How a University Experience Can Boost Your Business Career

There’s a prevalent narrative among the young entrepreneurial community that university is a waste of time. Three or four years that you could be using instead to cut your teeth in the world of commerce, make the most of your small business, and possibly even turn it into a medium-sized enterprise, or even larger. Yet higher education, the application process, and the experience it offers serve a valuable purpose to business people, even if it is not an MBA or other business studies related course.

If you want to reach the peaks of the business world, a firm grounding in a university experience, especially the elite kinds you can reach with an application concierge service like Allen and Jain, could be extremely beneficial. Consider the following factors when next wondering whether it’s worth it to start applying for a degree.

Societies = Small Businesses

University societies are famous for things like rowdiness, hazing rituals, and being something of a blessing and a curse. Yet to a business-minded student, these bodies are an excellent opportunity. Societies have to advertise for members. They need to manage income, expenses, and alternate revenue flows. Societies need to invest in occasions, and organise events to keep things interesting, but they can’t blow all their funds or everyday operations will falter. In short, university societies are a type of small business. They make great training grounds for students who later want to get into running these kinds of enterprises themselves. Whether it’s kickboxing, creative writing, archery, or improv comedy, there is always something for an entrepreneurial young person to turn their hand towards when running a university society.

Networking Early = Lasting Networks

Making friends at university isn’t just something you can do to keep yourself from feeling lonely or otherwise improving your quality of life. Good connections and a solid network of acquaintances among your peers could be extremely valuable later in life. It is often said that it is not what you know, but rather who you know. When you are at university, especially the more elite higher education institutions, the connections you make here could have long term impacts on the kinds of sectors and areas you have access to. Be deliberate, trying to maintain friendships with the kind of people who you imagine will be successful, but also do not be too strategic. No one likes to feel used, and friendships should be about care first, and connection second.

Subject Knowledge = Specific Skills

While many entrepreneurial people might concede the first two points, they will then counter that university is good, if and only if, you are studying a business related course. Unless your programme involving economics, statistics, or something else that can really power you into the commercial world, many entrepreneurial experts will turn their nose up at your plans. What they fail to appreciate is how valuable specific subject knowledge can be.

Business people tend to assume that experts are someone they hire, not the people who do the hiring or run the company. Sciences, computing, engineering, design. These are are roles that often get farmed out to separate employees or freelance specialists. However with subject knowledge, you can make your own judgements about what experts you deal with in the future can tell you. You can have the power to make decisions on intricate details as well as broader sweeps of your business. While in many areas you will need to abdicate informational superiority to experts, if you have the option to understand an area in detail, it should not be passed up.

A university career is a valuable thing. It teaches so much, both in terms of the course itself and character in the life experiences you develop. Running a society, building a network, and learning a specific subject, are all just the beginnings of the benefits a university experience can have for the next generation of businesswomen and men.