Have you been looking to take up a career in business? The DECA club is a great way to learn about solving problems in business and while getting an introduction to what the field is really like.

DECA is a business club that came to McQuaid Jesuit two years ago. There are four main principles in the DECA club: finance, business administration, marketing, and hospitality and tourism.

When a student first joins DECA, he will take a principles course introducing him to the field. These are typically basic principles that deal with general business. As you progress, you can delve deeper into specific fields.

Sophomore DECA president and multiple award winner Jude Aman shared his experience.

“It gives you an opportunity into the world of business, and usually the judges are actual business owners, so I think it’s very neat,” Aman said.

The DECA clubs from different schools get together at a competition event at RIT. In the first part of the event students compete in a business role-play to get an idea of what the field is like. After that participants go to a presentation conducted by business owners.

“The DECA tournament is a role-play situation,” Aman said. “Basically, you have a judge who pretends to be someone who needs help in a specific field. You play the informed person and provide information. They score you based on how well you handle the problem. Some of these scores are decided by eye-contact, the way you present yourself, fluidity, and knowledge on the subject.”

The material learned in DECA helps students understand the field of business–whether the occupation is finance, business administration, marketing, or hospitality and tourism. If you are thinking about a career in business, there are a lot of opportunities.

Finance deals with activities involving money. The finance industry has many aspects, offering a variety of positions that cater to a number of different skills and interests. Most people who take up a career in finance work in areas like commercial banking, financial planning, investment banking, money management, insurance and real estate. 

Business administration deals with all the activities required to plan, organize, lead, and control a business. A business administrator oversees a business and its operations. They handle the managerial responsibilities of a company. Some familiar job titles include CEO, General Manager and Operations Manager.

Marketing is the business of promoting and selling products or services. This includes market research and advertising. Marketing is an expansive area of expertise and consists of different skill sets and jobs. Marketing is the business process of creating relationships and satisfying customers’ needs. Working in marketing often shows customers why they should purchase a product from a particular company.

Hospitality and Tourism represents a broad range of career opportunities in industries that include hotels and resorts, restaurants and commercial food services, and meeting and event planning. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, travel and tourism accounts for 8 percent of the world’s jobs and has the highest potential for growth of any industry.

As you can see there are a lot of opportunities in the field of business. DECA offers an introduction to these businesses and is a great way to explore the profession that you may be interested in.