Your career can take on many forms and may change over time. There are lots of ways to review what’s out there and what careers exist today. You can start by taking a career assessment quiz!
Want to look up specific careers? Check out these resources!
Company Departments
Every business, regardless of the size of the company, have to handle certain tasks to be successful. In a small business they may all be done by one person, while in a big company there are multiple people just handling one piece of them. And then in other businesses they will hire someone to do that function that has their own business. But you will find every business does this work.
Administration – There are a lot of administrative tasks in a business. Those are the things that need to get done to keep the business running. If you think about your own life, administrative tasks are getting permission slips signed or making sure you know where you need to be at what time. The administration of a company can include things like answering the phone and getting calls to the right people, taking messages, writing emails and letters to customers and other people, welcoming visitors into the business, organizing events and planning parties, scheduling appointments and meetings, managing who can use which conference room at what time, booking travel for staff that need to go somewhere, managing where things are stored and in what order, both paper and on computers, and managing the office supplies.
Financial Management – Every business has to get money from their customers and pay their bills. They need to pay their employees (called “payroll”) and they have to pay taxes. They also need to manage their money. Just like when you get money and have to decide if you want to spend it or keep it, and if you want to spend it, what to spend it on, companies do the same. A person in a financial role may send customer bills, pay bills, manage payroll, pay taxes, run financial reports, analyze how much money will have to go out soon and how much should come in (called “cash flow”), and work with banks to borrow money and pay it back. They will also do any financial reporting to other companies / government departments that need their financial information.
Human Resources – When you have more than one person in a company, you need to manage the people properly. There are rules on how you can treat people and then there are things you offer your employees (called “benefits”) that need to be managed. A human resources person makes sure all the rules are followed and usually gets involved with hiring staff, firing or laying off staff, managing health care programs, insurance programs like life insurance (which pays your family money if something happens to you), scheduling workers so everyone knows who works when, “conflict resolution” which just means helping two employees who aren’t working well together figure out why and coming up with a solution, helps managers or conducts “performance reviews” which is basically your supervisor reviewing how you have done for the year and giving you feedback, and connect employees with training when they need it.
Information Technology – As technology is a bigger and bigger part of our life, we need professionals who know how it all works. The Information Technology, or IT department, manages the network of cables in the walls of the building, makes sure the computers, printers, copiers, and faxes are all working and communicating, all the software a company uses is working and determines does the company need to upgrade or keep what they have for now, determine when people should get new computers, help employees when the computer isn’t working, and keep everything they have secure. The IT department will usually decide how often someone needs to change their passwords on computers and software, what devices to use to filter out spam email, and if they will test users to see if they can spot bad emails.
Marketing – If you have ever seen an advertisement, you have seen marketing! The people in marketing have to figure out what to say to current and potential customers about the products or services their company sells. They create characters like the M&Ms or the Amazon logo with the smile. They figure out what words will go with their products like Campbell Soup is “mmm mmm good” or Nike “just do it”. They determine what colors will best represent their brands and what the packaging looks like. They do research to determine what their customers want and what problems do they have so they can present their product as the solution. And they manage the social media and website for the company to make sure people are reaching the company, the company is reaching current and potential customers, and the “brand” is on track. A brand is everything that goes into making a product or service unique in the minds of the customer. If you know the difference between Target and Walmart, you know each of their brands.
Operations – Managing the operation can be tricky. It is important to look at how the business functions and if they are on the right track. They need to balance how much things cost with how much money they could make. Just like at home if you want to make a sandwich but you don’t have bread, you either have to find something else or go without, a company needs to make sure all the materials they need are ready to go when they need them. They need to know when people will be working and when they are taking time off so they make sure everything can still get done. And they take the orders from the Sales team (see below) and make sure the customer gets what the sales person promised.
Production – While we usually think of this word when making products, production of the work is for any business. If you are a consultant, production is creating whatever you will give the clients to understand what you recommend (called “deliverables” or what do you deliver to the client). In a business that makes a product, the person managing production needs to schedule the work, make sure it happens, and work with Operations if there’s a problem. For example, Donut Land has to make sure they always have regular glazed donuts because the most customers buy those. But they like to try new flavors and will have those as well. The production manager determines what they will make and on what schedule and then works with operations to make sure all the ingredients are ready to go.
Research and Development – Every business has a research and devleopment, or R&D, function. This is where the company figures out new products or services to sell and how to do that. At Sandridge Crafted Foods, food scientists do research on ways to preserve the food so it can be on the shelves or in your refrigerator as long as possible while being safe, and also how to make things taste great. They will also change up recipes to appeal to different tastes of people. For example, they make a regular chicken salad spread for Heinens and a lemon chicken salad spread. Both products are made for the same store, but different customers buy them because they like one over the other. The R&D team had to figure out those recipes and then how to make them in large quantities.
Sales – Sales is where a customer is convinced to buy something. A good sales person will identify a problem a customer is having and show how their product or service will solve that problem. We are all sales people at different times in our lives. Think about a time you wanted to do something with a friend but you knew they might say no. If you asked any way, and added some information on why it would be a good idea, you were selling! Being able to get a customer to commit to buying your product or service is vital to any business.
