Build Your Career | Maranatha’s School of Business
Building a career is like building a house. You start with the foundation and the framework. You put in some crucial wiring and drywall. And finally, you make your house a home by furnishing it. Maranatha’s School of Business gives you foundational framework in the classroom, crucial experiences in your field, and sets you up for success in your vocation. But how does that happen?
A Foundation Built in the Classroom
The foundation for your business career is built in the classroom by seasoned businessmen. In the classroom, you will receive content from a biblical worldview that provides you with a framework. This framework helps you apply classroom principles to your field. Not only does the faculty focus on shaping the next generation of Christian business leaders, but they also work hard to develop relationships with students.
Junior Digital Media Marketing major, Kayla Campbell, shared in her article about her relationship with her professors, “The faculty work to develop us as professionals, but they also continually seek to help us grow as individuals. […] Each professor knows my name. They know what I am studying, where I am from, and the other campus opportunities I am involved in.”
Once you have the foundation and the framework, you are ready to take the next step in the building process.
Application through Internships
Once you have the foundation and framework of your house, you need to install the electrical wiring and drywall among other things. These things are crucial to the final product. Similarly, when you have the solid foundation and framework knowledge of your degree program, it is time to do some crucial application of that knowledge in your chosen field.
The School of Business encourages students studying Accounting, Marketing, Business Management, Sport Management, and Organizational Leadership to complete an internship for academic credit during their undergraduate career. These internship opportunities allow students to put the wires in and drywall up on their framework of classroom knowledge by applying what they have learned and finding the connections between the classroom and the business world.
Taylor Ball, a junior Business Management major, interned at Amazon’s Central Operations in Tempe, Arizona during the summer of 2020. Taylor was able to experience a variety of positions and tasks at Amazon which included working with Whole Foods, Prime Now, and AMXL, Amazon’s “last mile” delivery stations. “If I were to describe the job of a Central Ops associate,” Taylor shares, “I would say the primary job of an associate is to be a problem solver.”
Internships not only give you hands-on experience in your chosen field but also give you a glimpse of your future career. By working at Amazon, Taylor was able to gain a clearer perspective on his future career: “This internship showed me that I would enjoy working for a smaller company. […] I learned that I want to be at a place where I can make immediate changes to how things are done; I want a place where my voice is heard.”
Installing the wiring and drywall of a house is crucial to making the house livable. Internships and experiences in the field are crucial to gaining perspective on a future career.
Success in Your Career
Building a foundation, creating the framework, and taking care of the wiring and drywall may build a house, but it does not make a house a home. You must furnish the house. Once you have your educational foundation and experience in the field, you are ready to begin your career.
The School of Business faculty seeks to train well-rounded leaders and prepare them for whatever vocation God may call them to be in – including the local church. “[Business] students are equipped in different ways. Our Accounting students can help manage finances – they can serve as treasurers; they can do audits of church finances. Our Marketing students can help with web design,” says Professor Jeff Drost.
Digital Media Marketing alumnus, Daniel Newton (’16, MA Bible, ‘18), currently serves as an assistant pastor in Minnesota. “My education at MBU was more than just a transfer of information,” he shares. “I learned how to support my Biblical worldview in a culture of multiple competing worldviews. And I learned the importance of the local church, an impression that ultimately led me to my current position rather than the business world.”
Whether your business degree takes you into the business world or into the church, you can start building your business career with the foundation and framework provided through Maranatha’s School of Business.