What Career Will You Apply Your Degree To?
A communications degree prepares a student to use an appropriate medium in combination with a convincing argument to effectively convey their message. Communications schools are a good choice for people who possess strong writing and verbal skills and who enjoy teaching or informing other people.
Areas of Study for Communication Degrees
A wide variety of educational institutions offer communication degrees, from traditional universities and colleges to providers of online communications degrees. While some students enjoy embracing the campus lifestyle provided at a traditional institution, many other students prefer to study online in their spare time and in the comfort of their own home.
Communications degrees are available at the associate's, bachelor's and master's levels. Coursework usually becomes increasingly specialized as the student progresses to the higher degree levels.
Visual communications degrees are increasingly popular due to the expansion of the Internet and multimedia advertising. Students who study for visual communications online degrees or at a traditional educational institution generally take courses in such areas as graphic design, interactive media, multimedia design and Web design.
The coursework for traditional communications majors varies a bit by school, but students in this field can expect to take classes such as:
- Advertising
- Business communications
- Economics
- English
- Finance
- Interpersonal communication
- Journalism
- Marketing
- Organizational management
- Presentational speaking
- Public relations
- Sociology
Prospects for Communication Graduates
Career choices for graduates with a degree in communications are plentiful and very diverse. Almost every industry has a need for qualified communications professionals, especially industries which include agriculture, banking, government, health care, manufacturing, retailing and social programs. Businesses and non-profit organizations require internal communications to keep their employees informed, as well as traditional communications with their customers and clients, so a business communications degree would clearly be helpful in this field.
Communications professionals have a number of positions for which they qualify, depending on their educational degree level and their work experience. Typical job titles for communications graduates include:
- Advertising executive
- Communications director
- Editor
- Graphic artist
- Journalist
- Marketing executive
- Media specialist
- Political consultant
- Public information officer
- Public relations specialist
- Publications specialist
- Publicist
- Researcher
- Sales representative
- Technical writer
- Talent agent
- Trainer
- Web designer
