BBA On Campus

BBA Grad is Always Looking to Grow Personally and Professionally

“Some people grow through education and others grow through experience, but I believe everyone has a duty to themselves to grow as a person,” said Clive van Rensburg.

It’s a sentiment Clive, a graduate of Yorkville University’s Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), lives by.

At 42-years-old, Clive is constantly in pursuit of growth, both personally and professionally. In his personal life he loves to travel and experience new things and professionally, he is always striving to achieve in his career. Education, he said, helps him grow both personally and professionally.

Originally from South Africa, Clive entered the workforce as a policeman there, at just 18-years-old.

It was an extremely dangerous job and so after moving to Canada with his family at the age of 22 Clive decided he didn’t want to continue on that career path. He took a job working in the armoured car industry, delivering cash to bank machines.

“While I was doing that I decided I wanted a career change so I started studying part-time and I got a diploma in accounting,” Clive explained.

His interest in business and accounting started when the woman who used to prepare Clive and his wife’s taxes stopped doing taxes, and Clive was compelled to do his own taxes.

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“I decided I needed to properly understand how, so I took a tax course and it spiralled from there,” Clive explained. “It looked like I was fairly skilled at it so I started studying accounting.”

When he completed his diploma made a career change and went to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers as a data analyst. It was an entry-level job, but he was then hired by Deloitte, an industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory service company, to work in compliance and market evaluation.

“I had been there for seven years and order for me to stand for promotion, the minimum requirement for a manager here is a bachelor’s degree,” Clive explained. “If you don’t have it, you will not get promoted.”

Which is how he ended up enrolling in the BBA at Yorkville University.

“How I ended up in this program is how many others do: we have busy lives, we work, we carry on with our routine, but we want something more,” Clive explained. “This program seemed to be a better fit that most other universities because the flexibility in the schedule.”

That being said, Clive admitted the program was no walk in the park.

“It’s a very difficult program and requires commitment,” he said. “You have to put the time in.”

Clive said the key to success is to schedule your time, stay the course no matter and lean on your classmates.

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“Connect with your fellow students, because everyone is going through the same thing. When you are struggling with a question, reach out to them because quite often you can help each other.”

“All these people are working people, just like you, and they are all pushing through the courses just like you are and they do have experiences and something to share,” Clive said. “Because I have come from a third world country and I had a fairly rough experience over there, I have a different viewpoint than other people.”

Clive graduated from the BBA in 2015 and attended the graduation ceremony in Fredericton in June 2015.  And that promotion he was in pursuit of came just a few short summer months after when in August he was promoted to Manager, Market Valuation and Compliance, Deloitte.

Click here to find out more about Yorkville University and the Bachelor of Business Administration.

Krushnaji Gavas

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