specialization because you can complete your coursework on your own time, from anywhere.

Some areas of the journalism field, like digital journalism, lend themselves particularly well to online study. Programs that focus on digital journalism are more likely to emphasize aspects of a modern reporter’s work specific to online channels, like coding skills, multimedia storytelling and social media.

Prospective students who are comfortable working in digital journalism are likely to do well with online learning, as well, in part because they are likely to be tech-savvy enough to solve technical issues that arise.

Additional Resources

Is It Possible to Get a Master’s in Journalism as Well as Another Subject, Such as Public Relations, at the Same Time?

Am I Likely to Be Accepted Into a Journalism Master’s Program If My Undergrad Degree Is in Another Field?

What Counts as Journalism Experience for Graduate School Admissions?

The post Can I Get as Much Out of an Online Degree in Journalism as I Can From a Classroom-Based Degree? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Corporate Communications and PR as Separate Fields

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

The biggest difference between corporate communications and public relations isn’t the skills you use in these occupations or even the job duties you hold. Rather, it’s the area of focus to which you apply your communication skills. Generally, corporate communications, sometimes called strategic communications, has a broader and less specialized scope. The field of corporate communications encompasses both internal and external communications. In this profession, you may work in crafting the messages used for company employees and administration as well as those distributed to the public.

Public relations is a field that focuses more narrowly on communication with the public and, particularly, on managing an organization’s reputation. This can refer to different populations outside the organization, rather than the company’s own leadership or employees. PR professionals often cultivate relationships with members of the media, including reporters and editors at newspapers and other publications. This responsibility is less prevalent among corporate communications personnel.

One factor that blurs the line between PR and corporate communications is the existence of corporate public relations. Most PR students work in corporate PR, whether in an in-house role or in an agency, but PR professionals can also focus on publicizing nonprofit causes.

Curriculum Differences Between Corporate Communications and Public Relations

Just as the scope and focus of the fields of corporate communications and PR differ, so do the courses you take in these graduate school programs. A public relations student should expect to focus on PR strategy, crisis management, research methodology for brand development and ethics, according to U.S. News & World Report. In a corporate communications program, you may be more likely to study communication theories more generally as well as topics like interpersonal communication, conflict resolution and organizational communication, according to U.S. News & World Report.

While a PR master’s degree program might emphasize coursework in media writing and relations, programs in corporate communications include more coursework on organizational communication, strategic communication and organizational culture. 

Distinctions in Your Most Likely Career Opportunities

Both corporate communications and public relations master’s degrees equip you with versatile skills in communications. However, you may be more likely to move into different roles depending on your area of focus. With a PR degree, you’re more likely to become a public relations specialist, media specialist or public relations manager. A corporate communications background is more likely to lead to a role as a corporate communications officer, a manager of internal or external communications or an in-house role as a company’s marketing manager or advertising manager.

This distinction may also affect your work environment. Corporate communications professionals typically work as employees of one company and focus on crafting that company’s communication plans and messages. Although PR professionals may work as an in-house employee of a company whose reputation they manage, many public relations specialists work for a PR agency, instead. That means the PR professional may be responsible for managing the reputations of different clients with whom the agency contracts.

Both corporate communications and PR specialists may choose to work in consulting roles instead of traditional in-house positions. Some corporate communications and PR professionals with an entrepreneurial spirit launch their own agencies or consulting firms.

How Corporate Communications and Public Relations Overlap

Of course, these important differences don’t change the fact that there’s considerable overlap between the fields of corporate communications and public relations. The two fields require many of the same strengths, including abilities in writing, persuasive speaking, and determining how to express information appropriately to different audiences. A corporate communications officer may sometimes work to get messages out to the public or to media representatives, while a PR professional may lend a hand in crafting internal messages, particularly regarding delicate subjects.

Some graduate programs offer a combined major in corporate communications and public relations. If you choose one of these programs, you should expect to take foundation courses such as public relations writing, communications planning, communications research, and ethics. Often, students then have the opportunity to round out their curriculum with electives that best fit their interests and career aspirations, such as courses in advanced corporate communications, internal communications, media relations, crisis communications and digital communications strategy.

Because there is so much overlap in terms of the skills and job duties of corporate communications and public relations professionals, you may move between these paths over the course of your career, according to The Houston Chronicle.

Additional Resources

Are Companies Looking for Something More Than a Social Media Expert When Thinking About Corporate Communications?

What Are Some Typical Courses I Would Take in a Corporate Communications Master’s Program?

What Areas of Writing Should I Focus on to Be Successful in Corporate Communications?

What Are the Salary Benefits of Getting a Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications?

How Much Can I Make With a Degree in Digital Marketing?

The post What Is the Difference Between Corporate Communications and PR? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Specializations on Certain Types of News Storytelling

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

Some areas of focus in the field of journalism have to do with the method, channel or medium of news storytelling. These journalism specializations might include magazine reporting, video and broadcast reporting and digital or multimedia journalism.

On the surface, both newspaper reporting and magazine reporting might seem similar, as they both involve written storytelling. However, work in magazine reporting is more likely to encompass long-form narrative writing, feature writing, memoir writing, op-ed writing, personality profile writing, how-to guide writings and other types of reporting less common in the newsroom of a typical daily paper.

Journalism programs often emphasize writing skills, but not all news reporting takes the form of text printed in a newspaper or magazine. Video and broadcast reporting is an important part of journalism. In a graduate school specialization in broadcast journalism, you might complete coursework in digital audio and podcast production and advanced techniques for broadcast production. Some master’s in journalism programs that emphasize broadcast journalism include coursework in “backpack video journalism,” in which one journalist serves multiple roles of writing, shooting and editing a multimedia news story for broadcast.

A degree program that emphasizes digital journalism might include studies in online news reporting, online video journalism, multimedia journalism, interactive data visualization, social media reporting and coding and software configuration for journalism.

Concentrations on Reporting on Specialized Content Areas

In stories that go beyond the basics – who, what, when, where and how – it can help to have a background in a content area so that you have the background knowledge to write a story. Putting a news event in context can provide readers with a deeper understanding of the event and the trends, motivations, factors and history that pertain to it.

Science reporting is a big topic in modern journalism. Within this broader topic, you might find even narrower areas of emphasis, such as health reporting, environmental journalism and technology journalism.

Reporting on the social sciences, too, can require specialized knowledge. Many news stories, especially in the realm of national news, pertain to politics and policy. Adjacent to these areas is foreign affairs journalism, which is concerned with international relations. If the issues you’re concerned with are of more of a social nature than a political nature, consider a master’s in journalism program that would allow you to specialize in social justice reporting.

Reporting in just about every content area requires some amount of background knowledge. While a journalist with a generalist background could certainly put in the time to research each different topic for every story they are assigned, there are benefits to building expertise in a focus area, including streamlining and speeding up the process of researching and writing a story.

Other content area concentrations in a journalism degree program include arts and culture, business and economics, sports and education.

Specializations on Developing Particular Journalism Skills

All journalists should cultivate the skills to investigate news stories thoroughly, accurately and without bias to the best of their abilities. However, the level of investigative skills you need differs greatly depending on your role and topic of focus in the field. If you want to write feel-good fluff stories about entertainment and travel destinations, you probably don’t have as much of a need for advanced investigative skills as a reporter who routinely tackles hard-hitting exposés.

Graduate journalism students who aim to use their investigative skills to uncover scandals, wrongdoing and uncomfortable truths may benefit from pursuing more extensive studies in investigative journalism. Specializing in this area might involve taking classes in data-driven journalism, in-depth journalism and international investigative reporting practices. Putting what you learn in the classroom into practice on your own stories is an important and challenging part of investigative journalism.

Students focusing on investigative journalism should expect to take some sort of practicum to work on real, meaningful pieces of investigative journalism.

Additional Resources

Am I Likely to Be Accepted Into a Journalism Master’s Program If My Undergrad Degree Is in Another Field?

Is It Possible to Get a Master’s in Journalism as Well as Another Subject, Such as Public Relations, at the Same Time?

Am I Better Off Getting Letters of Recommendation About My Ability to Write or About Potentially Being a Journalist?

The post Are There Different Areas to Study in a Master’s in Journalism? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Manager Roles in Business and Finance

The median annual salary for all management occupations is $102,590, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The best-paid business management roles can see even higher wages. For example, in the chief executive classification of top executives – including chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief human resources officer (CHRO) and chief operations officer (COO) roles – the median wage is $189,600. Another manager role with outstanding earning potential is advertising and marketing manager. For overseeing the campaigns and personnel involved promoting products, services and brands, these professionals earn a median salary of $132,620, the BLS reported.

A $127,990 median wage is in store for the job of financial manager, according to the BLS. This position, which involves both financial reporting and strategic planning to preserve and grow the financial health of the company, includes job titles like treasurer, finance officer and controller. For sales managers, with a median wage of $124,220, commissions and bonuses are often part of the equation, as well, the BLS reported. Sales managers supervise teams of sales representatives, including training new salespeople, setting sales goals and plans to achieve those goals and assessing the performance of teams and individual sales representatives.

Compensation and benefits managers enjoy the highest wages among human resources management roles. Specializing in company pay structure or employee benefits program administration, then earn a median salary of $121,010, according to the BLS. Purchasing managers, who are in charge of acquiring the goods, services and raw materials a company needs, earn a $115,760 median annual wage, the BLS reported. While purchasing managers supervise buyers and purchasing agents, they tend to handle the most complex procurement tasks personally. For public relations and fundraising managers, who work to garner positive publicity or funding donations for their organization or clients, the median salary is $114,800, according to the BLS. The median wages for generalist human resources managers and specialized training and development managers are similar, at $113,300 and $111,340, respectively, the BLS reported.

Other business management roles with a six-figure median wage include industrial production managers and general and operations managers.

Analyst Jobs

Just because you go to school for business management doesn’t mean that you will become a manager right off the bat. All of these manager roles require at least a few years of relevant work experience. Often, you begin working in an entry-level role and gradually move up through the ranks of seniority, advancing to assistant management and middle management positions before you can work in this high-level role. For some – though not all – of these business manager positions, you may need a master’s degree. Earlier on in their careers, graduates of business management programs are more likely to hold analyst roles. There are many different types of analysts working in the business world.

RELATED: What Are the Highest-Paying Business Entry-Level Jobs?

Management analysts, for example, are outside contractors brought in to solve problems that improve a company’s efficiency and financial performance. Also called management consultants due to their role as outsiders looking in at a company’s performance, they enjoy a median salary of $82,450 per year, according to the BLS. For budget analysts, who develop a company’s budget and oversees spending, the median wage is $76,220, according to the BLS. Business analysts earn a median wage of $59,343. Like management analysts, they gather and interpret data to identify problems in a company’s operations, but they more often work within a company rather than as an outsider, and they may have more limited expertise in developing detailed plans to solve the problems they identify, compared to a management consultant.

The financial analyst offers an even more lucrative $85,660 median wage, but you may need more than business management coursework for this job. The BLS ranks courses in finance, statistics, math, accounting and economics as important for financial analysts.

Related Resources: 

What Are the Highest-Paying Jobs in Business Administration?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With a Business Degree?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With an MBA?

What Salary Can I Expect With a Human Resources Management Degree?

Do I Need a Graduate Degree to Become a Manager?

Top 10 Paying Jobs That Involve Math

For Further Reading: 

Top 10 Paying Jobs With an Associate’s Degree

The post What Are the Highest-Paying Jobs in Business Management? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

While journalism isn’t known as a particularly lucrative career path, it is still possible to earn a living as a journalist. To do so, you’re going to need the right education, enough work experience to develop a strong portfolio of clips, and the skills expected of an exceptional journalist.

What to Know About the Highest-Paid Journalism Jobs

If you’re concerned about the salary you will earn as a journalist or in a similar role, there are a lot of factors to consider. The first thing you should know is that the earning potential for journalists may not be as low as you are fearing. The median salaries for journalism jobs may not be especially lucrative, but they are above the median salary for all occupations, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

If you want to work in one of the highest-paying jobs as a journalist, you’re going to need to put in the work to attain these roles. Your education is an important part of preparing for your career. If you want to earn the most money, you may benefit from pursuing an advanced degree, like a Master of Arts or Master of Science in journalism. This degree can help you land coveted senior-level reporter roles and high-level roles like managing editor.

Attaining one of the best journalism degrees from a top-rated school is just one piece of the puzzle. You also need to find a journalism role that pays a higher salary. A degree in journalism or communications is so versatile that it prepares graduates for any number of possible career paths, some of which pay more than others. Naturally, the job title you hold and the work responsibilities you perform play a big role in your earning potential. Your level of experience, too, is a factor that contributes significantly to how much money you make.

Because the job opportunities in the field of journalism and communications are so diverse, candidates have some degree of control over how much they make. They can choose a specialty or niche within the field to pursue. They can look for less stressful reporting jobs in small-town settings or aim for higher-paying roles in major metropolitan areas. They can work toward advancement in another career related to journalism, such as writing, editing and public relations.

Competition for the top journalism jobs is particularly fierce right now because the outlook for these jobs is somewhat discouraging. The BLS expects jobs to decline by 11 percent for reporters and correspondents and 7 percent for editors. 

