Meet the Employers Recognising Alison’s Graduates.
All around the world, hundreds of thousands of Alison graduates have transformed their studies with Alison into new jobs. And for every Alison graduate in employment, there’s an employer who has recognised the quality education that Alison provides to all its Learners. This week, three employers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa tell us about their experience of hiring Alison graduates.
Huw Simpson is an independent software developer from South Africa. Although he usually works alone, Huw sometimes works with freelancers when he has work that he feels comfortable entrusting to someone else. In December 2019, Huw’s good friend, John Taylor, who had worked as a motor mechanic for over twenty years, was made redundant. John was faced with the challenge of reskilling after having spent over half his life working as a mechanic. Then Huw and Alison stepped in.
“John and I were already friends”, says Huw. “He is technically minded, and I felt I could do with a junior developer that I could trust, so I approached him and suggested that he learn to programme. He had always wanted to learn but never got the opportunity! I started searching for appropriate courses for John on the internet and Alison came up.”
John began taking Alison courses in programming, starting with Introduction to Software Testing. He then moved on to more advanced courses, like the Diploma in HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript and hasn’t looked back. John has now begun a successful new career and Huw has a skilled developer he can rely on. “John progressed quite rapidly through Alison and has retained much of his training.”
While Huw’s operation is still quite small, he says that if it grows, then he’d be on the lookout for more Alison Graduates with programming skills.
Read the full story of how John found a new career path with the help of Alison here.
Ifeanyi Ukandu is the HR Manager of Rockgarden Homes & Homecare Agency in Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria. Rockgarden offers high quality live-in and at-home elderly care. Ifeanyi has a degree in Business Administration from Ekiti State University and a master’s in Business Administration from the University of Sunderland, as well as postgraduate diplomas in Management Studies and Strategic Management and Leadership. Ifeanyi brings over a decade of experience in Human Resources and Personnel Management to his role at Rockgarden Homes.
One of the team members who reports to Ifeanyi is Alison Graduate Oladapo Onasanya, from Ogun State. Oladapo has a degree in Mathematical Sciences, as well as a variety of certificates from Alison, including Business Management, Operations Management, Sales Management and Project Management. Oladapo is currently Rockgarden’s Business Development Manager.
“I have taken several courses on Alison and I still have other courses pending”, says Oladapo. “I take courses on Alison when I have to change jobs or when I have to complete a business project and need to update my knowledge and acquire skills to be able to do it properly.”
When Ifeanyi sees on someone’s CV that they’re an Alison Graduate, he knows that they’ll “be able to carry out their tasks in line with the best industrial practices.” He’s also keen to hire more Alison Graduates, as long as they can pass the necessary practical tests that Rockgarden give prospective employees. “We have a handful of Alison Graduates and they seem well-informed theoretically.”
Ifeanyi is also “definitely” considering introducing Alison courses as part of the standard inhouse training for Rockgarden employees: “I’m hoping to go through Alison’s courses to see which ones might be suitable both for our caregivers and our management staff. Courses like Effective Leadership, Team Building and Conflict Handling.” Oladapo, who alongside his work at Rockgarden is studying Alison’s Diploma in Web Business Development and Marketing, would recommend Alison because of the concrete effect it’s had on his career: “I got a job thanks to one of my Alison certificates. Alison has high-quality content. You feel fulfilled at the completion of the course and you will add value to any organization.”
Read Oladapo’s success story in full here.
Christopher Erot is a Supervisor at the Waldorf Kakuma Project in Kenya. The Waldorf Project is the largest free school movement in the world and their Kenyan project provides education and trauma therapy to refugee children in the Kakuma Camp in north-west Kenya.
In his experience of employing Alison graduates, Christopher says that “they are high-quality workers with experience.” Christopher, who is himself an Alison graduate, believes that “Alison’s online education is very important”, and is thinking about providing Alison courses to train all members of staff.
One Waldorf Kakuma employee who has already started his journey with Alison, and reaped the benefits, is James Maina, the project’s Procurement Officer. James has a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Accounting and is currently taking a master’s in Finance and Accounting.
“Formerly I was employed as a mere financial assistant”, says James. “However, through Alison, I received a new job as a Procurement Officer. Through the Alison platform, I have shifted mindset and become more rational. I have also honed my report writing skills.” James continues to improve his CV and upskill with Alison and is currently studying courses in Networking and IT Security.”
Christopher is James’ manager at Kakuma and knows that when someone says that they are an Alison graduate, it means that they are keen to work and ready to learn through their own initiative. Christoper is happy to say that he would hire more Alison Graduates and “recommends people who are looking for work to study with Alison.”
Read how James used free education to successfully advance his career here.
