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For many interested, business as a field of study has some inexplicable draw to it. No matter what interests I pursue, what hobbies I partake in, business has always been a part of my life. I think that’s in part due to how society (at least in America) is, with its capitalistic nature. I do think though, that for many students, myself included, there’s no clear path for someone interested in exploring business. Like many other fields, there’s tons of variety in business. Similar to how there’s software engineering, web development, machine learning, chip design, and more in computer science, there’s economics, entrepreneurship, finance, and more in business. But unlike computer science, I don’t feel like there’s a simple path to follow if you want to start exploring business. Take for example, computer science. Most people start and progress in competitive programming competitions like USACO and then begin exploring other fields that they’re interested in. Contrast that with business, there isn’t a defined competition structure. I do acknowledge that the lack of standardized competition is probably inherent to the soft-skill nature of business, but comparatively speaking, it’s still quite nebulous. Despite not having as rigid of a competition structure, I’d still wholeheartedly encourage people to explore business.

As a senior, I hope to talk about my experiences with business and tell my story of how I, and hopefully you can explore business.

DECA

It seems fitting to start by talking about DECA. In my experience, DECA is a great resource to get started with business. As one of the main business competitions out there, it was my, and many others first formal introduction to business. If you’re someone who might be interested in business, I’d highly recommend DECA as a starting point. It’s a good introduction to the various components of business and can help you get your footing in business. Joining DECA has helped introduce me to marketing, entrepreneurship, and finance. But with all that said, I think there’s a couple important points to acknowledge with my time spent in DECA.

  1. DECA is business for high schoolers

DECA is an organization primarily designed to teach high schoolers about business. To do that, it simplifies a lot of business components. One of my personal gripes with DECA has been the lack of “realism”. While it’s probably necessary to simplify components of business, I think it’s important to recognize that simplification. There’s more to business outside of DECA, and it’s probably beneficial to not think of DECA as the end-all be all.

  1. There’s not a lot of “Doing” in DECA

DECA tends to be quite “hand-wavey” around implementation. You can say that you’re going to do XYZ thing in a marketing plan, but actually doing it is different. In all but one event, you’re able to talk about ideas rather than implementing them. While it might be fun to throw around wild ideas (I’ve certainly had many fun conversations throwing around terms well beyond my depth), there’s a lot to be learned in the process of doing.

  1. There’s a lot of variance in DECA

This probably comes from my personal experience as someone who hasn’t done the best at competitions. The first year I competed, I didn’t make it to state. The second year, I didn’t make ICDC. While there were certainly things I could’ve done better, variance still plays a big role in how well you do at DECA competitions. Realistically speaking, a 15-minute presentation in front of a judge can’t fully capture a year of business experience. Depending on how a judge feels and connects with your presentation, you may or may not advance.

Despite its limitations, DECA is still a great opportunity to compete and start learning about business. It’s a popular option and one I’m grateful that I joined.

Stock Market

Covid hit while I was in 8th grade. From the extra hours remote learning afforded, one of the things I started doing was learning how the stock market works. From late nights analyzing balance sheets, to countless Investopedia queries, the time I spent learning about the stock market helped provide a foundation for me to grow my knowledge of finance.

In terms of getting started, there aren’t many restrictive barriers. There’s a lot of good YouTube content out there that breaks down everything you’ll need to know, and plenty more great free resources out there (Investopedia, Yahoo Finance, Finviz etc.)

Properly conducting due diligence, properly sizing your positions, and having proper risk management all take a lot of time, which is also why I started spending less time investing in the stock market after remote classes ended. A good way to understand trading in the stock market is that there’s no part time. Being successful in the stock market requires full time commitment.

The steep learning curve of investing was definitely difficult when first starting, but it was also a well worth investment (pun intended). Finance has creeped into much of the other parts of business and has helped me discover what sections of business is truly right for me.

If you’re looking to get started, probably start with paper trading. (Paper trading is simply an investment account with fake money). Select a brokerage, common examples include Robinhood, TD Ameritrade and get started. You might need a parent to open an account for you, but from there, you can get started playing in the world of stocks!

To summarize, it’s a great way, low-cost way to start learning about finance with some (relatively) good feedback. Besides, if you can get good at it, it’s probably one of the most direct ways to make money.

Personal Finance

Personal finance is a life skill. No matter what you do, understanding how to manage your own finances is an important skill. I started learning about personal finance during Covid, and since then it’s helped guide many of my life decisions. Having a basic understanding of interest, taxes, credit, and investing has provided a good framework for learning finance. It’s a skill that I’m glad I learned earlier, when I was able to learn at my own pace, rather than being forced to learn once I got to college.