Does Journalism Pay Well?

For reporters, correspondents and broadcast news analysts, the BLS reported a median salary of $49,300 in 2020. Compared to the median wage for all occupations – $41,950 – that’s not a bad salary. However, it’s important to put this figure in context. As of 2020, the average income with a bachelor’s degree was $1,248 per week, or $64,896 per year, according to the BLS. Considering that most journalists need a degree, the salary for this occupation is somewhat underwhelming in comparison to other jobs that require the same level of education.

Still, there are journalism jobs that pay well. Jobs as a journalist in certain industries pay a lot more than other roles in more conventional employment settings. Higher-level jobs in journalism, like senior staff reporter and managing editor, also tend to earn a lot more. Self-employed, or freelance, journalists can sometimes make more money than staff journalists by shopping stories around to different publications and getting paid by the story or the word instead of the hour.

Keep in mind, too, that journalism degrees don’t limit your career prospects to only journalist jobs. The education of a journalist can be valuable for any role that involves research and writing, including high-paying management roles. 

The Range of Salary Possibilities for Journalism Careers

The overall median salary for media and communication occupations was $61,310 as of 2020, according to the BLS. However, the full range of journalism job salaries covers jobs with earnings well below the median wage for all occupations, as well as wages that are approaching the six-figure range.

Your earning potential in the field of journalism depends a lot on your job description, work environment, education and experience. Generally, the journalism jobs that have salaries that barely surpass the median wage for all occupations include positions that require less education and fewer skills. For other journalism roles that encompass more extensive job duties and more advanced skills, the typical salary is nearly double the median wage for all occupations. The highest-paying journalism careers are senior-level and management job roles.

For broadcast news analysts, the difference between the 10 percent of the occupation that earns the lowest wages and the 10 percent of the profession that earns the highest salaries has historically been huge, with the BLS reporting a wage difference of more than $150,000. 

Journalism Job Salaries on the Lower End of the Pay Scale

Let’s start with the journalism careers where the salaries are less impressive. With a median, or midpoint, wage below $50,000, reporters and correspondents – the professionals you may traditionally think of as journalists – are among the lowest-paid workers in the field. Expressed as an hourly wage, this median income is just $23.70 as of 2020, according to the BLS.

Interestingly, the average pay for reporters and correspondents is significantly higher than the median, at $66,000 per year or $31.73 per hour. What this distinction means is that the journalists who earn more money bring in salaries so much higher than their peers that their incomes cause the average salary data for the occupation to become positively skewed. Again, this difference between the median and mean salaries for reporters and correspondents speaks to the significant wage differences that occur within this occupation.

Which factors make you more likely to earn these low journalism careers salaries? Generally, reporters who work at small print news organizations in small towns and who have little experience typically earn the least. The median salary for reporters employed by newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers was just $37,900 in 2020.

Reporters who advance to roles at larger news agencies that serve larger cities tend to make more money, according to the BLS. The tradeoff is that reporters in major cities may also be under more stress, as well as facing increased costs of living.

With experience, even reporters at small news stations and publications in small towns can move up into higher-paying roles such as editor, although the job opportunities for editors in these regions and work environments are limited.

Mid- to High-Paying Journalism Jobs

Not all journalists who start out in lower-paying roles stay in those occupations. For many journalism professionals, these are simply entry-level jobs that allow them to start gaining experience and networking within the industry. By using their education and experience in other capacities, these professionals can significantly increase their earning potential.

Most reporters, news analysts and correspondents work for either the radio and television broadcasting industry, accounting for 32 percent of the occupation, or the newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers industry, which employs 35 percent of the workforce. However, journalists can actually earn more money by pursuing less conventional employment paths. For the 10 percent of the occupation working in what the BLS categorized as “other information services,” the median annual salary in 2020 was $73,300. Even for journalists in the radio and television broadcasting industry, the median pay rate isn’t bad, reaching $55,030 in 2020.

You could also use your journalism education for careers outside of reporter and news correspondent. Writers and authors earned a median salary of $67,120 per year in 2020, according to the BLS, but those who specialize in technical writing made closer to $74,650 per year. For editors, that median salary was $63,400 in 2020, the BLS reported, and managing editors and executive editors naturally saw some of the highest salaries.

Public relations specialists have a similar earning potential, according to the BLS, with a median wage of $62,810 in 2020. Public relations specialists may perform job duties that are similar in many ways to journalists, such as interviewing people involved in an assigned story and telling that story in the form of articles, photographs, videos and multimedia materials. Additionally, public relations specialists often work with journalists and other members of the media, pitching their stories for publication.

However, while journalists are supposed to be impartial and report news, public relations specialists’ job is to shape the public image of their organizations or the clients for which they work. This means, of course, that public relations specialists’ stories always have an angle that favors the organization they’re trying to promote.

Some journalists go the freelancer route. Self-employed writers earn money for every assignment and submit work to multiple publications. Salary.com reported an hourly wage range between $21 and $29 for freelance writers in 2021, but those with extensive experience or specialized skills can earn a great deal more. 

The Highest-Paid Journalism Jobs

At the higher end of the pay spectrum are senior-level roles. Senior-level reporters, correspondents and news analysts are the ones most likely to attain the highest salaries in journalism. Journalists in these roles reported making $38.92 per hour, or $80,950 per year, at the 75th percentile of the occupation, according to the BLS. The reporters in the 90th percentile – the top 10 percent of earnings in the profession – made $ 61.24 per hour, or $127,370 per year.

What about wages for those journalists who move up to editorial leadership roles? Executive editors earned a median salary of $98,109 in 2021, according to Salary.com, and the typical salary range for this role was between $88,106 and $110,791. With a job title like managing editor, your income potential is even higher. The median salary for managing editors in 2021, according to Salary.com, was $103,300.

Plenty of management jobs are open to candidates with a degree in journalism or communications and a great deal of work experience in the field, especially if you have an advanced degree, as well. It’s not unusual for these high-level professionals to earn close to – or more than – $100,000 per year. Public relations managers and fundraising managers earned median annual wages of $118,430 in 2020, according to the BLS. For sales managers, the BLS reported a median salary of $132,290 per year.

If you want to move into the intersection of media and communications and business, you might seek roles in advertising and marketing. For advertising and promotions managers, the BLS reported a median wage of $133,460, while marketing professionals earned a median salary of marketing managers was $142,170 in 2020.

Writing stories that win major prizes, like the Pulitzer Prize, may also help bolster your reputation as a journalist and allow you to earn more money. 

Master’s in Journalism Salary

In journalism, having a graduate degree doesn’t necessarily put you on the path to different career roles, although it can help you make the leap from mid-level reporter to senior-level report or from reporter to editor. You may not get a pay raise specifically for earning your master’s degree in journalism.

Still, the overall salary difference between American workers with a master’s degree and those with a bachelor’s degree was nearly $13,000 in 2020, according to the BLS. It stands to reason that reporters with a master’s in journalism degree, along with a corresponding level of experience and an impressive portfolio, would gravitate toward the higher end of the pay scale for their job title, geographical region and publication type and size. It’s not unusual for graduates of a master’s in journalism or master’s in communications program to see salaries in the $60,000-, $70,000- or $80,000-range, and the highest-earning workers with a master’s degree in journalism end up earning six-figure annual salaries.

A salary boost from a master’s degree in journalism is certainly possible and even likely, but it’s not guaranteed. As a result, prospective students should weigh the likely return on their investment and be realistic about their strengths, skills and reputation to determine whether going to graduate school is worthwhile. 

Related Resources: 

Will a Master’s in Journalism Help Me Get a Position in Upper Management at a Paper or Magazine?

What Counts as Journalism Experience for Graduate School Admissions?

What Kind of Careers, Other Than a Writer, Can I Look for With a Master’s in Journalism?

How Much Can I Make With a Degree in Digital Marketing?

For Further Reading: 

Top 10 Paying Jobs With an Associate’s Degree

What Degree Do I Need to Be a Crime Analyst?

The post What Salary Can I Earn With a Degree in Journalism? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

The Fastest-Growing Business Jobs

Many MBA graduates go on to find work in fields such as management, business development, operations, finance, marketing, logistics and consulting. It’s no surprise that jobs in these fields are among the fastest-growing business and finance occupations.

For example, jobs for financial analysts should grow by 11 percent, or 32,200 new opportunities, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Loan officers have a similar job outlook, with the BLS anticipating an 11 percent growth rate that will lead to 36,300 new jobs. In the financial planning arena, the occupation of personal financial advisor is growing at an even faster rate of 15 percent, with the BLS predicting a 40,400 gain in job opportunities. The BLS expects high-level financial manager roles to jump by 19, or 108,600 jobs.

Outside of finance, many other business roles are also growing rapidly. The fastest-growing job in business and finance is market research analyst, in which the predicted 23 percent rise should create 138,300 new jobs, the BLS reported. Job opportunities for management consultants, also called management analysts, will increase by 115,200 if the 14 percent job growth rate predicted by the BLS proves to be accurate. Other non-management jobs that should see rapid job growth include fundraiser, at a 15 percent growth rate; real estate appraiser and assessor, with a 14 percent growth rate; and event planner, with an 11 percent growth rate.

Among management occupations, both marketing and advertising manager and public relations and fundraising manager occupations should see a 10 percent increase in opportunities. Healthcare executives and healthcare administrators must have a more specialized MBA to do their job, but their career prospects are excellent, with the BLS anticipating a much faster than average growth rate of 20 percent.

All in all, the BLS expects the business and finance field to add 773,800 new jobs over a decade, while jobs in management occupations should grow by 807,300 over the same timeframe.

Do You Need to Go to Graduate School for a Business Career?

According to the BLS, a bachelor’s degree is the required education for nearly all business, finance and management job roles. You may not technically need your MBA to get a job, but even when it comes to jobs that don’t list a graduate degree as a requirement, having the qualification can enhance your resumé and make employers more likely to consider you for a promotion or a senior-level job role. That’s because earning your MBA is about more than checking off a requirement for certain jobs or employers. The graduate-level business administration coursework allows students to develop in-demand skills and knowledge – which is what makes the degree so sought-after to begin with – and to develop essential soft skills in leadership and communication.

What makes MBA graduates such valuable job candidates? Employers cite more complex challenges and a need for a greater breadth of skills as reasons for the growing demand for MBA graduates. However, employers also look for a depth of knowledge and expertise in specialized areas, which is why many of today’s employers expect MBA graduates to have concentration or specialization under their belts. Choosing an in-demand concentration can help you command a higher salary, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The MBA is in especially high demand in the health care industry, where there’s a shortage of health care managers with the graduate-level degree.  MBAs also are in unexpectedly high demand in the criminal justice and entrepreneurship career fields.

Graduate Options Beyond the MBA

The MBA is the conventional graduate business degree. Although the degree option remains popular today, it’s no longer the only choice for business professionals who want to improve their careers by going to graduate school. Specialized master’s degree programs and certificate programs can equip students with the advanced skills they need to fill niche job roles in the business world. Some of the most popular specialized master’s programs in business include the Master of Finance degree, Master’s in Human Resources degree and Master of Science in Supply Chain Management degree.

Specialized master’s degree programs tend to be faster to complete than MBA programs, which often require you to complete more college credits in order to fit in a broad curriculum of business studies.

Additional Resources

What Kind of Job Can You Get With an MBA?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With an MBA?

What Should You Know When You Interview for a Job With an MBA?

What Is the Difference Between an MBA and a Master of Finance Degree?

The post What Is the Demand for an MBA? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain.

Before you commit to studying a subject such as media and communications – even at one of the schools known for offering the best journalism degrees – you should be aware of the career paths available. Having a degree in journalism can prepare you for any number of possible occupations, but students should keep in mind that many of these careers are competitive. Being aware of your options now can help you decide early on what you want to do with your degree and make sure that you’re taking the classes and experiential opportunities that can help you prepare for your desired role.

Reporter

Perhaps the most direct career path from a journalism degree is a job as a reporter. Reporters and related occupations such as correspondents and news analysts investigate news and events and share the information they uncover. Reporters, often called journalists, report news through various media, including print newspapers and magazines, websites and radio and television broadcasts, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported.

Writer

Due to the major’s focus on research and writing, a degree in journalism can be excellent preparation for a career as a writer or author, according to the BLS. While all writers have the basic job duty of creating written material in common, there are many different types of professional writing. You may draw on what you learn in a journalism degree program to create advertising copy, long-form marketing and promotional content, biographical profiles or books, blog posts, song lyrics, plays and screenplays or novels and short stories. Of course, some of these types of writing are more likely to lead to a job than others. You might be able to work for an advertising agency or an in-house marketing team as a copywriter, whereas an aspiring novelist or poet is unlikely to be paid for their writing prior to getting pieces published.

Editor

As a journalism major, you will not only study the art of writing, but also the process of editing written text. You might find work as an editor in an environment such as newspaper publishing, book publishing, professional services, civic and grantmaking organizations or educational services, the BLS reported. Editing the written word requires more than one set of skills. Copy editors must be good at proofreading text and correcting grammatical and spelling errors. Managing, executive and assistant editors may handle big-picture decisions, such as what stories and events writers cover and what angle or approach they take to reporting on the subject.

