Alex Malmsten, who completed his Recreation and Leisure studies at Centennial, supervises a group that he sees as the gateway to the City of Barrie. His team at Service Barrie, the municipality's centralized customer service contact centre, answers residents’ questions about everything from sidewalk repairs to transit trip planning. In addition to being crucial to Barrie, Alex’s aptitude is also an example of how Centennial equips learners with transferable skills to advance their careers.
“The Recreation and Leisure Services program had a heavy focus on teamwork and presentations,” says Alex, who transitioned careers earlier this year. “These are both skill sets that I utilize frequently in the new role, along with the customer service skills I developed through working in the recreation industry.”
Recreation and Leisure Services prepares students to improve people’s quality of life by developing healthy communities. To do so, students learn essential and transferable skills such as: conducting needs assessments, creating risk management plans, developing business plans and grant proposals, and planning and implementing programs for all ages and abilities.
For Alex, the biggest Recreation and Leisure studies takeaway was the program’s field placement.
“The placement agreement really allows for a wealth of different experiences,” he says. “An unpaid placement really allows you to take on so many extra tasks and duties with the employer. With paid placements, there is a much higher focus on the employer getting a return on their investment. So, as a student, you end up getting tied up with front-line, entry-level tasks. But with an unpaid, you are able to be exposed to so many more roles and responsibilities.”
Besides the lessons from his Recreation and Leisure studies and the field placement, Alex says the additional opportunities Centennial provides students also prepared him to launch his career. While in the program, for example, he volunteered at the Parks and Recreation Ontario Educational Forum. As he carried out his duties, Alex also used the event to network and furthered his industry knowledge by sitting in on conference sessions.
“I would recommend students get involved in any way they can,” he says. “If you are willing to work hard, your program will definitely put you on the right path to gain the network and the experience you need to land the job you want. I was also lucky to have a great field placement supervisor who exposed me to so many different facets of the recreation supervisor role that I was able to hit the ground running when I landed my first full-time role.”
That role was with the Town of Ajax as a recreation supervisor, which led to the same position with the City of Barrie before Alex became manager of Recreation and Culture at the Town of New Tecumseth. After 11 years in the industry, Alex still had a passion for recreation and leisure services. But, as many leisure and recreation programs are facilitated during evenings and weekends, he needed a better work-life balance when he and his wife started their family. That’s when Alex took his transferable skills and industry experience over to Service Barrie.
“I’m really enjoying working in Service Barrie as it is allowing me to expand my learning and is providing new challenges, which I have found refreshing,” he says.
Written By: Izabela Shubair