I do think it’s a shame that society has a cultural taboo surrounding talking about money. I strongly believe that every high schooler should learn about personal finance.

For parents, your children are going to have to live on their own soon. High school passes by really quick. In college and beyond, your child isn’t going to have you to manage their finances for them. At some point, they’re going to have to pay their own taxes. Trust me, it’s always better to be able to gradually introduce them to finances than have them learn everything on their own.

For other kids, seek out those conversations with your parents. My parents were fortunately very open to talking about finances after I showed an interest in the field. I think that openness to discussion really helped me better understand personal finance concepts and how they’ve impacted my own life.

There’s plenty of great resources on personal finance out there, Khan Academy has some great personal finance courses, there’s also plenty of YouTube videos breaking down concepts. Some ones that I like are Graham Stephan and The Plain Bagel. That being said, you don’t need to pay money to learn about personal finance. In the past, books like Rich Dad Poor Dad might’ve been the best resources to use, but now in the age of information, personal finance isn’t locked behind a paywall anymore. If you ever feel like someone is trying to sell you on a course or book, consider switching to something else.

Internships

Internships are great, I don’t think you need me to tell you that. They’re a great way to flesh out your resume and further develop your skills. Since most internships are meant to have you learn, they’re a perfect opportunity for students who are looking to get more involved in business.

For many, myself included, the question then becomes, what kind of internships should you be looking for, and how do you get internships as a high schooler.

For starters, I personally recommend looking at internships where you can get involved. There’s a semi-stereotype for certain internships, where someone interns at a prestigious company, but doesn’t end up doing anything (the stereotype being that the only thing you did was fetch coffee). For the most part, I think that one should look at internships as an opportunity to gain valuable work experience.

So, with that out of the way, what’s the process to get an internship?

A lot of applying

Jokes aside, here’s some pointers based on my own experience.

  1. Set up a professional LinkedIn and Resume

Anytime you’re applying for a professional job opportunity, having a strong, up-to-date LinkedIn and Resume are strong, almost essential components of job hunting. In terms of what you should have on them, a resume should be a simple, one-page document that includes these 5 components, skills, education, experience, projects, and awards. Broken down:

Skills are your unique skills. Basically, what do you bring to the table. Try to include hard skills such as programming, office 365, data analytics rather than soft skills like, “strong communicator”. (Hard skills simply means skills that can be quantified or measured. Soft skills are more interpersonal and harder to prove)

Education is pretty straight forward. Include expected graduation date, relevant coursework, important activities/clubs and major if applicable.

Experience is your work experience that makes you a good fit for this position. Consider a situation where you’re applying for a software engineering internship at Microsoft. Relevant experience may include previous tech internships that you’ve done. You’d probably not want to put a business development activity on there, as it doesn’t really line up with the skills demanded at a SWE internship. For most, myself included, this section was quite barebones when I started out, but I’ve gradually been able to add to it.

Projects are activities that you’ve done. To differentiate projects and experience, experience is work experience that you have, projects are things you’ve done (quite literally, side projects). Projects can help showcase your skills and how you’ve used them in practical situations. For example, if making your own website is a fun side project that a lot of CS students do.

Finally, there’s awards. Awards should be recognized achievements that speak to your skills. In other words, awards should help prove that you’re capable.

If you’ve been paying close attention, you might’ve noticed that for most of the sections of the resume, they help “prove” something. A good way to think about job hunting, is that it’s sales. You’re selling your unique skills to explain why you’d be a good fit for a certain position. You present your skills that explain what unique attributes about you make a good fit for this position, and then expand on them throughout your resume.

With that out of the way, what about a LinkedIn? A LinkedIn will have more space and you’re able to be a bit more flexible with it. While a resume may be tailored to a specific job opportunity, a LinkedIn will have more general content on it. Include all your specific experiences that make you unique! You’re given the room, use it!

  1. Start Applying!

Now that you’ve gotten your resume and LinkedIn completed, the next step is to put yourself out there and start applying. There are many great internship opportunities for high schoolers, such as the Bank of America leadership academy (all though that one feels like a cross over between an internship and a summer program).

Don’t be afraid to get creative. I think a lot of people get caught up in the conventional idea of what an internship is (Must be offered by big company, must have XYZ features, must have certain pay, etc.) If you’re willing to work for experience, I think you can get quite far just offering to do free work. Also don’t be afraid of just reaching out on LinkedIn with a connect request. Even if you don’t get an internship out right, putting yourself out there helps maximize the chance that you get an internship should a unique situation come up.