Public Relations Specialist

Another way you can use your journalism background is in the field of public relations, the BLS reported. Public relations specialists manage the public image of a company or organization, in large part by working with the media to attain favorable publicity. Public relations professionals who have the research and writing skills of a journalist and a solid understanding of how the media works and what editors and journalists are looking for will thrive in this field.

These four roles represent just a handful of the career opportunities you could explore with a degree in journalism. You can use the versatile skills you learn in such a program, like research and written communication, to raise money for charitable organizations, earn a professional or graduate degree or run a business. Taking courses in subjects that are most closely related to your career plan and finding relevant internship opportunities can help you gain some specialized knowledge and abilities so that you will stand out from the crowd of job applicants.

The post What Jobs Can I Get With a Degree in Journalism? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Growing Management Occupations

Across all occupations, the average rate of job growth is seven percent over a decade, according to predictions from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For management roles as a whole, the prediction is similar, at eight percent.

Some of the fastest-growing management careers, and those that most often appeal to business students, are in the business and finance field. For example, a much faster than average growth rate of 19 percent should result in 108,600 new jobs for financial managers. The BLS predicts a 10 percent growth rate for advertising and marketing managers, property and real estate managers and public relations and fundraising managers, but the difference in the size of these occupations means that there’s a big difference in the number of jobs that will result. Jobs for marketing managers will increase by 23,800, while property managers will see 32,600 new jobs and public relations managers only 7,700.

Other industries require skilled business managers as well. In these industries, a worker with a different background – such as science, technology, engineering and construction – might go back to school to earn a management degree.

A massive 20 percent growth rate for medical and health services managers could add 72,100 new jobs to the economy, according to the BLS. For computer and information systems managers, a 12 percent expected growth rate will mean 44,200 new jobs, the BLS reported. Construction managers should see a similar trend, with an 11 percent growth rate expected to add 44,800 new roles. If jobs for natural sciences managers increase by the expected 10 percent rate, 5,600 new opportunities will become available.

The BLS expects the total number of management jobs to increase by 807,300 over a ten-year period. While wages depend on your management function and your company, the overall median wage for management positions is in the six figures.

Education, Experience and Management Roles

Having an undergraduate or graduate education in management can help you secure a leadership role, but education is only one piece of a much larger puzzle. In fact, many management jobs don’t require a degree in management, even if they require a bachelor’s degree or a general business degree. Instead, upper-level management might pay more attention to factors such as a candidate’s amount and extent of work experience and the natural leadership abilities that shine through the applicant’s actions.

This doesn’t mean that earning a master’s degree in management is pointless by any means, but it does mean that you will have to approach the situation holistically. Be sure to find opportunities in your work to take the lead on projects. Practice being that ideal leader by motivating discouraged colleagues and bringing out the best in your team. Make sure your work performance reflects your commitment to furthering your skills. These actions will show your current organization or a prospective employer your commitment to moving forward as well as helping you get into a management degree program.

If you do decide that it’s time to go back to school, there are many management degree options to choose from. Many managers pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a focus on leadership or management. Master of science degrees, like the Master of Science in Management degree, tend to be more specialized than a broad MBA curriculum.

Even more specialized graduate management degree options include the Master of Engineering Management, the Master of Science in Healthcare Services Management and the Master of Information Systems Management degree.

Additional Resources

What Is the Demand for an MBA?

Do I Need a Graduate Degree to Become a Manager?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Management?

What Is the Difference Between a Business Administration Degree and a Business Management Degree?

How Long Does It Take to Get a Degree in Leadership and Management?

How Many Jobs Are Available in Finance?

The post What Is the Demand for a Degree in Management? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

The range of business enterprises that shape our lives highlights one of the most exciting aspects of business: there’s a role in business for nearly every skill set.

Skilled talkers may excel in sales.

Those with strong analysis skills may work in marketing or as business analysts.

Sound judgment and a vision for the future are highly sought skills in management.

Quantitative skills can lead to careers in finance or actuarial science.

Creative thinkers may find their niche in product design.

Unlike some fields that tend to seek workers with a singular skill set, business is a broad category in which many types of workers are needed.
Additionally, once you have an idea of where you would like to be in the business world, there are more degree types than ever to help to get you there.

Not sure what business role is right for you? Many students looking to get into business start with a general degree in business administration. After getting a sampling of business basics down, they then specialize farther on the job or in an academic setting.

Think you’re ready to take the plunge? Read on to find out exactly what you can do with a business degree today.

General Business Degree FAQs

• What Is the Difference Between an Accounting Degree and a Business Degree?
• How Long Does It Take to Get a Business Degree?
• What Are the Most Popular Undergraduate Degree Programs?
• Top 10 Highest Paying Business Careers
• Top 10 Careers for Extroverts
• What undergraduate degree is best for an MBA?
• What degree is best for management?

• What Are the Highest-Paying Business Entry-Level Jobs?

How Much Money Can I Make With a Business Career?

The short answer is that the average salary for most business positions is well above the average earnings for all careers. Additionally, for those that advance in a corporate structure or start their own business, the sky is really the limit in terms of earnings.

Virtually all of the richest people in the world are in “business” careers. Most got to where they are now by starting their own business and growing it to epic proportions. Or by inheriting a business from a family member and helping to run the business.

There’s not a degree in the world that can turn you into the next Bill Gates, or Elon Musk, or Warren Buffet. But if money is an important aspect of your career choice, you can’t do much better than business.

The longer answer is that earnings in business fields greatly depends on your role and level of experience. Below we’ll look at earnings by career level in business roles.

Entry-Level Business Career Earnings

Depending on the degree level you’re entering the workforce with, you’ll likely start in an entry-level position. A sampling of entry-level business positions includes the following.

Entry-level business development associates are professionals tasked with supporting business goals related to business growth. These interdisciplinary roles may involve different tasks in different organizations. However, some commonly reported tasks of business development jobs include the development, execution, and evaluation of plans to increase business sales. Additionally, business development professionals may interface with customers and advocate for them as well as communicate with and procure potential business partnerships.

Business development jobs are great ways to get into a business career due to their importance, visibility, and multidisciplinary nature. These jobs can often expose young workers to a wide variety of business tasks and let them specialize further as the opportunity presents itself. Part sales, part business analyst, part customer service representative, business development can be a great career for the right type of candidate.

Business development jobs are also well compensated for an early-career role. The average salary for entry-level business development jobs is $49,000, with the top 10% of earners in this role making more than $74,000.

Entry-level sales representative roles are great for outgoing “people person” types that are also oriented towards business. These jobs often require direct outreach to potential customers, as well as the crafting of strategies, scheduling of meetings, and tracking of objectives related to sales.

There are a number of pros and cons to sales representative jobs. Though for the right type of worker, they can be a great fit. Salaries in entry-level sales representative jobs are often bolstered by commissions and bonuses. This means that pay can be better in sales roles than in other entry-level roles. This assumes you meet your sales targets, however. With monthly and quarterly objectives, meeting sales goals can sometimes lead to late nights or early mornings in the office.

Our best advice for those seeking to get into a sales role is to choose an industry they’re passionate or knowledge about and be willing to work hard. More than other positions, positions in sales are highly dependent on the individual work ethic of the individual involved.

The average salary for entry-level sales representatives is just $42,000 a year. But this comes with an average annual commission or bonus amount of over $10,000, as well as other common incentives. If you want to take your business skills into a very “people-centered” role, sales can be a great route.

Finally, entry-level business analyst positions are great for recent business graduates who excel in quantitative disciplines and communications. Business analyst positions center around the creation of business intelligence meant to guide important business decisions. This can involve the creation of– or analysis– of spreadsheets, large data sets, or interviews. Basically, if a business has created a report on a topic, a business analyst was likely involved.

For students of business or other quantitative disciplines, business analyst positions can be a great “in” to decision-making careers in business.

The average salary for entry-level business analysts is $56,000 with this number nearly doubling by later career stages.

To learn more about different business careers and how they relate to business degrees, be sure to check out our FAQs below:

• What degree do I need to become a Budget Analyst?
• What degree do I need to be a Financial Analyst?
• What degree should I get to become a Consultant?
• What degree do I need to become an Entrepreneur?
• What Salary Can I Expect With a Human Resources Management Degree?

Mid-Level Business Career Earnings

As business workers gain their first few years of experience they typically follow one of two paths: (1) becoming increasingly specialized in their skill set, or (2) moving into management within their given job title.

While there are too many mid-level business careers to list in this article. Below we’ll list the average salaries of low-level managers as well as more experienced technical roles in business.

• Average Project Manager Salary: $90,337
• Average Experienced Business Analyst Salary: $76,000
• Average Product Owner Salary: $72,000
• Average Marketing Analyst Salary: $60,296
• Average Experienced Sales Rep Salary: $68,446

Additionally, a number of business roles work directly with the money or investments of clients. These roles typically require a specialized business degree as well as — at times — the passing of a licensing exam. Some common “money-centered” jobs in business, as well as salaries, are below:

• Average Accountant Salary: $77,920
• Average Financial Advisor Salary: $124,140
• Average Financial Manager Salary: $141,000
• Average Investor Salary: $149,042

As you can see, with a few years of experience under your belt, there are a variety of lucrative business careers.

Our mid-career FAQs include:

• What Finance Jobs Can I Do With an Accounting Degree?
• What Degree Do People With a Job in Management Accounting Have?
• 15 Top Degrees for the Highest-Paying Business Careers
• What Degrees Can Get You a Job on Wall Street?
• Top 10 Highest Paying Management Careers

Managerial Salaries
Those that work hard through the early stages of their business career and show potential for leadership positions will likely find themselves offered management opportunities a few years into their career.

Management is a crucial part of every segment of business organizations. Managers may work in marketing, engineering, human resources, logistics, sales, design, accounting, and a host of other capacities.

With that said, many managers first build up skills and knowledge particular to the area in which they are managing. For example, most sales have worked at lower levels in sales. Many engineering managers are engineers.

With that said, graduate business degrees can lead straight to management positions. And whatever your route into management, a business degree is a great fit for learning many of the multidisciplinary skills required of managers.

Some average salaries of common management roles include the following:

• Average Project Manager Salary: $72,481
• Average Scrum Master Salary: $92,651
• Average Program Manager Salary: $137,051
• Average Operations Manager Salary: $95,254

• What are the best types of Business Degree?

  The short answer is that there is no one “best” type of business degree. Just as there isn’t one single educational route into most business positions, business degrees provide you with the basic skills and knowledge to excel in on-the-job learning.

  With that said, business degrees offer one of the greatest range of subject matters of any degree types. This means that students can specialize to a great extent in their degree program.
  

  One way to specialize in business is to ascertain what degree level you need. Business degrees are offered at the associates through doctoral levels. And each level has its own pros and cons.

  A second way to determine the right business degree is to specialize with the subject matter you’re studying. Business careers may be entered with a wide range of degree types. The most business-centered degrees, however, include the following:

  • Finance
  • Business
  • Business Administration
  • Management
  • Accounting
  • Human Resources
  • Marketing

  Most of the above degree types are available at the undergraduate and graduate level. Additional degrees that may lead to great opportunity in business settings include the following:

  • Data Science
  • Information Technology
  • Information Assurance
  • Statistics or Actuarial Science
  • Engineering
  • Industrial Psychology

  Below we’ll take a more in-depth look at the above-mentioned degree levels and topics. If you already know what type of business degree you would like to pursue, be sure to check out some of our business degree program rankings below:

  • • Top 15 Master’s in Finance Degree Programs
    • Top 10 Undergraduate Business Schools

  What Business Degree Do I Need?

  Before determining just what business degree you would like to pursue, you’ll need to determine what degree level you should pursue. Higher degree levels lead to greater specialization, generally higher salaries, and opportunities for advancement. The trade-off is that higher degree levels typically cost more and require a greater length of time to complete.

  Due to the high time and money costs of higher-level degrees, they aren’t always the right choice. Rather, each individual should weigh the pros and cons of higher degrees. Below we’ll outline some basic components of different business degree levels.

  Associates degrees in business typically require 60 credit hours of academic course work. This typically requires 1.5-2 years for completion at a “full-time” or higher rate of study. Students of business at the associate’s degree level typically take courses in the following:

  • • • Intro to Accounting
      • Intro to Management
      • Intro to Microeconomics
      • Intro to Macroeconomics
      • Statistics for Business
      • Professionalism
      • Some concentration Course

  Additionally, associates degree students must complete general education courses. “Gen ed” courses — as they’re called — include a well-rounded mixture of subjects at the collegiate level that help to ensure graduates gain exposure to a number of important disciplines and skill sets. These courses often include social sciences, natural sciences, introductory math, writing, and courses in the humanities.

Learn more about how long it takes to get an associate degree.

Associates degrees are often regarded as some of the best values among degree types. This is due to many state and urban school districts of community colleges offering free tuition. Even for programs that aren’t free at the associates level, tuition is often lower than at four-year institutions.

