Many people recognize the name Aramark – a global company that handles food services, facilities management, and provides uniforms for industries that impact our day to day lives. With a strong presence in more than 22 countries around the world, Aramark services the industries we are familiar with such as the businesses where we work, the schools our children attend, and the hospitals in our community. Aramark even serves the athletes at the Olympics. You can imagine that running a business that large takes a lot of work and has many components behind its success — including a robust accounting department. For Sonya Angus, a recent graduate of National College’s $$Madison Campus – working as an accounting clerk at Aramark means that she gets to be a part of that success.
When Sonya came to National two years after graduating high school, she knew she wanted a career in accounting "because I knew I was good at math," she said simply, "and [accounting] is a great field." With a quieter personality, Sonya chose National because of the small classes and the one-on-one connection with the teacher. "I knew I would learn better that way instead of being a number," she said – crediting her accounting instructor, Tracy Ross, for making a lasting impact on her school experience. "If we had a question – she always made sure she did her best to answer," Sonya said.
Not only did Sonya pick up real-world experience from her instructor that she would later apply to her job, she also shared what she learned as a work study by tutoring her fellow students as well as middle school students at Madison Middle School. Working diligently at her studies, she graduated in two years and completed her externship at the Nashville Business Incubation Center – a business dedicated to offering support to start-up small businesses. She worked in their accounting department, creating invoices and conducting basic billing transactions that helped her build first-hand experience that she would transfer to her work at Aramark.
When she graduated and finished her externship, career center director Adella Harris told Sonya about an upcoming career fair, and Sonya took her advice. She dressed in interview attire and arrived early to the event. "Aramark was just opening the building," Sonya said and it just so happened that they had planned to do on-the-spot interviews that morning and she was one of the first interviewees. After the interview, her interviewer told her that she was "perfect for the job," and that they would be in contact with her over the next few weeks. Sonya started working as an accounting clerk in Aramark's Nashville branch very soon.
"I'm actually planning on starting this year for a bachelor's," said Sonya. "I'm content with where I'm at right now," Sonya said about her job, although she looks forward to the expansive room there is to grow in a company as large and well-established as Aramark.
Graduate Sonya Angus interviewed for a position at the $$Madison Campus career fair and was offered the job. She is now an accounting clerk with Aramark in Nashville.
