Graduating from college can fill you with an “oxymoron of feelings”. Joy and sadness; some certainty and lots of confusion. You’ll feel like you have gotten to that time when you really have to make real-life decisions that will affect the direction of your life. You have to decide what university to attend, where you would likely live, and what career path you would like to follow.
A number of career options exist for professionals and one of them that has become increasingly popular is the business service industry. Statista reports that about 158 million people are currently employed in the US. This number is expected to go up by a million by 2023 with many of these numbers working in the business service sector.
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According to the International Trade Administration, the professional and business service industry in the US enjoyed a surplus trade of $114 billion in 2019 with most of these services exported to other continents. This means that when you work in business services, you are open to a global market in service areas like legal, research and development, advertising, architecture, engineering and consulting services.
In this article, we will be looking at some of the perks and cons of business services as a career and discussing if it is a great part to follow or not.
See also: What Is A Career And How Do I Find The Best One For Me
What are business services?
Business services basically involve the selling of services rather than actual products. These are services that help to improve the productivity and sales of organisations. This means that the value proposition of these services is intangible.
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With business services, industries are able to get the support that will help them drive sales and make profits. To achieve this, professional experience with special skills and tools is required.
6 Examples of Business services careers
Business services have a wide range of examples. In fact, selling any service such as legal advice, health care, counselling, financial advice etc, are all regarded as business services. Here are 6 examples of business services.
1. Software services
Software services are any services that help you organise or analyse data using certain software which can be accessed from a cloud.
While software can also be a product, software services perform more intangible functions such as providing security for business computers and phones, providing analysis tools to help business record and store data, providing anti-virus protection and a host of other services.
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One typical example of a software service is SaaS known as software as a service. SaaS companies provide software packages online that can help link computers within a given organisation to enable employees to work together while using the internet.
2. Legal services
You’ll definitely require a law degree to provide legal services. Legal services help companies by providing legal advice, drafting legal documents and representing companies in court in the event of a lawsuit.
Legal services span a broad range of industries including trade, insurance, labour and a host of others.
3. Marketing services
Marketing helps businesses and brands gain public attention through the use of advertising. While many companies have an internal marketing unit, some other companies prefer to employ external marketing services.
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When intangible transactions are advertised, they require the expertise of a marketing specialist that can help promote ideas and benefits of using their services.
Some examples of marketing services are adverts and publicity materials produced for event planners, gym houses, financial service companies, etc.
4. Healthcare services
Healthcare service is any service provided for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. They also involve services rendered for the prevention and relief of health conditions and injuries.
Healthcare services have 4 different specialised service areas. These are disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, rehabilitation and health promotion. A number of professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, physiotherapists, etc collaborate to perform each of these functions.
5. Financial services
Banks, insurance companies, credit card companies, fintech companies and many more are some of the companies that provide financial services.
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Financial service companies are companies that help with the facilitation of investing, banking, loans, credit card transactions and a host of others. They can also provide financial advice and other accounting services.
A good example of a financial service company is the local bank that helps you save your money for a small fee.
6. Consulting services
According to Statista, business consulting services have experienced steady growth over the past decade. The current size of the consulting market in the US is $69.9 billion.
Consulting services provide expert management services for companies where they help them organise various aspects of their company including audits, financial budgeting, landscaping, monitoring and evaluation.
Most consulting services are provided under the umbrella of a business consulting firm. These companies could be operated by a solo manager or a large group of employees providing services for various companies in various niches.
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A number of business service career opportunities also exist and deserve some “honourable mention”. They are research and development, human resource, event management, architecture, engineering, design services and a host of others.
Why you should choose a career in business services
A number of people choose to follow different careers for different reasons. Here are some interesting reasons why should choose a career in business services.
1. You can have a wide array of options to choose from
Business services is a broad sector with many career options and opportunities to choose from. You have the chance of choosing one career path to another when you start out as a service provider.
For example, having good customer relationship skills can give you the option of either working as a customer service representative or a Human resource manager.