Many associates degree-granting institutions also offer transfer agreements with four-year universities and colleges. This means that students that complete an associates degree and meet certain requirements are automatically granted admission to a four-year program. This often allows students to save money on the first half of a four-year program (the associates part), and earn a four-year degree in the end.

Upon completion of an associates in business jobs in the following are commonly obtainable:

• • • Sales representative
    • Bookeeper
    • Business Development Executives
    • Business Analyst

If you perform well in your entry-level business role for several years, you may very well find yourself promoted to management. Many companies do require managers to hold bachelor’s degrees. Though some do not.

A bachelor’s-level degree is the most common entry requirement for business careers. While students may specialize in one area of business at the bachelor’s level. The largest number of undergraduate business students pursue a bachelor or arts or bachelor of science degree in business.

Bachelor’s in business degrees typically require 120 credit hours for completion. With no prior coursework completed (as in an associates degree), bachelor’s degrees require around 4 years of study “full-time.” Many programs for non-traditional learners allow students to slow down their time until degree further.

As with an associates degree, bachelor’s degrees require general education courses. These courses help to ensure you can think logically, speak persuasively, write well, and have basic quantitative skills worthy of collegiate study. Beyond general education courses, business degrees at the bachelor’s level will often include courses in the following:

• • • Financial Accounting
    • Managerial Accounting
    • Business Law
    • Finance Principles
    • International Business
    • Management Information Systems
    • Intro to Marketing
    • Human Relations
    • Operations Management
    • Logistics
    • Specialization Courses

Students at the bachelors level will also often have the opportunity to specialize in one portion of business. Some of the most common specializations at the bachelor’s level include marketing, human resources, management, accounting, and finance.

Jobs that can be obtained with the right specialization and experience (often in the form of internships) with a bachelor’s-level business degree include the following:

• • • Bookeeper
    • Accountant
    • Financial Adviser
    • Business Analayst
    • Data Scientist
    • Marketing Specialist
    • Human Resources Specialist
    • Financial Analyst
    • And many more

While many business career workers return for more advanced schooling later in their career, many start with a bachelor’s degree related to business. Bachelor’s degrees related to business are great for pursuing admission to graduate programs in business as well as rising into the ranks of management in a corporation.

If you’re looking to gain access to some of the most lucrative and important career opportunities in business, you’ll likely want to pursue a graduate degree in business. While there are many, many subjects you may specialize in within business at the graduate level, the most popular is the master of business administration (MBA) degree.

Master of business administration degrees typically requires 60 credit hours. As many students in these programs are non-traditional and currently employed, many programs offer night, weekend, or online programs to enhance the flexibility of academic programming. For students that do elect to pursue a full-time in-person MBA degree, degree programs typically require 2 years of study.

One reason for the proliferation of MBA degrees is their focus on applied professional skills as well as the wide range of specializations that students may pursue in MBA programs. Common specializations in MBA programs include the following:

• • • Accounting
    • Finance
    • Management
    • Human Resources Management
    • Information Technology Management
    • Software Development Management
    • Engineering Management
    • Sustainable Business
    • Marketing
    • Management Information Systems
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Health Care Management
    • Supply Chain Management
    • Risk Management
    • Logistics

For additional questions on business-related master’s programs, check out our FAQs below:

• • • • How much can I make with a Degree in Digital Marketing?
      • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Master of Business Administration Degree in Accounting?
      • What Is the Difference Between a Master of Business Administration Degree and a Master of Accounting Degree?
      • What Are the Benefits of Earning a Master’s in Finance Degree Instead of an MBA?
      • What Jobs Can I Get With a Master’s in Finance Degree?

Finally, some students that wish to perform research, work in high levels of management, or teach others may elect to pursue a doctoral degree in business. The most common doctoral-level degree in business is a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) degree.

DBA degrees are research doctorates. This means that two primary aims of the doctoral program are to (a) prepare recipients to teach, if they so choose, at the university level, and (b) to promote new original research in the field. This also means that those pursuing a DBA degree are required to write a dissertation. Dissertations are several hundred-page documents of original research. They must — in theory — be publishable in peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, doctoral candidates are required to “defend” their dissertation by answering questions from a panel of experts.

Any doctoral degree is a large time and money commitment. Many students find ways to lower the cost of pursuing a doctoral degree by taking on work as a teaching assistant. Oftentimes those who elect to teach courses to undergraduates through their time of study can get partial or full tuition waivers. Additionally, many programs are built to allow students to pursue their degrees while working full time.

As with most doctoral degrees, candidates in doctor of business administration degrees have a great deal of choice in what they focus on. In doctoral programs you’re essentially choosing a topic you would like to perform original research on and becoming an expert in that field.

This means that those with doctoral degrees in business can exit their degree programs (upon graduation) and often gain employment as subject matter experts in a wide variety of fields. While some DBA candidates may focus on employment law, others may focus on productivity, or management of an upstart business, or methods for valuing companies. There’s a place for each in the wide and varied business employment landscape.

Subject Types of Business Degrees

While we focused on the most popular degree at each degree level above, some potential students are looking to gain expertise in one subject matter area of business.

Below we’ll jump into some of the most common specializations within business education.

Accounting Degrees
Accountants help to ensure that corporations and individuals are operating efficiently. They help to audit existing corporate expenditures as well as prepare tax documents and other forms of business documentation.

Accounting degrees are available at the bachelor’s through doctoral levels. The job title most people think of when they think of accountants (certified public accountant), however, requires just slightly more than a bachelor’s degree in accounting. For this reason, some students pursue master’s degrees to become CPAs, while others pursue special 5-6 year programs that combine bachelor’s degrees with a handful of graduate courses. Both routes can prepare students for taking the CPA exam.

Not all accountants are CPAs, however. Bookeepers often function like lower-level accountants and do not require any graduate coursework. Other certified accountant job types require tests other than the CPA exam and may focus on auditing of corporations, mergers and acquisitions, and other areas of expertise within accounting.

Think you might be interested in a degree in accounting? Be sure to check out the following FAQs:

• • • • The Top 10 Accounting Degree Programs
      • What Is the Benefit of a Bachelor’s in Accounting Degree Vs an Associate’s in Accounting Degree?
      • What Is the Benefit of a Master’s in Accounting Degree Vs a Bachelor’s in Accounting Degree?
      • What Is the Benefit of an Accounting Degree Vs an Economics Degree?
      • What Is the Benefit of an Accounting Degree Vs a Business Degree?
      • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Tax Accounting?
      • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Managerial Accounting?
      • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Financial Accounting?
      • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Accounting?
      • What Degree Do I Need to Be a Tax Accountant?
      • How Long Does It Take to Become an Accountant?

Human Resources Degrees
Human resources (HR) is the branch of business that enact policies that help to preserve a businesses #1 resource, it’s skilled work force. HR professionals help with hiring, onboarding, training, dispute resolution, firing, benefits, and encouraging a workplace culture that promotes well being and productivity.

Human resources may be entered with a variety of degrees, but many high-earning human resources managers will have obtained master’s-level degrees in the subject. Particularly at large employers including school systems, universities, hospitals, airports, and large corporations, human resources managers are in high demand and a degree in the subject can help to get you ahead.

Finance Degrees
Finance degrees are generally available at the bachelor’s and masters levels. These degrees can lead to careers in commercial banking, investment banking, financial management, real estate, and insurance. Many finance jobs are available after a bachelor’s degree in finance. Academic courses at the bachelor’s level may include the following:

• • • • Accounting
      • Micro and Macroeconomics
      • Human Resources
      • Business Principles
      • Business law
      • Management
      • Personal Finance
      • Managerial Accounting
      • Corporate Finance
      • Behavioral Principles
      • Statistics
      • Business Strategy
      • International Business
      • Among others

At DegreeQuery, we’ve crafted a great deal of research and advice on Finance degrees. Be sure to check out our FAQs and Rankings on the topic below:

• • • • Top 15 Master’s in Finance Degree Programs
      • How Many Jobs Are Available in Finance?
      • What Salary Can I Earn With a Master’s in Finance Degree?
      • What degree do I need to be a Stockbroker?
      • What degree do I need to be a Mortgage Loan Officer?
      • What degree do I need to be a financial advisor?

A unique subset of finance that relies heavily on statistical analysis is risk management or actuarial science. This highly lucrative group of fields is a great option for business students that are strong in quantitative disciplines. Check out our FAQs on this subject matter below:

• • • • What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Actuarial Science?
      • How Important Is Internship Experience for Students of Actuarial Science?
      • How Important Are Certification Exams for Actuarial Science Majors?
      • What Should You Know When You Interview for a Job With a Degree in Actuarial Science?
      • What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Actuarial Science?
      • How Long Does It Take to Get a Degree in Actuarial Science?
      • What Kind of Business Jobs Can You Get With a Degree in Math?
      • How Do I Prepare for an Actuarial Science Degree While in High School?
      • What Is the Difference Between a Mathematics Degree and an Actuarial Science Degree?
      • What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With an Actuarial Science Degree?

Marketing Degrees

Along with the making of a product or service, marketing is the one crucial part of almost every organization. From billboard campaigns to online advertising, to content, SEO, and branding, marketing molds how consumers think of a brand.

Marketing degrees are commonly available at the associates through doctoral levels. With that said, the most common degree types for marketing include bachelor’s degrees in marketing and master’s degrees in marketing.

Bachelor’s degrees in marketing can help you get your “foot in the door” in many agency or corporate settings. Common early-career jobs may include copywriting, being an SEO specialist, being a social media manager, working in media production, or working as an accuont manager for an agency that manages the marketing of other businesses.

At the master’s level, students may often specialize some more. Many programs now offer specializations in data analytics or digital marketing to fit today’s workplace. Additionally, many MBA programs offer marketing concentrations that include several graduate level marketing courses along with a solid business foundation.

With a graduate degree in marketing, students may be able to move into marketing management. Marketing management positions generally focus on one vertical such as search engine optimization, digital advertising, content management, traditional advertising, or public relations.

Think you might be interested in a degree in marketing? Check out our rankings and FAQs on the subject below:

Marketing Degree FAQs

• • • • What Can I Do With a Degree in Marketing?
      • What degree do I need to become a Digital Marketing Manager?
      • What degree do I need to become a Social Media Director?
      • What degree do I need to become a Public Relations Specialist?

For Further Reading: 

Top 10 Paying Jobs That Involve Math

Exciting Jobs: The Top 15 Jobs for Adrenaline Seekers

What Degree Do I Need to Be an Intelligence Analyst?

The post What Can I Do With a Business Degree? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Business Careers With the Best Job Outlooks

Current and prospective business students will be happy to hear that jobs in the business and finance industry are growing at a faster than average rate. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts jobs in this sector to increase by 10 percent over a decade, compared to only seven percent over the same time period for all occupations. In all, business professionals will see 773,800 new job openings over a 10-year period.

However, those new roles won’t be equally divided. The business and finance occupational grouping includes more than 20 distinct careers, some of which are growing at more than three times the average rate for all occupations and others which are on the decline.

One area of business that consistently sees high demand is finance. Financial specialist jobs include financial analyst, personal financial advisor, financial examiners, accountants and many other roles that involve the management or reporting of money and assets. Among the finance roles that are undergoing the most rapid rates of growth are loan officer and financial analyst, both with an 11 percent rate of growth; personal financial advisor, with a 15 percent growth rate; and financial manager, with a 19 percent growth rate.

Outside of finance, market research analyst is one of the fastest-growing jobs with a business degree. The predicted 23 percent growth rate for this occupation should add 138,300 new jobs, the BLS reported. As their job title suggests, market research analysts have a highly analytical role in business. They gather and evaluate data on market conditions and use statistical and mathematical approaches to understand the market and predict how well a product or service is likely to sell. The work of a market research analyst influences not only what goods and services a business offers but also what price it charges and what audience the company targets in its marketing and advertising messages.

The BLS also predicts rapid job growth rates for a number of business careers that don’t fit as neatly into a subfield. Fundraisers, who work in nonprofit organizations rather than conventional businesses, are seeing 15 percent gains in opportunities. Jobs for real estate appraisers and assessors should increase by 14 percent, or 11,700 positions. Management analysts and consultants, too, can look forward to a 14 percent jump in job openings.

Business management roles that are seeing rapid job growth include financial managers, advertising and marketing managers, public relations and fundraising managers and training and development managers.

Types of Business Degrees to Consider

One factor that will determine your marketability is what business degree you pursue. A general business administration degree program equips students with a breadth of business knowledge that will allow them to work in many different job roles, but there may be less demand for the generic degree than for a more specialized option. Of course, specializing too narrowly, especially early on in your education, could make it difficult for you to find a job, as well.

Thinking about the specific area of business you are interested in can help you determine which degree will be the best fit. If you want to work in a more analytical or technical role, like accounting and finance, then a more specialized option could be ideal. Students with a more general leadership role in mind may prefer broader programs of study.

Most business jobs only require a bachelor’s degree, according to the BLS. However, master’s degrees are popular in business subjects. The most prevalent graduate business degree is the Master of Business Administration (MBA), which, like its counterpart at the undergraduate level, is broad in scope but allows students to add a concentration. Specialized master’s degree programs also exist in in-demand fields like accounting, finance and human resources.