Also don’t be afraid to leverage your connections to get your foot in the door. Job hunting is a hard process, especially if you’re just getting started. Don’t be afraid to take leverage the opportunities presented to you. Job referrals are a thing for a reason!

  1. Revise and go again!

You’re going to get rejected. That’s probably a general true axiom in life, but especially in job hunting. You’re not going to get accepted to every internship you apply to. That’s ok! Being able to reflect on your resume and identify areas for improvement are essential skills to help you improve. While you’ll mostly receive an automated rejection email, if you can use the pieces of feedback that you get to improve, you’ll progress leaps and bounds.

Personal Projects

So, I briefly mentioned projects before as an important part of your resume, but why would you want to do them in the first place and how should you get started?

Projects are great ways to develop new skills and have some fun! I strongly believe that one of the best ways to learn is to do, and projects are in many ways, learning by doing. Take for example a DECA Project Management Business Solutions project. Seeing and helping with a PMBS has helped me improve on my business skills in a realistic situation. The process of identifying certain areas that a business is struggling in, creating, and implementing a solution to that, all taught me valuable business skills.

One of the best things about projects is that there’s a lot more freedom and creative expression with them. Take a typical lemonade stand, a fun, cookie-cutter summer project. But what if you’re interested in marketing. How can you create a lemonade stand that’s better than most. What questions would you have to answer. How much inventory should you purchase? How should you market this business? How do you plan to deal with competition? These are some questions that you’re going to have to answer. Granted, I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I would hope that if I chose to do this as a project, I’d get a better idea as to the answer.

The point is, projects are sort of what you make of them. They can have large scopes with big plans, or just be simple pastimes that you enjoy (like setting up a blog for example!). Pick something that you want to do, and just do it!

Summer Programs

I’ve already spoken at length about summer programs in a previous article. They’re a good opportunity to expand your horizons over the summer and further explore your interests.

School Courses

This will depend a lot based on what your school offers, but usually schools will offer at least 1 business class. In an ideal circumstance, your school may offer courses in a variety of subcategories. For example, my school offers courses in accounting, business law, personal finance, economics, and marketing. While it’s a structured learning environment which might not be the best way for everyone to learn, it’s still a good opportunity. When I joined intro to marketing, I didn’t know anything about marketing or selling. Through the year-long course, I was introduced to both.

I know that among many high schoolers, there’s a perception on needing to take a bunch of AP courses. I’d recommend taking a look at these other elective offerings. Especially if you’re not the most familiar with that specific topic, having the structure of a class can make the learning process a lot more daunting.

Career Interviews

Going on the vein of just reaching out, talking to business professionals can be a great way to learn more about the ins and outs of various fields. For example, I really wanted to get involved in startups, so I reached out to various college students who already working in venture capital. I ended up reaching out to the university of Oklahoma’s venture capital club’s captain and we had a nice hour-long chat about the venture capital sphere. The talk I had with him helped me gain a better idea of what a career in venture capital would be like.

While it might seem a little boring, sitting down and having a conversation with people, I think it’s a great opportunity to get a better understanding of various industries, which will help increase your overall business experience, while also potentially opening your eyes to new possibilities.

If you want to get started, start by doing a bit of research on the various field of business that you’re interested in and then reach out on LinkedIn! You’ll be surprised by how far you can get by just telling people that you’re a student interested in the field.

Work Experience

By work experience, I mean more conventional jobs such as a private tutor or working retail. While probably not something that most people do to develop their professional skills, one underrated part of the job is the real business education that you get.

My time working as a lifeguard taught me a lot about the unique struggles businesses go through based on economic conditions (I even wrote about those business struggles in one of my college essays!). Even if gaining more business experience wasn’t my primary goal, that insight has helped me become the businessman that I am today.

Talking to friends who’ve worked in retail, they mentioned how working on retail helped them get hands-on-experience with business organizations and operations management.

Regardless of what you do, don’t completely write of real job experience as something not worth trying out. Gaining work experience can help build your character and your business skills.

Conclusion

To conclude, there’s plenty of ways to explore business and no two people’s journeys are going to be the same. Everybody has a unique situation and deals with unique challenges. For some people, DECA is enough, for others (like me), DECA might not be right for you. Whatever path you end up deciding, I hope that this article provided some insight into the many options available to help you explore business. It’s a field of study that I love, and one I hope to help others get more involved with.