What Can I Do With a Degree in Conflict Management?
A degree in conflict management can open many doors—in both the private and public sector. If you’re interested in this field, here are just a few places where you may wind up working with a degree in conflict management.
Work in Business
Conflict management is useful in a wide variety of business leadership roles, where consensus-building and persuasion can be key to the job. Managing interpersonal tensions, handling shifting alliances within a company or department, and getting others on board with your proposals will be extremely useful skills in such positions—and could help you establish a successful business career.
See Also: Online Degrees in Conflict Management
Work in Human Resources
Human Resources professionals do a lot to manage and mitigate conflict within the workplace. As part of your job, you may develop conflict management policies, find strategies to lessen conflict in the workplace, and implement conflict management, anti-harassment and cultural awareness programs to educate staff members.
See Also: Online Human Resources Management Degrees
Work in law enforcement
A degree in conflict management could be extremely useful in a career in law enforcement—where you are likely to have to deal with conflict on a daily basis. Careers in criminal justice in which this degree might be useful include police and enforcement, prison management, conflict mediation, parole work, and more.
Work in counseling
Marriage counselors, family counselors, and grief counselors all must deal with conflict in their daily work—and help their clients manage conflict between themselves and family members, coworkers, and other people in their lives. To work as a counselor, you may need to earn an additional credential or get licensed by your state—depending on the type of counseling you want to do.
Work in mediation
Mediators are valuable in numerous situations—from conflict negotiations to legal mediation for divorces and other issues. For some of these fields, it may also help to have a background focused in the area at hand—including contract administration or law. For instance, the Mediation Certification program for civil mediators can qualify you for work as a family or civil mediator within the courtroom. This profession is usually not regulated on a statewide basis, although court certification processes usually require civil mediators to be attorneys and family mediators to be state licensed mental health professionals—and those licensures may have their own degree requirements.
Work as a private consultant
A conflict management consultant works with businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and other organizations to manage conflict—both within the workplace and within the wider community. Conflict management consultants can help companies resolve disputes with clients; one of the major areas of interest in this vein is with insurance agencies and brokerages, which frequently experience conflicts and disputes with policyholders. Local governments can also use conflict management consultants to help with negotiations with schools, labor unions, and other groups.
Online degrees in conflict management are generally fairly accepted in the field—more so in business, however, and less so in areas such as psychology. It may be more difficult to enter into employment as a counselor or legal mediator with an online degree, as professional and state licensing requirements may include graduation from a school with a certain professional certification—which entirely-online schools may or may not have. However, you will have an easier time earning your degree online from a traditional school with an online component, rather than a for-profit online degree program.
Conflict management professionals are in high demand in diverse areas and industries—and a degree in conflict management can help you get ahead in one of any number of careers. Whether you’re interested in conflict management from the standpoint of business and leadership, contract negotiations, legal mediation, counseling, or training, there’s a field out there that’s likely to fit your interests.
Sources
Columbia Colleges: A Career in Conflict Management
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