For the most part, specialized and “math-focused” degree programs that require more technical skills are in higher demand than more generic business degrees, like general business administration or marketing, according to The Washington Post.

Additional Resources

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With a Business Degree?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Administration?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Management?

How Advanced Does My Degree in Business Need to Be to Get a Good Job?

The post What Is the Demand for a Degree in Business? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

When a person has paid their debt to society, we still expect them to need monitoring to keep on the straight and narrow, at least until they adjust into life outside of prison. Someone has to keep an eye on former offenders to make sure they do not offend again, or that they do not fall into the same bad company, dangerous habits, or addictions that led to the crime in the first place. That person is a Probational Officer.

Probational Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists are similar positions, the latter works within prisons, the former outside. They both require a 4 year degree as well as the ability to pass oral, written, and psychological exams.

Education and Training

Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in one of the following will be helpful:

• social work
• criminal justice
• behavioral sciences

Some employees will require a master’s degree for advanced positions, but for most entry-level positions an undergraduate degree should suffice.

In addition to a degree most Probational Officers must finish a one year government training program in the state they wish to serve. Some PO’s specialize in certain casework, such as domestic violence offenders; they would then complete their training within the specialization so that they are better prepared to help offenders of that charge.

Licenses

Most agencies require applicants to fall within the following parameters before being hired and licensed:

• must be 21 or over
• no older than age 37 (Federal requirement)
• valid driver’s license
• candidates must have a record free of felony convictions
• candidate must submit to drug test

Job Expectations

Probation Officers work with criminal offenders; some of these folks may be dangerous. Some PO’s carry a firearm or pepper spray. This is not a TV show: this is real life, so know what you’re getting into!

However, in real life you may be just checking in with your offenders briefly and spending the bulk of your time filling out extensive paperwork. The courts will require your presence from time to time, but most often all that paperwork will be the heavy load of your job. This can be a stressful work environment as you will have hard deadlines and you will be on-call if anything comes up with one of your offenders.

Outlook

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, not a whole lot of growth projected from 2012 to 2022. However, these are national statistics. The employment growth will vary depending on the state and local governments. Probation and Parole Officers will be always be needed to supervise individuals released from our prison system. We do not yet trust computers to take over that responsibility!

There should be a steady amount of job openings every year as older PO’s opt to retire and make way for those just entering the field. Because this is a state or city government position, many people serve their 20 years and look into second career options. This will keep job opportunities plentiful for qualifying applicants.

According to the BLS, in May of 2012 the annual wage for a Probation Officer was $48,190. Not too bad for a bachelor’s degree career however, keep in mind the demands are high for PO’s, and extensive travel and paperwork will contribute to more hours of work.

The post What degree do I need to become a Probation Officer? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

The Connection Between Business Studies and Nonprofit Work

Though their goals may be vastly different, there are a lot of similarities between for-profit businesses and nonprofit causes and charitable organizations. To raise the most money and stretch that money as far as possible to do the most good, nonprofit organizations often operate like businesses. They pay close attention to their incoming and outgoing resources, promote their causes and fundraising efforts and look for ways to save money in the course of their operations. While candidates with a passion for the cause who come from other educational backgrounds can be trained in the skills needed to accomplish these tasks, business majors already have much of this training built into their college curriculum.

Some business schools offer specialized degree programs in nonprofit management that may include coursework in grant writing, nonprofit law, fundraising analytics, nonprofit program development and marketing for nonprofits.

Fundraising Jobs in Nonprofit Organizations

Like businesses, nonprofit organizations need money to operate. Whether the aim of the cause is education, charitable distributions, preserving the environment or historical artifacts or something else entirely, it can’t be done without capital to fund its efforts. Fundraisers are the professionals whose job it is to secure the money these nonprofit organizations need to hold events and accomplish goals.

There are several different kinds of fundraising jobs, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Annual campaign fundraisers only seek out donations to their cause one time a year, but they spend the whole year planning that important fundraising campaign. When organizations want to raise money for a specific project rather than the organization’s general cause, they hire capital campaign fundraisers. In a job title like major-gifts fundraiser, you would build a relationship with wealthy donors who are able to make large donations to the cause. If you have financial knowledge of tax and investment laws, you might become a planned-giving fundraiser, who acquires donations promised to be given at future dates or in installments, the BLS reported.

There are also fundraising managers, senior-level fundraising professionals who coordinate and oversee a nonprofit organization’s fundraising campaigns. Fundraising manager roles can be surprisingly lucrative. The median salary for fundraisers is $55,640, but fundraising managers enjoy a median wage of $111,280 per year, the BLS reported.

Jobs for fundraisers and fundraising managers are growing faster than average. The BLS expects fundraising manager jobs to increase by 10 percent, or 7,700 new positions, over 10 years. Fundraisers should see a 15 percent growth rate that would add 13,400 new jobs.

Nonprofit Marketing and Public Relations Roles

Just like businesses, nonprofit organizations must make themselves visible to potential donors and volunteers to stay top of mind. Otherwise, they won’t receive donations, have attendance at their events or be able to raise awareness for their cause. Just like businesses that need publicity, nonprofit organizations often hire candidates – especially those with a background in business – to work in marketing and public relations roles. Some roles, like nonprofit marketing associate, are more in line with traditional business marketing roles, creating organic or paid campaigns that raise public interest in the organization. Other roles, like public relations specialist, communications specialist and media specialist, work to create a public image through garnering positive press and media coverage of the organization.

As with fundraising jobs, management roles in marketing and public relations are considerably more lucrative than associate and specialist roles. The BLS reports that public relations specialists earn a median wage of $59,300, while managers earn $111,280.

Nonprofit Analyst Jobs

Many business roles revolve around analyzing and interpreting data to make better financial investments, business operations decisions and strategic plans. In nonprofit organizations, some of the most common analytical roles are program analyst and financial analyst. Financial analysts handle the investment decisions made by nonprofit organizations to help grow their funds. Program analysts use their analytical skills to support the organization’s operations, which may include finding ways to improve the organization’s operations. With experience, you can advance from program analyst to program officer, program manager or program director.

Nonprofits need leaders with different areas of expertise, just as for-profit businesses do. Management roles in nonprofit organizations include Community Outreach Coordinator, Program Director, Finance Director and Executive Director.

 Additional Resources

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Administration?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Management?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Finance?

The post What Kind of Nonprofit Jobs Can You Get With a Business Degree? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Business Careers With the Best Job Outlooks

Current and prospective business students will be happy to hear that jobs in the business and finance industry are growing at a faster than average rate. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts jobs in this sector to increase by 10 percent over a decade, compared to only seven percent over the same time period for all occupations. In all, business professionals will see 773,800 new job openings over a 10-year period.

However, those new roles won’t be equally divided. The business and finance occupational grouping includes more than 20 distinct careers, some of which are growing at more than three times the average rate for all occupations and others which are on the decline.

One area of business that consistently sees high demand is finance. Financial specialist jobs include financial analyst, personal financial advisor, financial examiners, accountants and many other roles that involve the management or reporting of money and assets. Among the finance roles that are undergoing the most rapid rates of growth are loan officer and financial analyst, both with an 11 percent rate of growth; personal financial advisor, with a 15 percent growth rate; and financial manager, with a 19 percent growth rate.

Outside of finance, market research analyst is one of the fastest-growing jobs with a business degree. The predicted 23 percent growth rate for this occupation should add 138,300 new jobs, the BLS reported. As their job title suggests, market research analysts have a highly analytical role in business. They gather and evaluate data on market conditions and use statistical and mathematical approaches to understand the market and predict how well a product or service is likely to sell. The work of a market research analyst influences not only what goods and services a business offers but also what price it charges and what audience the company targets in its marketing and advertising messages.

The BLS also predicts rapid job growth rates for a number of business careers that don’t fit as neatly into a subfield. Fundraisers, who work in nonprofit organizations rather than conventional businesses, are seeing 15 percent gains in opportunities. Jobs for real estate appraisers and assessors should increase by 14 percent, or 11,700 positions. Management analysts and consultants, too, can look forward to a 14 percent jump in job openings.

Business management roles that are seeing rapid job growth include financial managers, advertising and marketing managers, public relations and fundraising managers and training and development managers.

Types of Business Degrees to Consider

One factor that will determine your marketability is what business degree you pursue. A general business administration degree program equips students with a breadth of business knowledge that will allow them to work in many different job roles, but there may be less demand for the generic degree than for a more specialized option. Of course, specializing too narrowly, especially early on in your education, could make it difficult for you to find a job, as well.

Thinking about the specific area of business you are interested in can help you determine which degree will be the best fit. If you want to work in a more analytical or technical role, like accounting and finance, then a more specialized option could be ideal. Students with a more general leadership role in mind may prefer broader programs of study.

RELATED: What Classes Will I Have to Take for a Degree in Business Administration?

Most business jobs only require a bachelor’s degree, according to the BLS. However, master’s degrees are popular in business subjects. The most prevalent graduate business degree is the Master of Business Administration (MBA), which, like its counterpart at the undergraduate level, is broad in scope but allows students to add a concentration. Specialized master’s degree programs also exist in in-demand fields like accounting, finance and human resources.

RELATED: How Long Does It Take to Get a Business Degree?

For the most part, specialized and “math-focused” degree programs that require more technical skills are in higher demand than more generic business degrees, like general business administration or marketing, according to The Washington Post.

Related Resources: 

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With a Business Degree?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Administration?

What Kind of Job Can You Get With a Degree in Business Management?

How Advanced Does My Degree in Business Need to Be to Get a Good Job?

What Salary Can I Expect With a Human Resources Management Degree?

For Further Reading:

Top 10 Paying Jobs With an Associate’s Degree

Top 10 Paying Jobs That Involve Math

What Are the 5 Best Careers in Environmental Science?

The post What Is the Demand for a Degree in Business? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Earning Dual Degrees in Graduate School

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

The process of earning dual degrees in graduate school is easy enough to understand, even if it isn’t easy to do. Schools that offer joint master’s degree programs admit students into both programs. The graduate student completes two sets of degree requirements, often structured so that at least some of your coursework counts toward both degrees. Typically, the student takes classes in both topics during the same timeframe and graduates with both master’s degrees simultaneously.

In certain situations, the non-journalism graduate degree you’re seeking may not be a master’s degree. For example, if studying both journalism and medicine, you might start your journalism studies two years into medical school and ultimately graduate with a doctorate in medicine.

Your non-journalism degree can be as specific as meteorology and graphic information technology or as general and interdisciplinary as sustainability.

Studies in Public Relations and Beyond

Public relations is a field that shares a lot of overlap with journalism, so it makes sense if this is the first topic of study that comes to mind for prospective graduate students of journalism. After all, public relations specialists pitch stories about their clients or companies to reporters, editors and other journalists to achieve media coverage. Journalists often work with public relations specialists. Building a rapport is beneficial for both parties, since the reporter gets the “scoop” on a breaking story and the PR professional gets the publicity their client is seeking.

However, the commonalities that connect journalism and public relations are so strong that some students may find that it’s better not to earn a master’s degree in both of these topics. Earning a complete master’s degree in each program, rather than just taking a few courses in the topic outside of your major, could actually be redundant. While you can and should consider studying public relations specifically to work in a PR role, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that a journalism degree can also be sufficient for starting this career path. In other words, you can use your journalism master’s degree to pursue either a journalism career or a public relations career, even if you don’t earn a second master’s degree.

Instead, you might be better off exploring graduate programs that have less in common with journalism. For example, some journalism graduate schools offer dual degree options in fields like computer science, international public affairs, law, business and religion. You might combine graduate-level journalism studies with a focus on specific places and cultures, like Latin American studies or Middle Eastern and North African studies, or with bilingual journalism.

The downside of earning two very different master’s degrees is that you may have to take more graduate coursework overall, since you may not have many classes that count toward both degrees. However, the impact on your career opportunities will be bigger.

Why Earn a Dual Degree as a Graduate Student?

There are multiple benefits of acquiring a graduate-level education in not just one subject but two. For one thing, it allows you to keep your career options open. With a background in two distinct fields, you’re eligible for consideration for a much greater number of potential careers. Even if you prefer one field over the other, having a fallback plan in place can be reassuring, especially in tough economic times.

The job outlook for journalists, reporters and correspondents isn’t particularly favorable, with the BLS expecting opportunities in these professions to decrease by 11 percent between 2019 and 2029. Staking your future on a career path where sharp declines are anticipated may seem risky, especially when you’re spending the money to go to graduate school. A dual degree path that allows you to broaden your opportunities without spending a lot more money can seem especially worthwhile in light of this bleak news about the journalism industry.

Instead of viewing a graduate education in two subjects as an either-or decision, you can also look at the intersection between those topics. The field of journalism encompasses storytelling of news that pertains to all topic areas. Whatever second graduate degree you choose, the knowledge you have of that field can help make you a better journalist, particularly when writing about that topic.

Not all reporter jobs specify a certain focus or specialization, but many do, including job titles like education reporter, criminal justice equality reporter, public safety reporter, business reporter and political reporter.

