Studying „management” as a challenge to develop your own competences

Purpose: The first aim of the article was to investigate whether high school graduates who want to study management take up gainful employment before starting their studies and how much was their salary. The second goal was to determine the reasons for starting studies and choosing a field of study, and the third was to determine the degree of identification of professional interests of first-year students in the field of Management. Design/methodology/approach: For the research presented in this article, an analysis of the literature in the area of professional competences and career development was used. Research was also carried out using questionnaire forms with open questions. The research covered all first-year students of Management at the University of Szczecin. Findings: Almost all first-year management students worked before starting their studies. They started their studies guided mainly by their interests in the field of management and the desire to run their own business, but they do not have exactly what exactly they would like to do after graduation. Research limitations/implications: In the future, research will be continued on a larger research sample. Practical implications: students have poorly identified interests. Their task is to try to identify these interests, but the support of lecturers is also important. Originality/value: Reasons for starting studies and choosing the field of Management and Identification of students' interests. The research results can be used by academics and students.