Studying Career Development part-time

Marlene Herewini was a graduate working in the eld of Career Development when she decided to upgrade her quali cation and formalise her experience at NMIT. With a good, full-time job in Rotorua, she took advantage of NMIT’s exible learning options and enrolled in a Bachelor of Career Development (Level 7) as a part-time, distance student in 2015. e three-year degree programme is designed for people who want to work in career planning and development with students, clients, or organisations. Marlene says the programme was a great option for her because it complemented her New Zealand Diploma in Business (Human Resources), and it will provide her with a quali cation in her area of work. She has been working as a Careers and Employment Facilitator at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in Rotorua since 2018, helping students with their career transitions and developing their employability skills. Marlene says studying Career Development at NMIT was daunting to begin with, particularly as a distance student, but once she got going she found it was “like riding a bike”.

“It wasn’t until you made it around the block that you realised, I’m really doing it!” she says.

“Whether you are very experienced or inexpe- rienced in the eld, it will galvanise your condence and raise your awareness in ways you did not anticipate. It has also been fantastic for my own personal career development and I am excited about my future prospects.” Marlene says the face-to-face sessions she attended at the NMIT campus in Nelson were “de nitely worth it”. “ e networking is gold. I was fortunate to sit in with the nal year students working through their research plans and was thoroughly motivated by their mahi.”

As a student who has work experience in Career Development, Marlene says she’s “continually impressed” by the practicality of the course. “I am never le wondering, how does this relate to my practice?” she says. “It feels good to know that the knowledge, skills and development I am gaining now really will take me into the future with con dence, and that it continues to encourage my life-long love of learning. As ‘careers people’ we really need to be able to walk our talk and this qualication has really reinforced that principle for me in a fun, challenging and exciting way.”

For more information about NMIT’s Bachelor of Career Development t programme, visit nmit.ac.nz/social-sciences