The Star: June 28, 2018

20 Thursday June 28 2018
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
The Star
Tech is New Zealand’s third-largest export sector and is growing fast, with over
9000 new jobs expected to be created over the next two years*. To fuel this growth,
NZ needs more people with a grounding in tech to meet the rapid expansion within
this exciting and varied area, which crosses into many industries.
SIGNAL ICT Grad School develops tech professionals to meet that growth via
SHIFT, enabling more people to enter this dynamic and diverse sector.
*NZ Tech Digital Skills Survey 2017
The SHIFT Programme
SHIFT is an innovative industry-driven programme for those who are seeking a new career path who may not have a
tech background. Open to degree holders in any discipline, SHIFT learners have come from diverse backgrounds such
as medicine, philosophy, sociology, commerce, geography, marketing, engineering and humanities. Available in both
Christchurch and Dunedin, this one year programme offers relevant and current content skills to ensure you are well
equipped to work within the tech area, where the skills you have learnt in previous work and study are highly valued.
Partnering With Industry
SHIFT uses immersive studio-based learning and real-world industry experience to produce graduates with a solid
base of core computing skills, as well as communication and employability skills required in today’s collaborative
workplaces. SHIFT includes several opportunities to meet and work with local tech industry employers, and includes
industry visits, group projects designed and
mentored by industry, and a 200 hour industry
placement, where you work within the organisation
on a curated project to add value to your host, and to
showcase your capabilities.
Opportunities
With tech roles existing in nearly every area from
aviation to zoology, career possibilities are extensive.
Through the SHIFT programme, learners can focus
on software design and development, or allied roles,
such as business analyst, web designer, project
manager, user experience designer, technical writer,
sales and client support . . . and the list goes on.
SIGNAL’s SHIFT Programme transitions graduates from any
discipline into tech. Many new and mature graduates are
considering tech as a viable and lucrative career option and
this is increasing as the range of roles within tech becomes
more widely known.
Diversity of background and experiences is
welcomed in the tech sector, where it is strongly
recognised that it takes many viewpoints to best
design products that meet customer requirements, and firms are actively recruiting to address gender and ethnic
imbalances across their employees.
FIND OUT MORE!
Tech Careers & Pizza Night
Wednesday July 4, 5.30pm - 7pm
Register at:
http://bit.ly/TechcareersJuly4Chch
Email chch@signal.ac.nz or
Phone 0800 990024
Situated at 181 High Street, SIGNAL Christchurch is in the heart of the growing Innovation Precinct.
The next SHIFT intake commences July 23, 2018 and scholarships are available.
Call SIGNAL today on 0800 990024 and start your shift into NZ’s fastest-growing sector.
ISAAC’S STORY:
With a Masters in Geology and 10 years
experience working in the mining industry,
Isaac re-assessed his career goals, wanting a
career that was more flexible and portable.
‘I saw the SHIFT programme as an exciting
opportunity to add specific tech skills to my
knowledge base, so I can translate those skills
into a new career.’ For his industry project, Isaac
worked with Stantec NZ to represent aerial
drone footage.
‘The school-friendly course hours have allowed
me to carry on with my before and after school
duties, and this has really helped my family and
my career training.’
Isaac has just landed a role with Seequent,
a global leader in the development of data
visualisation software and collaborative
technologies.
FELICIA’S STORY:
Felicia has a computer engineering degree
from the Philippines where she worked as an
Air Traffic Controller for 12 years before coming
to New Zealand.
‘SHIFT will enable and empower me to reignite
my programming skills to eventually help me
become work-ready. I am invested to take as
much knowledge and practical skills from this
course and apply them in more meaningful
ways.’Felicia has really enjoyed her internship
with Airways NZ, where she has been utilising
her previous skills, and also her new tech skils
from SHIFT.
SCHOLARSHIPS
AVAILABLE for
July 2018
APPLY NOW
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