Have you ever considered transitioning to a career in business? Within a business management program at Algonquin Careers Academy (ACA), you’ll build communication skills and theoretical knowledge of the core elements of business. At the same time, you’ll be gaining experience with relevant industry software and accounting and payroll practices. As for launching a career in the field, there are many different paths that a business management program can lead to.
In that regard, you might be inspired by the recent experience of ACA graduate, Omoniyi Babalola. After completing his business management training at ACA in March of 2021, Babalola went on to work as a National Office Coordinator, Screening Coordinator, and Communications Assistant for the Navy League of Canada. Below, learn more about Omoniyi’s experience in ACA’s business management program, and how it prepared him for his current role.
Why the ACA Grad Chose the Business Management Program
Making the decision to start training for a new career is no small feat, but Omoniyi was motivated to pursue a career in business from the start. “My father usually tells me that the easiest way to understand people is to study their attitude towards money,” Omoniyi says. “To do this, you have to understand the business environment. I know for me to understand the Canadian market as a professional immigrant, I needed to understand its business environment. The Business Management Course gave me that.”
When it came to choosing what school to attend for pursuing a business management program, Omoniyi notes that his decision was influenced by those around him. “Most of my family friends graduated from ACA, and they are all doing well in their various roles,” he says. “With courses like payroll, Business Law, Business Communications, and Accounting, it was easier for me to fit into the system,” he adds, speaking on some of the business related courses offered by ACA.
Omoniyi wanted to understand the Canadian business environment further, leading him to pursue business management training
A Look at the Career of a Business Management Grad
After completing his training, Omoniyi landed an opportunity for employment with the Navy League of Canada. He currently works there as the National Office Coordinator, Screening Coordinator, and Communications Assistant. So what does a typical day on the job looks like for Omoniyi? “It's a fast paced but positive environment. No two days are the same,” he says, adding, “The first thing I do each day is to check my mails and respond to pending mails. I then check the social media activities for the day, make adjustments if needed and post approved contents to various channels. I work on the content for the following week, produce volunteer ID cards if pending, do slight reading on activities of Navy Leagues across the world, and keep responding to mails, and phone calls.”
Omoniyi’s business management training prepared him for a career with the Navy League of Canada
As for his favourite aspects of his job, he says “currently, I enjoy the communications side of my work because it is the major conduit to learning more about the various stakeholders’ interactions. With each communication piece I develop comes great learning about my work, and the various actors in it. I love that I can make a positive contribution to the development of young people in Canada.”
Settling into his current role, Omoniyi still encounters his fair share of challenges on the job. “It entails a lot of thinking and creativity. We have a diverse audience both in age, culture, and gender. I must be able to think up a communication piece that is relatable to everyone. This takes lots of thinking, observations and reading,” he notes.
How Omoniyi’s Experience at ACA Prepared Him for His Career
Reflecting on his experience at ACA, Omoniy notes there are many important ways that his business management training prepared him for the career he has today - with a few courses being of particular value. “PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook are a major tool I use at my current job. The Social Media Course that was introduced to our program is also very handy knowledge,” he says.
As for his favourite aspect of his experience at ACA? “The instructors are patient, knowledgeable, and are able to use relatable examples to make you understand what they were teaching. Their commitment to students’ success was amazing.”
