How To Become a Business Leader
Summary. We reviewed real candidate profiles to learn the best path to become a business leader. We'll guide you through the education, experiences, and skills hiring managers look for in a business leader.
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Most companies require a business leader to have a bachelor's degree degree in a related field, such as business or marketing.
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It's important to have relevant work experience, with typical job requirements ranging from 2-4 years in related fields.
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Common job titles before becoming a business leader include project manager, business analyst, and manager.
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Hiring managers expect a business leader to have soft skills such as leadership skills, management skills, and problem-solving skills.
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Once you have all the required skills and experience, it takes an average of 1-2 years of job training to become a business leader.
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Getting a certification as a Six Sigma Green Belt will help you to earn more as a business leader.
We've found that 68.7% of business leaders have earned a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, 19.2% earned their master's degrees before becoming a business leader. While it's true that most business leaders have a college degree, it's generally possible to become one with only a high school degree. In fact, one out of every nine business leaders did not spend the extra money to attend college.
The business leaders who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied business and marketing, while a small population of business leaders studied finance and accounting.
How to become a Business Leader in 7 steps:
- Step 1: Explore business leader education
- Step 2: Develop business leader skills
- Step 3: Complete relevent training/internship
- Step 4: Get business leader certifications
- Step 5: Research business leader duties
- Step 6: Prepare your resume
- Step 7: Get business leader experience
Key Steps To Become a Business Leader
Explore Business Leader Education
If you're interested in becoming a business leader, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.7% of business leaders have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.2% of business leaders have master's degrees. Even though most business leaders have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a business leader. When we researched the most common majors for a business leader, we found that they most commonly have business, marketing and finance.
Business Leader Major Percentages Business 33.30% Marketing 6.60% Finance 6.30% Accounting 5.80% Other Degrees 48.10% Develop Business Leader Skills
It'll be a good idea to develop business leader skills before applying for a job. Here are some skills commonly requested in business leader job descriptions:
Skills Percentages Analytics 9.43% Project Management 8.49% Customer Service 6.74% Business Development 6.22% Lean Six Sigma 4.44% Complete Relevent Training/Internship
Business leaders spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. During this time, new business leaders learn the skills and techniques required for their specific job and employer. The chart below shows how much time it takes to gain competency as a business leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real business leader resumes.
Average Amount Of Time At Training
Get Business Leader Certifications
Certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for this position. They can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a certification, having one may help you stand out in an application. Plus, the process of getting a certification can teach you new skills that you can bring to your work. We determined the most common certifications for business leaders. The most common certification is Six Sigma Green Belt, but Project Management Professional (PMP) is also frequently seen in business leaders resumes.
- Six Sigma Green Belt
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Change Management Certified Professional
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
- Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP)
- Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
Research Business Leader Duties
When you decide to become a business leader, It's important to know what duties and responsibilities are required for this position. Some common responsibilities are a part of most business leader jobs. Here is a list of the main duties that define the role:
- Create and manage SharePoint portal site for SFA department.
- Lead process and results metric development for all components of Medicaid business system.
- Develop project plans, project status reports, manage the team and resolve day-to-day issues with emphasis on SDLC.
- Set up a governance document to be share throughout all of department which outline how SharePoint would be manage.
- Manage sales and technical group to complete a custom online shopping system and CRM system for digital and print products.
- Utilize GMP to manage department budgets for capital expenses, spare parts, tools, and yearly contracts with outside vendors.
Get Business Leader Experience
Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a business leader. The most common roles before becoming a business leader include project manager, business analyst team lead and manager.
Business LeaderPrepare Your Resume
Finally, when you already have checked the skills and responsibilities for this role, you can start creating your resume. Everything that goes into creating a perfect resume can take hours, days, or even weeks. No worries, we created a resume builder to make this process as easy as possible with tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and a summary.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Business Leader Resume templates
Build a professional Business Leader resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Business Leader resume.Apply For a Business Leader Job
Business Leader Jobs
