Explore the Business and Administration Career Cluster

Are you good at working with numbers?
Are you good at working with other people?
Are you a natural leader?
Are you entrepreneurial?
Do you have a talent for organizing and planning?
Are you precise, responsible, and creative?

Did you answer yes to two or more of these questions? If so, business and administration may be a good choice for you. This career cluster includes a wide variety of occupations, including:

• Accountant
• Human resources manager
• Administrative assistant
• Information systems manager
• Management analyst
• Marketing manager
• Receptionist
• Interviewer

Cluster Definition:

Jobs in the business and administration career cluster involve planning, organizing, directing, performing, and evaluating business functions essential to effective and productive business operations.

Career Pathways in Business and Administration:

A career pathway is an area of concentration within a career cluster. Each pathway contains a group of careers requiring similar academic and technical skills as well as similar industry certifications or postsecondary education. The business and administration career cluster comprises six pathways: financial management and accounting, human resources, administrative and information support, business analysis, management, and marketing and communications.

Financial Management and Accounting:
Workers in this pathway are involved with a company's financial operations. Included might be tracking sales and expenses, planning budgets, handling invoicing, receiving payments, preparing tax statements, and more. Jobs include auditor, accountant, tax examiner, bookkeeping clerk, and auditing clerk.

Human Resources:
This pathway focuses on the management of people. Jobs include labor relations manager, personnel manager, industrial-organizational psychologist, and human resources manager.

Administrative and Information Support:
Workers in this pathway help a company operate efficiently. Jobs include receptionist, secretary, mail clerk, information systems manager, transcriptionist, database manager, office manager, and records clerk.

Business Analysis:
This pathway covers any activity that helps people understand how a particular aspect of a business works. Workers in this pathway include management consultants, management analysts, operations analysts, systems analysts, and business analysts.

Management:
Management is the direction or control of a business or enterprise. Management occupations include administrative manager, restaurant manager, hotel manager, marketing manager, advertising manager, small business entrepreneur, and retail manager.

Marketing and Communications:
Workers in this pathway help their firms market and sell products and services more effectively. Jobs include marketing assistant, market researcher, marketing manager, marketing director, public relations specialist, product developer, and promotions manager.

Click here for a visual representation of the business and administration career cluster.

Print and Internet Resources:

These Print and Internet Resources offer references for career cluster exploration, including trade, professional, and business associations, government departments and agencies, labor unions, and cluster-specific career Web sites.

Business and Administration Print and Internet Resources