Additional Resources

Can I Get as Much Out of an Online Degree in Journalism as I Can From a Classroom-Based Degree?

Are There Different Areas to Study in a Master’s in Journalism?

Am I Likely to Be Accepted Into a Journalism Master’s Program If My Undergrad Degree Is in Another Field?

The post Is It Possible to Get a Master’s in Journalism as Well as Another Subject, Such as Public Relations, at the Same Time? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

The visual communication field of study and work is broader than you might think. If you’re interested in how people communicate visually and in using the principles of visual communication to achieve actionable goals, consider studying visual communications. Students who earn a degree in visual communications can go on to work in many careers, each with some sort of visual or artistic focus.

What Is Visual Communication?

The field of visual communications involves more than just creating media that is visually appealing. The goal of any effort in visual communications is to express visual concepts, or information presented in a visual format.

The Differences Between Visual Communication and Art

In the case of visual communication, unlike art, these concepts are being communicated in a visual format for a specific purpose – often, to market a business or to inform and educate the viewer.

RELATED: 10 Creative Careers That Won’t Require You to Be a Starving Artist

Art is subjective and thought-provoking and is often intended to be open to the beholder’s interpretation. In contrast, the goal of visual communication design is to create visual media that directly tells the audience a clear message.

That message may be to patronize a particular business, in the case of marketing campaigns. Alternatively, visual communications may serve to educate the audience on a topic, whether the artistic work appears in a textbook, on a website, on a billboard or in a brochure.

Of course, some visual communications aim to both educate viewers and promote a company – explaining, for example, how a new technology or a pharmaceutical medication works in hopes of persuading the viewer to purchase and use the product.

What Is a Degree in Visual Communications?

A variety of college degrees arising out of studies in the visual arts can fit into the category of a visual communications degree.

Visual Communications and Related Majors

Some visual communication programs are called, simply, visual communications majors. Other degree programs that may fit into this field include visual arts, graphic design, web design and photography or photojournalism.

Visual arts and visual communications majors are the broadest programs of study in this field. The curricula found in graphic design, website design and photography majors have a narrower focus.

Degree Programs That Overlap With Visual Communications

Majors in other areas of study may also offer a visual communications concentration.

Marketing, Advertising and PR

Marketing, advertising and public relations degree programs include some emphasis on creative skills but focus more on the practices of crafting, coordinating and evaluating campaigns.

Mass Communication

A bachelor’s degree in mass communication covers the media and how it affects (and is affected by) society. A mass communication degree doesn’t inherently prepare students for visual communication careers, but if such a degree offers a visual communication concentration, students can learn the foundations of developing visual media messages and the technical skills to do so. Some people working in visual communications major in an area like television and film studies and go on to become video editors.

Art and Fine Arts Degree Programs

Fine arts and studio arts degrees in a particular visual medium – for example, drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking – don’t necessarily constitute visual communications majors.

Although art of this nature certainly can communicate ideas, its goal typically is not to express specific, direct, succinct and purposeful messages. However, some schools do offer a fine arts degree program in visual communication or in visual art, art design or digital media.

Crafting effective visual communications is an art – a fact that is reflected in the titles of many degrees in this field. A visual communications program may draw upon a fine arts-based or liberal arts-based curriculum. You might also encounter science-based or applied science-based programs in visual communications.

Levels of Visual Communications Degrees

Degrees in visual communications are offered at every level of college study, from associate’s degrees through doctoral degrees. Most professionals working in the visual communications field have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Associate-Level Visual Communications Programs

Apart from non-degree certificate programs, the lowest level of college-level study at which you could pursue a visual communications degree is the associate’s degree level.

Can You Qualify for a Job in Visual Communications With Only an Associate’s Degree?

A bachelor’s degree is recommended for most jobs in visual communication design, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). However, a four-year degree isn’t a strict requirement. Jobs in this field rarely require licensure, and voluntary certifications often depend more on technical capabilities and the quality of your portfolio than on formal academic instruction.

As such, earning an associate’s degree can help you learn the basics of design concepts and start developing proficiency in the use of design software. With a strong portfolio and the motivation to keep developing your technical and artistic skills, you can carve out a career for yourself with only a community college education. For example, you might use your impressive portfolio to land your first entry-level graphic design job and build up your skills and reputation from there, eventually even earning a promotion to an art director role.

Earning an Associate’s Degree in Preparation for a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communications

Alternatively, you might pursue an associate degree in visual communications in preparation for transferring to a four-year college. Going to community college first can save you a great deal of money over attending a four-year university from the get-go. You still end up with the same Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts you would receive had you paid full university prices for the duration of your college career.

What to Expect in an Associate’s Program in Visual Communication Design

Whether you’re pursuing an Associate of Arts, Associate of Fine Arts or Associate of Applied Science program in visual communications, your coursework will have a lot in common. Students pursuing an associate’s degree in visual communications will take introductory through intermediate classes in the history of art and design, principles of design, studio art and the use of technical design software. Studies of color theory, typography and two-dimensional and three-dimensional design practices are common.

Most visual communication students pursuing an associate’s degree devote a good chunk of their curriculum to fulfilling general education requirements. The shorter duration of an associate’s degree curriculum – typically encompassing two years of full-time study – means that students don’t have the opportunity to take the more advanced and specialized courses that they encounter in bachelor’s degree programs.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree Programs

At the bachelor’s degree level, Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs are the most common among visual communications majors. Either type of bachelor’s degree is an undergraduate degree that can generally be completed in four years of full-time study and which commonly encompasses around 120 credit hours of college study.

A More Comprehensive Curriculum for Visual Communications Majors

Students seeking a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in this field of study can expect to delve deeper into more advanced and specialized areas of study compared to what an associate’s degree curriculum permits.

A visual communications degree program doesn’t only help design professionals perfect their artistic aptitudes. Through this degree program, students acquire the technical skills to bring their creative visions to life using Adobe Creative Suite (Adobe Creative Cloud) and other software programs.

Students’ Best Bet for Preparing for a Visual Communications Job

A Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Fine Arts is the recommended level of degree for launching a visual communications design career. Although it’s not impossible to break into one of these careers without a four-year degree, the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor’s degree as the entry-level education required for most graphic designer, art director and related job roles.

A bachelor’s degree curriculum allows for more extensive study of the field and gives visual communications majors more opportunity to develop a strong portfolio of their work.

Master’s Degree Programs in Visual Communications

If you’re ready to practice skills in visual communications graphics design at a higher level, it might be time to consider going for your master’s degree.

Why Earn a Master’s in Visual Communication Degree

At the graduate level, you can earn a visual communication online degree or take traditional in-person courses. Master’s degree options are excellent for those who want to develop advanced or specialized visual communication skills, as well as those interested in research in digital imaging and communication design.

RELATED: Should I Get a Master’s in Graphic Design?

A master’s degree may also help give you a boost in your pursuit of senior-level roles like communication manager and art director. A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) program will typically focus more on artistic skill development, while a Master of Arts (MA) may include more of a focus on business leadership and management.

Doctoral Degrees in Visual Communications

The MFA is generally considered a terminal degree, or the highest level of degree a person can earn in the field. Why, then, would someone need to pursue a PhD in visual communications?

A Focus on Research

Most visual communications majors are interested in creating, coordinating or managing visual communications in some way. Suppose, however, that you are less interested in working as a graphic designer, art director or other creative or creative-adjacent professional than you are in understanding how visual media affects humans.

A PhD program with a concentration in visual communications usually includes a research emphasis and, often, a thesis or dissertation that may be based on the student’s own original research.

When Should – and Shouldn’t – You Pursue a Doctorate in Visual Communication?

You might pursue a doctorate with a concentration in visual communication if you want to teach at the college level or conduct your own research into fields like communication studies and industrial design.

If you’re not interested in research or academia, though, a PhD in visual communication – most commonly offered as a concentration within a more general communication degree program – may not make sense for you.

This research-focused degree may not cover areas of study that are important to industry roles, such as exposing students to new digital tools for content creation or covering more specialized areas of practice in visual design. If anything, a PhD may make you appear overqualified – and prohibitively expensive – to prospective employers or clients.

The Best Job Fields for Visual Communications Majors

Graphic Designer

Learning the basic principles and practices for creating visual images that express ideas is excellent preparation for a career in graphic design.

What Does a Graphic Designer Do?

Graphic designers are the creative professionals who develop visual images in forms like infographics, advertisements, brochures, signage and more.

Nearly one-fifth of the graphic designer occupation was self-employed as of 2020, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Other graphic designers work in specialized design services, advertising and public relations services, printing and support activities and the publishing of newspapers, magazines, books and directories.

There are separate graphic design majors, but students can also prepare for a career in graphic design by pursuing a broader visual communications major. A graphic design degree program primarily emphasizes the development of skills in the graphic arts, while a visual communications major emphasizes the communication aspects of the field – focusing on

Graphic Designer Salary Potential

The median, or midpoint, salary reported for graphic designers in 2021 was $50,710, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the 10% of the field with the lowest earnings made less than $31,310 per year, the highest-paid 10% of the profession reported earnings above $98,260.

The specialized design services industry paid the most money out of the top employment industries for graphic designers. The median annual salary for graphic design work in this industry was $58,610 in 2021.

Visual Designer

Developing a consistent brand “voice” is an art that involves visual elements as well as written content and auditory content like music, sound effects, podcasts and the audio components of videos. This consistent branding of visual communications is the main focus of visual designers.

What Does a Visual Designer Do?

Due to the similarity in names, visual design is easily confused with graphic design. While pretty much everyone has heard of the field of graphic design, the field of visual design is nowhere near as well-known. While a graphic designer’s role is to create visuals that communicate specific messages for either print or digital media, a visual designer is more concerned with the consistency of visual elements across a brand’s or organization’s digital messaging.

Graphic design has more to do with graphic communication presented through specific projects, while visual design emphasizes the creation and coordination of a unified brand image that appears throughout all of its digital media. Visual designers focus less on the artistic representation of ideas and more on adhering to the best practices of branding informed by business communications principles.

There’s some overlap between the work that a visual designer and a graphic designer may perform. For example, either design professional may create logos or icons. However, a visual designer’s projects tend to be larger, broader and more comprehensive in scale.

Visual Designer Salary Potential

Visual designers also have somewhat higher earning potential than graphic designers. PayScale.com reported an average salary of $66,337 per year for visual designers in 2022, nearly $20,000 more than what the website reported for graphic designers.

Web Designer

Websites are another form of visual communication – one that uses strictly digital imaging elements. It takes a skilled designer to put together a website theme and layout.

What Does a Web Designer Do?

Web design is exactly what it sounds like: the design of websites. The look of a website is both aesthetic and functional. The visual images that make up the aesthetic appearance of a web design set the tone for the audience’s experience of the site and their perception of the company or organization it represents. To maximize user-friendliness, web designers also need to pay attention to the functional aspects of web design, including the structure, style and appearance of menus, navigation bars and tools and contact forms.

There’s a difference between web design and web development, although the two fields overlap. Both web design and website development have to do with producing a website or webpage. Generally, design has more to do with the look and feel of the site and with functionality on the user’s end. Website development pertains more closely to the actual building of the website through the use of coding written with computer programming language.

Often, the project of creating a website involves both a web designer and a web developer, who are experts in different aspects of the project. Visual communications programs can help prepare students to be web designers, but a degree in computer science or software engineering would be a better option for a student interested in web development.

Web Designer Salary Potential

For web developers and digital designers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a median annual salary of $77,200 for 2021.

Photojournalist

If you enjoy viewing the world from behind a camera and transforming what you see into art, a career in photojournalism may be the right fit for you.

What Does a Photojournalist Do?

A photojournalist applies photographic techniques to capture images in a way that tells a story or expresses a thought or idea. Because of this difference between photojournalism and photography in general – where there may be no goal to expressly communicate any particular message –photojournalism can also be referred to as “communicative” photography. A photojournalist is just as much a storyteller as a journalist or reporter who uses words, but they accomplish this feat through strategic photographic design and through the visual means of using digital photography to capture images.

RELATED: What Degree Do I Need to Become a Photographer?

Thanks to the widespread availability of smartphone cameras, anyone can take a photo at virtually any time of any subject. What most people not trained in photography or visual communication studies fail to realize is that capturing a photo that tells a truly compelling story requires more than just getting a lucky shot or even having excellent photographic techniques. The composition of the content of the image, along with factors like lighting, angle and perspective, are all critical parts of photographic design that go into the story the picture tells.

Photojournalist Salary Potential

Salary.com put the median annual salary for photojournalists in 2022 at $42,880 per year.

Art Director

A visual communication degree prepares students to create works of graphic design art, but the curriculum can also equip you with skills for leading teams of creative personnel and managing projects in the visual arts.

What Do Art Directors Do?

Art direction refers to the overall look and visual style used in a visually creative endeavor. While art directors are primarily concerned with the big picture, they need to understand the details of artistic creation – particularly because they also oversee and direct the efforts of the creative professionals working on their projects.

Art directors play a critical role in many different types of art and graphic design efforts, including branding and marketing campaigns, newspaper or magazine layouts, film or television productions, product packaging artwork and any other product that has a creative visual element.

