Careers in words and numbers
8/10/2001 2:57:58 PM
August, 2001
Lots of career choices for Business Management graduates
By BRIDGET MORRIS
Did you look forward to math class in high school? Was crunching numbers an activity you enjoyed? There are many number lovers out there and most would love a job that involves working with digits and decimals.
Basically the number loving people are the ones you would mostly find in Accounting, Human Resource Management, Marketing and the Personal Financial Planner trades. A diploma from College of the North Atlantic in Business Management can lead to a career in any of these areas.
The college’s Business Management program takes three years to complete. The first year is a common year at the end of which students may graduate with a Business Administration certificate.
In year two students select one area of specialization from the following options: Accounting, General, Human Resource Management and Marketing. Students may graduate at the end of year two with a Business Administration diploma.
The three third-year options are Accounting, Human Resource Management and Marketing. Students may graduate with a Business Management diploma at the end of year three. The third-year options are only available at the Grand Falls-Windsor and Prince Philip Drive (St. John's) campuses.
Business Administration certificates and diplomas can be earned at the College of the North Atlantic campuses in Bay St. George, Burin, Carbonear, Clarenville, Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Windsor, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador West, Port Aux Basques, and Prince Phillip Drive, St. John’s.
The Business Administration/Management program at the Grand Falls-Windsor Campus has an intake of 50 students. Conrad Maillet, the instructional coordinator for the program, says their main focus is to provide students with the fundamentals of business accounting, math, communications, computers, human resources, and marketing.
When you master these skills the job possibilities are endless. Careers can include a project coordinator earning a starting salary of $25,000 a year. Or there is the possibility of working as an entry-level auditor starting at $24,000 to $28,000 a year. Then there’s researchers who earn a salary in the mid $20’s plus overtime, bonuses and benefits. Or you could work as a statistician/biller which means a starting salary of about $25,000 a year. A management trainee can make between $2,800-$3,300 a month and a finance analyst can make a salary of $28,000-$33,000 a year, and these are just two more of the many career choices available to the Business Management graduate.
If you are one of those people who love numbers, then this field may be the perfect fit for you. For more information on the Business Management program contact the College of the North Atlantic campus nearest you or visit their website at www.northatlantic.nf.ca.
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Journalists - Bringing you the news
By BRIDGET MORRIS
Most people tune in to the evening news or receive a newspaper at their homes. But not many ever stop to think about the amount of effort that goes into bringing them the news on a nightly basis.
News stories don’t produce themselves. In fact, information for a two-minute television news clip or a 500-word newspaper article can take days to gather and an entire crew of people to create.
At the centre of the whole process is the journalist. Journalists are usually the ones who do the research, conduct the interviews and write the stories.
To be a good journalist you not only have to know how to write. You have to have an understanding of the news media and its influence on society. You must possess the skills necessary to gather, write and present news in an accurate, comprehensive and responsible manner. Journalists have to understand the realities of the journalism industry and they must understand the laws that apply to journalism.
On the more technical side, journalists also often have to know how to take photographs, operate video equipment, and layout and design a newspaper using today’s more popular layout software.
College of the North Atlantic’s Bay St. George campus offers a two-year journalism diploma program. Enrollment for this course varies from year to year. Last year the college took 24 students and approximately 13 of them are returning to complete the second year. One of the program’s instructors, Frank Carroll, says the job prospects for this field are very good right now because there are a lot of shortages in the newspaper industry, especially in the weekly newspapers. Every graduate may not be able to get a job in the province, but surely within Atlantic Canada.
Print journalists in Newfoundland and Labrador start with a salary in the low to mid-20s (the salaries for those at daily newspapers are generally higher than those for weekly papers).
There is a high turn-over rate in the journalism profession and starting reporters can quickly move up the ladder into associate editor or editor positions. A career in journalism can also lead to other professions such as public relations and communications, or you can choose to be your own boss (kind of) and earn a comfortable living as a free-lance writer.
College of the North Atlantic’s journalism program prepares students to work as professional journalists. The curriculum provides a strong foundation in the fundamentals of reporting and news writing as well as in media technical skills. The program gives students hands-on training in print, radio, television and on-line journalism. Students hone their skills through the production of an on-line newspaper. A special projects course in the fourth semester will allow students to focus on print, broadcast or online media. Students also complete courses in academic and general interest fields, thereby broadening their educational backgrounds and assisting them to understand today's society.
For more information on the college’s journalism program contact the Bay St. George campus or visit their website at www.northatlantic.nf.ca.
Bridget Morris recently completed her first year of College of the North Atlantic’s two-year journalism program. She is currently working for the summer in the college’s communications department and will return to classes this fall to finish her diploma.
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For more information contact:
Stephen Lee
Communications Officer
(709) 643-7928