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2. You can work remotely
Many jobs in business services allow for flexibility because they can be carried out from home. You may only need to be physically present if you work as an employee within a company,
3. Opportunity for growth.
Business services afford you the option of experiencing real career growth while you work. You can grow from being just an entry-level sales representative to a sales consultant and a sales manager.
4. Lots of Job prospects
The industry employed a total of 9.3 million people as of 2019 with 23% of those people delivering computer services as reported by the International Trade Administration.
Due to the rise in technology, the demand for tech business services has soared. Healthcare jobs are also on the rise. The U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics projected that healthcare support occupations are expected to grow by 17.8% from 2021-2031. Jobs in information technology and mathematical occupations are also expected to experience a 15.4% growth by 2031.
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This shows that service jobs have a lot of prospects for perspectives both now and in the near future.
Disadvantages of a career in business services
Whatever has advantages will most likely have disadvantages. Here are some of the disadvantages of having a service-based job.
1. They can lead to lots of pressure
Many jobs in business services require a lot of commitment, attention and detail. In addition, they may also require that you meet certain deadlines. If you do not handle stress well, you may find yourself being overwhelmed in such a career which is detrimental to your health.
Undergoing stress management seminars can help you cope with stress. You will also get used to the job and experience less stress as you gain more experience on the job.
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2. Service providers are easier to mistrust
The fact that service providers sell intangible products makes it easier for customers to distrust their services, unlike physical products that can be returned if customers are dissatisfied with the product. This makes it really difficult to convince customers in service-based business hence, the need for extra efforts in marketing.
3. Each service is unique
This seems like an advantage but is more of a disadvantage than an advantage. Services are usually delivered based on the need of a customer. Because of this, each service is considered unique meaning there is no general rule on how each job can be.
Service jobs are not like the recipe in a cookbook that has exact measurements. They instead demand lots of attention due to how diverse the needs of clients may be. This often means extra workload, a fresh approach to each work and the possibility of ending up with a dissatisfied customer even when you do everything right. Some people are that hard to please.
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How can you begin a career in business services?
To begin a career in business services, a number of factors need to be considered.
1. Have the required educational qualification
Most business service careers in a niche field such as law and medicine will require that you get a bachelor’s degree. However, diplomas can also provide sufficient qualifications to enable you to start a career in some business service sectors.
Acquiring a postgraduate study is not necessary when you want to start a career in business services but it can give you added advantage. Once you have gotten an entry-level business service job, You can build relevant skills through work experience and volunteering.
2. Up your professional skills
When you want to apply for a business service job for the first time, ensure that you understand what skills the employer is looking for and make efforts to ensure that you possess some or all of the skills. A number of employers search for employees who have management and leadership skills.
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You can acquire these skills by taking crash courses, attending seminars and events or volunteering in a company.
3. Improve your communication and people skills
As a service provider, you are likely to be in constant communication with people, companies and brands. Improving your communication and people skills will help you create a good impression on employees and customers alike.
4. Start finding opportunities
After you must have prepared yourself by getting a degree and improving your professional and interpersonal skills, you need to start looking for opportunities to acquire a job.
You can do this by first applying for jobs on websites or the career section of company websites. Networking and joining professional organisations can also provide opportunities that could help you launch a great business career.
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Is business services a good career path?
Having visited all the issues raised in this article with special consideration on the pros and cons of service-based careers, we can certainly say that business service is surely a good career path to follow with shining prospects and very attractive salaries.
This is because careers in the business service sector require a high level of skill and experience however, some business service jobs do not require any educational skills.
With business service jobs, you are also open to global job opportunities. Due to development in technology, some service jobs can be delivered online from anywhere in the world which makes such jobs less restrictive.
Final words
Having a career in providing services is certainly one in that you can excel. Provided you have equipped yourself with the educational qualifications and skills, you can be sure to experience great growth that not only gives you satisfaction but also makes the world a better place.
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You can begin a career in one of the business service jobs today as there are lots of them to choose from. You can become a financial analyst, a market researcher, a customer service representative, a legal practitioner, etc. Just make sure that you are happy to be doing whatever it is that you choose to do because that is the only way you can experience job satisfaction in the long run.