Most art directors have years of work experience in other creative roles, such as graphic designer, fine artist or photographer, before they advance to this leadership position.

Art Director Salary Potential

Art director is a high-level role, and its lucrative salary reflects that. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a median annual wage of $100,890 as of 2021. The top 10 percent of the occupation reported earnings in or near the $200,000 range. Generally, art directors who worked for the motion picture and video industries earned the most, with a median wage of $137,380.

Video Editor

Many types of visual arts and design projects produce still images, but the visual communications field also encompasses the media of video. Visual communications professionals in the field of motion picture production typically focus on work in video editing.

What Do Film and Video Editors Do?

Film and video editors do exactly what the job title suggests: edit, organize, arrange and manipulate video footage to create videos that align with the art director’s big-picture vision of the production. Video editors use special computer software to edit digital footage and add visual effects.

Video Editor Salary Potential

For film and video editors, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a median salary of $62,680 in 2021. Film and video editors earned considerably more than camera operators, for whom the BLS reported a median wage of $49,230.

Communications Manager

Communications manager is a high-level role with a general focus that encompasses responsibility for all types of communications produced by or for an organization.

What Does a Communication Manager Do?

A communications manager oversees all of an organization’s communications – internal and external, visual and text-based. This high-level role is primarily concerned with the strategy and big-picture direction behind a company’s communication design efforts.

Communications Manager Salary Potential

Salary.com reported an average salary of $115,663 for communications managers as of 2022.

Public Relations Specialist, Marketing Specialist and Advertising Specialist

Many visual communication majors go on to work in PR firms, marketing departments or agencies and advertising agencies.

What Do Visual Communication Design Professionals Do in Public Relations Firms, Marketing Agencies and Advertising Firms?

The creative content created for public relations, marketing and advertising campaigns encompasses visual media, written copy and other forms of creative materials. Creative professionals in each of these roles are responsible for creating or coordinating the creative elements of campaign materials.

PR specialists work to build and manage a brand reputation, while the fields of marketing and advertising focus more on promoting an organization’s products and services to an audience of potential clients and customers.

PR, Marketing and Advertising Career Salary Potential

For PR specialists, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a median annual salary of $62,800 in 2021. PR managers earned significantly more, with the BLS reporting a median annual salary of $119,860.

PayScale.com reported an average salary of $46,418 for creative marketing specialists as of 2022.

RELATED: Highest Paying Degrees in Communications – Majors & Careers

Coursework in a Visual Communication Degree Program

Some of the course content you are likely to cover in visual communications programs include studies in art and graphic design history, the fundamentals of visual design, studio arts classes, courses devoted to the use of technical software programs and courses in a specialized concentration area.

Art History

Many visual communication design programs include one or more courses in art history or graphic design history, either as a whole or from one or more specific time periods.

Design Fundamentals

Students learn the fundamentals of both two-dimensional and three-dimensional design and the concepts of color theory and typography.

Studio Arts Courses

Through studio courses in drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and design, students practice their art and build up their portfolios.

Technical Skills in the Use of Design Software

The visual communications degree programs at most colleges and universities introduce students to widely used design software programs.

Image Editing Software

The hottest technology for graphics and photo imaging includes software programs like Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe Illustrator, Trimble SketchUp and SmugMug Flickr, O*NET reported.

Computer-Aided Design Programs

Coursework in the use of computer-aided design (CAD) software programs like Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk Revit and Bentley MicroStation can be useful for a career in visual communications, as can studies in the use of desktop publishing programs like Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher and QuarkXPress.

Web Platform Development Software

Aspiring web developers should learn to use web platform development software programs like AJAX, CSS, Drupal and Oracle JavaServer Pages.

Video Production and Editing Programs

Students interested in video editing should take courses in the use of video creation and editing software programs like Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro and WeVideo.

Commercial Art

The types of artistic content created by professionals who graduated from visual communication programs are sometimes referred to as “commercial” because they are commissioned for business purposes, most often by commercial companies.

Although you may need to be a technically skilled artist to succeed in working in graphic design, the visual communication elements you create in this field aren’t made for the same reasons as art created purely for art’s sake. Coursework in commercial art is often technical in nature and covers the techniques of creating a visual corporate identity and developing product and packaging designs and other types of content for commercial ventures.

Areas of Concentration in Visual Communication Degrees

Besides the core courses required of visual communication majors at most institutions, students often have some choices in the classes they take. These choices may include free electives or course options within your major. A visual communications major may also have the opportunity to pursue studies in a specific area of concentration related to visual communication design, such as visual communication management and information graphics and interactive design.

Gaining Experience as a Visual Communications Major

Throughout your coursework as a visual communications major, take advantage of ways to start gaining real-world work experience and create a portfolio. Opportunities may include completing one or more internships, working on school publications and entering design competitions.

Choosing the Top Visual Communications Degrees

There are a lot of factors to consider when choosing a school for a degree in visual communications. Look at school rankings and reputations, opportunities for gaining experience, formal tracks and elective courses offered in your particular areas of interest and a low student-to-faculty ratio, which is particularly important in your upper-level studio courses.

How to Become a Visual Communications Professional

Earning your college degree is both a big achievement and a big step toward working in visual communications, but most of your success in this career path is based on the quality of your work, as reflected in your portfolio. Keep practicing your skills and updating your portfolio to demonstrate your best work. Prospective employers and clients will likely be more impressed by your portfolio than by any formal educational credentials you could provide.

Related Articles:

How Much Can I Make With a Degree in Digital Marketing?

The post What Can I Do With a Degree in Visual Communications? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

The above information pertains to most interviews. You can expect to field general questions about your education, why the company should hire you, or your skills and experience. However, the interviewer will undoubtedly ask questions specific to public relations. Our research has found some interview questions that are pertinent to this profession. Here are examples of possible questions and answers. The answers are a guide. You must address the questions as an expression of your experiences and thoughts.

Sample Questions:

Q. You work for a PR agency. The client has a difference of opinion on how to communicate a message. How do you handle the situation?

A. I would listen to the client’s explanation. Ask a few probing questions to determine why they chose this particular method. I would propose how my ideas can fit their objectives with the goal of using what they propose as well as mine. By proposing a positive image of the outcome, I believe we could arrive at an amicable solution that benefits the client and the agency.

Q. What are your writing experiences?

PR is about communication-orally and written. The job interview will reveal your speaking talent, but not your writing skills. To address this, take a sample of your writing. It can be anything from a high school paper, college paper, articles for a campus newspaper, or a creative piece of writing for a college class. If you have nothing to offer, then explain how your college courses enhanced your skills.

Q. How do you handle a PR crisis?

A. Not all messages have a positive result. When this happens, I would first obtain all the appropriate facts. Discuss with colleagues to determine the best course of action. Sometimes a concise, sincere apology is the only way to remedy the crisis. Then, brainstorm as to how this happened so we can learn from the mistake.

Q. What if the job requires more than the typical 40-hour week?

A. I expect to work whatever hours the job requires. I realize that public relations does not take weekends and holidays. It can be a 24 x 7 job. I am prepared to do what is necessary to ensure the job is done well.

Note: This question may be a subtle way of testing your commitment to your work. The interviewer wants to know if you will do whatever it takes. And not someone who only wants a 9 to 5 job.

Q. Why do you want a career in PR?

This is one question asked in most interviews. You need to prepare your answer ahead of any interview. Your answer dictates what it is about PR work that you find attractive as a career. However, here are some things to consider when practicing your answer to this question:

• PR involves social media and content marketing. You can express your usage and knowledge of social media as a vital communication tool.
• You follow current events. PR professionals are constantly following the news and always have the facts on the latest stories.
• PR professionals are some of the most ethical and trustworthy people. If you consider yourself a genuine and honest person, you need to emphasize this quality.
• You are a people-person. Public relations professionals are people who love connecting with others and building strong relationships. This is an important quality to have in the PR industry.
• Reflect self-confidence and an out-going nature. PR is about interaction with clients and professionals within your agency or company. It demands an energetic attitude.

Conclusion

Interviews are an audition. You are auditioning for a job. It may be brief or last hours. Regardless of the length, you must sell yourself to the respective employer. You need to distinguish your abilities from all the other candidates. Whether the interviewer asks the following questions, you need express your thoughts on each during the session:

• Who you are, where you’ve been, and what you know?
• What value will you bring to the company?
• What are you looking for long-term?
• Why you are different (i.e. special) from other applicants?

Finally, the application process does not end with the interview. Follow up with an email or personal note to the interviewer(s) thanking them for the time and consideration. While your letter should be short, you should briefly reiterate one or two things that make you stand out as a job candidate. Emphasize why you are right for the job, and/or the company. Make sure it is professional, polished and in proper business letter format.

Related Articles from DegreeQuery:

https://www.degreequery.com/degree-need-become-public-relations-specialist/

https://www.degreequery.com/what-classes-will-i-take-for-a-degree-in-public-relations/

The post What Interview Questions can I expect with my Public Relations Degree? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

A company tweets a new slogan they don’t realize is a vulgar slang term. A celebrity makes an insensitive joke in an interview. A politician gets caught in a scandal. Who comes to the rescue? A public relations specialist.

Public relations specialists don’t only handle these major foot-in-mouth emergencies. When they aren’t putting out fires, they run campaigns that influence the public’s perception of their clients, helping companies and prominent individuals to develop a positive image or good reputation.

Do you have a trustworthy face? A smooth attitude? Strong communication skills? Well, here’s how you become a public relations specialist.

What Degree Do You Need for Public Relations?

A college degree is a requirement to get most employers to take your application for a public relations specialist job seriously. The subject of your degree, however, is a lot less rigid. Technically, any college degree at the bachelor’s level may be enough to get your foot in the door. For PR specialist roles, employers care more about candidates having solid literacy skills – strong reading and writing abilities and a good sense of how to use rhetoric and communication – than about a specific course of study. As long as you can build these skills, which major you choose may not actually matter very much.

Very specific majors may do a good job preparing you for roles in equally specific niches. For example, a science background may help you get into PR roles for hospitals and health systems, science and biomedical companies or colleges of science and engineering at universities. However, a broad education with a communications or liberal arts basis may offer you the best opportunities if you don’t have such a specific sense of what kind of industry you would like to work in as a PR specialist.

Some of the best undergraduate degree options for aspiring PR professionals include public relations, journalism, English, communications and business and marketing. Other potential areas of study might emphasize American studies, cultural studies or political science.

PR Degrees

Can you earn undergraduate degrees in PR specifically? Yes, you absolutely can. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that, for the 2017 through 2018 school year, 4,971 students earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations/image management, as did 2,397 students majoring in public relations, advertising and applied communication and 1,558 students whose majors were listed as “public relations, advertising and applied communication, other.”

Public relations degrees at the undergraduate level typically require coursework in public relations fundamentals, mass media, media relations, brand communication, PR writing, marketing principles, media ethics, PR campaigns and the digital tools used for public relations efforts. Most PR programs require or at least encourage students to complete an internship as part of their curriculum.

Journalism

Journalism is a broader field of study than PR, and it’s also more popular. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that 11,049 students earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism during the 2017 through 2018 school year, as did 815 students pursuing broadcast journalism degrees, 101 students pursuing photojournalism degrees and 738 students classified as pursuing “other” journalism degrees.

Journalism is a popular choice for aspiring public relations professionals for many reasons. For one thing, PR professionals work closely with members of the media, so it’s valuable to understand the work of publishing brand stories from a journalist’s point of view. Both PR and journalism involve a great deal of writing and content creation in other forms. Public relations specialists also need strong research skills, just as journalists do, and the ability to find a story and an angle that piques readers’ interests. If you choose to major in journalism, your core coursework might include classes in writing and reporting, audio and visual newsgathering, journalism law and ethics, innovation and design in journalism and journalism’s role in society. Journalism students often take classes in one (or more) of several different areas of specialization, including broadcast journalism, journalism for magazines, visual journalism, news and public affairs, arts and culture and sports journalism. Make sure you gain as much work experience as you can, not only by completing internships but also by being part of a school newspaper or magazine.

English

English may have a reputation as a less-than-marketable major, but it’s still a popular choice. More than 32,000 students earned a bachelor’s degree in general English language and literature during the 2017 through 2018 school year, the National Center for Education Statistics reported. Studying English typically encompasses reading and analyzing literature from a variety of different periods, such as ancient literature, medieval and renaissance literature, 19th Century literature and 20th Century literature.

A degree in English may not be as in-demand as a degree in PR or journalism – at least, not on its own. Companies aren’t looking for experts on literature, and writing public relations campaign materials is a lot different from crafting literary analyses and critiques or your own creative pieces. If you’re choosing to major in English, you want to make sure that you have a strong portfolio of relevant written work to share with a prospective employer. Again, getting involved in student newspapers and magazines and completing internships in agencies or the communication departments of businesses or nonprofit organizations can help you demonstrate the skills you have gained.

