The UNC Business Essentials program is a comprehensive certificate program aimed at preparing non-business majors for a world in which every graduate needs to understand the basics of business. Created by the capable educators of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, the certificate program gave me an edge and helped me feel more prepared and confident about my future, especially in this rocky economic atmosphere. Business Essentials covers an introductory overview to the business sphere, accounting, economics, marketing, business operations, and targeted writing skills. I learned to create a balance sheet, to organize a supply chain, to write a proper memo, and to manage inventory, among many other skills. And as a very busy college student, I greatly appreciated the flexibility of Read More
Tag Archives: business
How Business Essentials Will Help Me In The Workplace
So I’ve reached that age. It’s time to start applying for my first real internship in the big world. I’ve started to check Careerolina regularly and brushing up on my resume. It’s the brushing up on my resume part that has forced me to be able to articulate how the UNC Business Essentials Program will help me in an office. Here’s a couple things I’ve thought of: I can write a really good email or memo. I know – that doesn’t seem like that much of a selling point now, but in the world of business, effective communication is key. Having an entire section devoted to business communication puts me ahead of the game. I can think with the left Read More
Knowledge That Can Be Used Immediately
I was working on the Business Essentials program between working full-time at Ogilvy, a public relations firm, exploring Washington, D.C., and getting ready for my senior year at Carolina. I was about halfway through my internship when I finished the module on financial accounting – the module I thought was the most difficult, by the way. I was going through each of the narrated lectures and interactive activities more than once trying to wrap my head around it, and it was finally sinking in. The next day, the interns at Ogilvy were scheduled to go to lunch with Chris Graves, the CEO of Ogilvy Worldwide, who happened to be stationed in our office. As we were eating, someone asked a Read More
From Direction To Versatility
I have had a unique academic path in the sense that I have struggled with discovering where my passions lie and how to direct those passions into a major and eventually a career. I viewed the UNC Business Essentials (UBE) program as a way to find direction with my studies. I enrolled at the end of my semester abroad in Spain which was a perfect time because the online modules flexibly fit into my schedule. Throughout the course, I appreciated the real-world applications that the program constantly offered to me. The six different modules gave a very great overview of the aspects of business and instilled a new confidence in me to be able to understand conversations and media within Read More
Pursue Your Passion But Gain Business Knowledge, Too
UNC Business Essentials is probably the best option for someone who is not a business major or minor. As an undergraduate, there are countless opportunities available at your fingertips, and at times it’s overwhelming to weigh what you should do against what you want to do. Maybe you know that you need business knowledge, but your passion is in American history or music or geology. This is where UNC Business Essentials excels. This program allows you to pursue the major you’re passionate about while still obtaining the business knowledge that is all but required to succeed in today’s job market. As a Communication Studies and Psychology double major, I had no idea how a business worked. My freshman year I Read More
Business Essentials Sets You Above the Rest
I decided to take the UNC Business Essentials program this summer because I knew that it would improve my knowledge about the business world, while also looking great on my resume. As an environmental science major, I often feel that I do not receive much information about business and economics unless it is to teach me about how much a company is polluting during their production process, or how profit driven marketing is causing an overconsumption crisis. My ultimate goal for my career is to be able to bring both of these disciplines together in my own sustainability consulting firm, but in order to do that I needed to acquire some quality business knowledge. UNC Business Essentials was the perfect Read More
Business Essentials Matters to Employers
I initially chose to get involved with Business Essentials because I thought it would look great on my resume, but I soon found out how much more value the program has to offer. As a result of completing the certificate program, I have the skill set to expand my career options. With a thorough understanding of financial accounting, economics and finance, marketing, business operations and business communications, I’ve made myself more marketable for employment. This is tremendously valuable in today’s competitive job economy. Completing the Business Essentials program in association with the Kenan-Flagler signals your self-drive and commitment to academic excellence – attributes highly valued by employers. I know this from experience. During an interview at a congressional office this Read More
Truly Essential Skills
I am terrible with numbers. What possible other reason could there be for the decision I made to take 20 hours per week of class this summer while working another 35 hours? But, in all seriousness, I am a bleeding-heart liberal arts major who always figured I could save the world without ever managing a budget. My assumption was extraordinarily incorrect. I have been faced with the challenge of setting and sticking to a budget several times, and each time I have found the task incredibly daunting. Enter UNC Business Essentials. Business Essentials offered me education in a skill set that I never would have chosen to study as part of my four year plan to see the world, learn Read More
Beef Up Your Resume
The thought of graduating college and having to become part of the real world is terrifying for most students. On top of the worries about navigating life on our own, my generation is faced with another stressor—how are we going to get a job? We are constantly bombarded with horror stories of college graduates who were forced to move back in with their parents and work at fast food restaurants just to make ends meet. I always thought a college degree was a “golden ticket” of sorts that guaranteed a well-paid job and an independent lifestyle upon graduation. But in this economy, and with so many people attending college, a bachelor’s degree isn’t as powerful as it once was. I Read More
Business Essentials Helps You Interpret the Word in a New Way
UNC Business Essentials can be described in many ways on paper, but for me it is more than a new line on my resume, it has changed the way I learn and interact in the business world. UBE has given me a new sense of confidence in my everyday interactions. I now feel comfortable discussing marketing strategy and balance sheets in detail, something I would have struggled through before UBE. The course is structured to give students the ability to learn and practice. After studying the vocabulary and concepts, the student is given the chance to write about them in the context of a real world situation. I really loved this because it forced me to take my interpretation to Read More