Communications

Colleges and universities awarded 9,540 degrees in communications in general for the 2017 through 2018 school year, as well as 9,218 degrees in mass communication/media studies, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Earning a bachelor’s in communication degree allows students to develop their speaking, reading and writing skills without being locked into a narrow area of communications like English or public relations. Coursework will likely include communication theory, the legal and ethical aspects of communication, writing and reporting for the news media, communication editing, technical communications and management of crisis communications. Since the major is so broad, schools may allow students to pursue areas of concentration. Some schools offer a concentration in PR, with specialized courses in the principles of public relations and advertising, marketing communications, consumer behavior, advanced reporting and social media.

Business and Marketing

If you really want to understand the business side of PR, consider majoring in business administration or marketing. A business administration degree program provides a broad foundation in business through core coursework in all business fields. A marketing degree will focus more narrowly on the function of driving consumer and public behavior, with coursework in marketing strategy, market research, public relations strategies and campaigns, advertising campaigns and marketing for specific industries and channels.

Other majors may be more or less applicable to your career in public relations. For example, if you would like to work for a government agency, a grounding in political science, American studies or public policy would be helpful.

Graduate-Level Public Relation Degrees

For most public relations specialist roles, a bachelor’s degree provides all of the formal college education you need. O*NET reported that 92 percent of public relations specialists reported having only a bachelor’s degree. Although 8 percent of the occupation reported having a master’s degree, you’re in good company if you never end up going to graduate school.

However, if you want to advance to a PR manager role – and make the big bucks – then you may have a more compelling reason to go back to school. Companies are more likely to look for credentials like a master’s degree when hiring for public relations manager roles. Having this high-level education may also be an asset if you want to open your own PR firm because it is likely to impress potential clients and add to your credibility as an expert in the field.

Master’s degrees in public relations typically include coursework in areas like public relations research and reporting, the theory and principles of public relations and strategic planning and practical applications of PR. You might take classes in multimedia communications, social media strategy, advertising and consumer culture, crisis communication, strategic communication for diverse populations and the PR agency in the modern world of digital media.

In addition to traditional Master of Arts and Master of Science degree options in PR, you can also pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in public relations and related areas, like communications, marketing communications and brand development. An MBA is a different kind of master’s degree program because core coursework in several areas of business – like financial analysis, leadership and management skills – is the foundation of the degree. This coursework creates the breadth of curriculum for which MBA programs are known, and a concentration in public relations is what gives this graduate program of study its depth. The PR coursework you encounter in an MBA program may include publicity and public relations, practices and principles of managerial communication, social marketing strategies, advanced interpersonal communication, effective business communication and the marketplace, public speaking for reports and presentations, crisis management and public relations, strategic approaches to public relations, strategies for social and digital media and crisis management and PR.

Other degree options for graduate-level study for aspiring PR managers include strategic communications, public affairs, corporate communication and general communications. 

Job Expectations With PR Degrees

What exactly will you do as a public relations specialist? The public relations specialist’s primary job duties are managing and building companies’ relationships with the public, protecting their client’s reputations and putting a human face on companies and agencies that can seem too big to be personal. PR specialists accomplish these goals through strong, compelling, persuasive communication that makes effective use of rhetoric devices and strategies. If you’re a person who excels at communication and believes in the power of words to fix problems and shape appearances, you’re on the right track for this career.

Public relations specialists work for and with a diverse array of companies and high-profile individuals. People and organizations in just about any industry may require professional assistance to build a positive and prominent public image for themselves. Public relations specialists often work for schools and educational services, advertising and PR firms, government entities, business and labor organizations, political organizations, media buyers and professional organizations and associations. Some PR specialists work in-house as employees of a single company for which they manage the organization’s public image full-time, while others work for agencies to serve many different clients, potentially in very different industries.

Acting as a company’s spokesperson, public relations specialists perform some of the following roles:

• Conduct media interviews (Q&A’s) with company leaders and representatives
• Handle a company’s social media presence on channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok and more
• Write press releases, media advisories and other content intended to secure media coverage and pitch their clients’ stories to journalists and other media contacts
• Write and prepare speeches on behalf of company leaders

It’s the job of the PR Specialist to keep an open line of communication between their clients and the public. Obviously, much of public relations today takes place on social media, so today’s PR specialists should be well versed in pop culture and current events. You must know how to spin bad press into not-so-bad press (deflect negative criticism) and, in these days of immediate feedback, be able to give a convincing apology.

Public relations specialists usually provide direct service to organizations in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. They write materials such as press releases for the public to read. They are in regular contact with media contacts, inviting them to press conferences and events as well as informing them of positive stories about the organization that may warrant media coverage.

Around one in ten public relations specialists work for the government. PR specialists working for government agencies usually hold the title of press secretary. Press secretaries are routinely tasked with speaking directly to the press on behalf of their agency, explaining government policies and the positions of an administration on the issues.

Public relations managers work in a managerial or administrative capacity, overseeing a team of specialists and their campaigns. These professionals manage whole campaigns and put the right people on the right jobs, all the while making sure that the campaign stays focused, consistent and on track to meet its goals.

The median salary for public relations specialists in 2020 was $62,810, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The 10 percent of PR specialists who earned the least made less than $35,350, while the 10 percent who make the most report earnings above $118,210 per year. For public relations managers, along with fundraising managers, the BLS reported a median wage of $118,430 in 2020. The highest-paid PR managers reported making above $208,000, while the lowest-paid had salaries of less than $66,740.

Both PR specialists and PR managers are seeing rapid job growth. The BLS expected job opportunities in these occupations to increase by faster than average rates of 11 percent and 13 percent, respectively, between 2020 and 2030. All in all, this anticipated job growth would add 31,200 new opportunities to the 272,300 existing roles for public relations specialists and 11,300 new positions to the 89,000 existing public relations manager jobs in America.

Careers in public relations often begin with internships with a public relations agency or the PR wing of an organization, such as a corporation, nonprofit or government agency. An internship completed during college helps you make professional contacts and gain experience for when you hit the job market.

Additional Resources

What Classes Will I Take for a Degree in Public Relations?

How Much Can I Make With a Degree in Digital Marketing?

The post What Degree Do I Need to Become a Public Relations Specialist? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

Management Roles in Business

Senior-level supervisory roles that require a great deal of experience offer some of the best salaries in the business world. Chief executives, a specific variant of the top executive occupation that involves holding “C-suite” job titles like chief executive officer (CEO), chief operations officer (COO) and chief financial officer (CFO), is the top-paying role. CEOs and other chief executives earn a median annual wage of $183,270, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Chief executives who work in the highest-paying industries can easily make upwards of $200,000 per year, and for CEOs of large and wildly successful companies, eight-figure salaries aren’t out of the question.

Another high-paying management job is that of advertising or marketing manager. These managers, who oversee promotional campaigns and the employees who work on them, earn a median wage of $129,380, according to the BLS. Financial managers, who hold in high-ranking job titles like finance officer and controller, earn a similarly high median wage of $125,080. Sales managers, too, earn median salaries above $120,000 for their work leading teams of sales representatives and overseeing sales campaigns. Other jobs in business management capacities that earn six-figure salaries include compensation and benefit manager, purchasing manager, public relations and fundraising manager, human resources manager, training and development manager and industrial production manager.

High-paying management jobs that require specialized skills and experience include computer and information systems manager, architectural and engineering manager and natural sciences manager. To do these jobs, you need an education and work in the field.

Personal Financial Advisor

Outside of the management sphere, the best-paying job in business is personal financial advisor. This financial planning specialist works with individuals to help them invest money and reach their financial goals. For personal financial advisors, the median annual wage is $90,640, according to the BLS. They also have the potential to earn sizable bonuses, making their work even more lucrative. General personal financial advisors work with clients of various income levels, but some personal financial advisors specialize as wealth managers or private bankers. Private bankers handle the large investments of exceptionally wealthy individuals and families.

While a bachelor’s degree in business can prepare students for work in this occupation, it can also help to earn a Master of Business Administration in finance degree or Master of Finance degree along with the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional certification.

Management Analyst

Part of being an effective leader is always striving for improvement. Company management teams often turn to outside experts for recommendations on what changes they can make to increase the company’s profitability and get rid of wasted time and expense. Management analysts or management consultants, who often work as outside contractors, do precisely this work of analyzing company operations and identifying potential areas of improvement. Management analysts earn a median wage of $82,450, according to the BLS. Before you can become a management analyst, you need sufficient work experience in the business world to give credibility to your opinions. Some employers and clients prefer to hire management analysts who have a master’s degree.

Many management analysts work for consulting companies or are self-employed, although some work in-house at the company that is the subject of their analyses and recommendations.

Logistician and Supply Chain Manager

It takes a lot of organizational, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to handle the challenges of coordinating the logistics of company resources, including procuring, transporting and allocating materials and goods. The salaries for these job roles reflect the value of these skillsets. For non-supervisory roles like logistician, the median salary is $74,590, according to the BLS. Supply chain managers in supervisory positions earn a median wage of $105,610.

Supply chain managers hold many job titles, including Global Supply Chain Vice President, Solution Design and Analysis Manager and Material Requirements Planning Manager.

Related Resources:

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With a Business Degree?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With an MBA?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With an Entrepreneurship Degree?

What Is the Salary Potential for Someone With a Supply Chain Management Degree?

What Salary Can I Expect With a Human Resources Management Degree?

What Are the Highest-Paying Jobs With an Associates Degree in Accounting?

Top 10 Paying Jobs That Involve Math

For Further Reading: 

Top 10 Paying Jobs With an Associate’s Degree

The post What Are the Highest-Paying Jobs in Business Administration? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.

The Financial Value of a Master’s Degree

How much is a master’s degree in corporate communications worth? In general, having a master’s degree is likely to boost your earning potential by 18 percent compared to peers with only a bachelor’s degree. Over the course of a lifetime, as of 2009, researchers found that workers with a bachelor’s degree reported a median lifetime earnings amount of $2,268,000, but those with a master’s degree earned $2,671,000. To put that into perspective, that $400,000 difference is the equivalent of more than a decade of work at the $39,810 median wage that the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported for all occupations.

Of course, master’s degrees add much more value in some fields and much less in others. Statistically, master’s degrees in fields related to corporate communications have made a much bigger impact than that typical 18 percent boost. As of 2015, the BLS reported a massive wage premium of 38 percent for both marketing specialists and marketing managers with a master’s degree.

Public relations specialists could also expect to earn more if they had a graduate education, the BLS reported, although the wage premium wasn’t as pronounced in this career path.

How a Master’s Degree Affects Career Advancement

Besides the direct benefit a master’s degree can have on your salary potential, going to graduate school can improve your earnings in an indirect way. Your advanced education can help you qualify for higher-level roles in the corporate world, which in turn raise your income potential.

For example, the BLS reported a median salary of $61,150 for public relations specialists. According to O*NET, just 8 percent of public relations specialists had a master’s degree, with the other 92 percent reporting a bachelor’s degree as their highest level of study. Public relations managers, on the other hand, earned a median salary of $116,180, the BLS reported – nearly twice as much as non-managerial PR roles.

There’s a similar distinction between the earning potential of marketing specialists and marketing managers. The BLS reported a $71,570 average annual wage for market research analysts and marketing specialists. For marketing managers, the average annual wage was $149,200, according to the BLS.

A master’s degree isn’t a strict requirement to work in management in a field like marketing, public relations, or another area of corporate communications. Even C-suite roles like chief communications officer don’t necessarily require a graduate education. However, having this advanced education can distinguish you from other candidates for a promotion or a senior-level job role. The fact that you chose to hone your writing and strategic communication skills by earning a master’s degree shows your dedication to your professional development. Many master’s programs in corporate communications also include some emphasis on the development of leadership skills, which can help you impress an employer.

Realistically, a master’s degree alone is not enough to land you a lucrative management role in corporate communications. To get promoted, you need experience in the field, as well as strong writing and communication skills – and an impressive portfolio to prove it.

Is a Master’s in Corporate Communications Worth Getting?

Making the choice to go back to school isn’t easy. Clearly, there’s a financial value to getting your master’s degree in corporate communications. The question is whether this path is the right choice for you. It’s important to look at your current career, your future career goals and your personal life and interests before committing to earning a master’s degree.

Workers who want to advance their careers to challenge themselves or are eyeing a company with better growth potential may be better off earning an advanced degree. If you’re happy with the job role you have now and your company may not pay you more just because you got a master’s degree, you might be happier staying where you are. You should also think about other interests and obligations you have – like raising a family or enjoying a time-consuming hobby – and factor that into your decision of whether, when and on what schedule you might want to continue your studies.

Another factor to consider is that graduate school is expensive. However, as long as you aren’t funding your education with high-interest loans that you’re paying back over many years, there’s a good chance that your graduate degree will pay off financially.

Additional Resources

What Is the Difference Between Corporate Communications and PR?

Are Companies Looking for Something More Than a Social Media Expert When Thinking About Corporate Communications?

What Are Some Typical Courses I Would Take in a Corporate Communications Master’s Program?

What Areas of Writing Should I Focus on to Be Successful in Corporate Communications?

The post What Are the Salary Benefits of Getting a Master’s Degree in Corporate Communications? appeared first on DegreeQuery.com.