Originally from Zimbabwe and with previous study including a Bachelors in Marketing from the Zimbabwe Open University, Patience was looking for a course that would complement both her study experience, as well as her work history.  With almost 20 years’ experience working for an international oil company in Zimbabwe in roles including operations, accounts and customer services, Patience has managed accounts for fuel (petrol, diesel and Jet A1) and lubricants customers.
Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) offers a course Patience felt would enhance her career prospects, including papers she felt she needed further study in, such as: business planning, strategic management, innovation and entrepreneurship, and human resources.
“These are modules that have greatly improved my skills and have equipped me to handle any role in a professional manner”.
While Patience had expected a high level of academic training at SIT, her expectations were exceeded not only in this area, but also with regards to other support services on offer at SIT.
“I only imagined that SIT would solely cater for the academic aspect of my studies.  They exceeded my expectations through the other support services i.e. pastoral care, employment facilities, health care and a host of others which I did not even make use of, like the organised trips to Queenstown and Dunedin and the fitness centre”.
The course itself “was appropriately challenging, the assignments stretched us to think outside the box and to apply theory to real situations and scenarios within organisations.  Having a mixed bag of nationalities made the course very interesting and enriching”.
One of the papers Patience especially enjoyed was on innovation and entrepreneurship.  This paper opened her eyes to the fact that you can be an entrepreneur within the organisation you work for, and she thinks that the knowledge she gained from studying this is important for any organisation that wants to get the most out of its employees in a mutually beneficial way.
During her studies, Patience had the opportunity to land a work placement role with Crowe Horwath.  Arranged through SIT, Patience worked there for six weeks, finding the experience enriching.  “It helped me get a glimpse into the corporate world in New Zealand and the organisation gave me an employment offer after my placement, commencing in February 2018”.
Reflecting on the Master of Applied Management programme, Patience states that “I highly recommend the course to every employee who wants to make a meaningful contribution to their organisation.  It is a course that is packed with well researched theory that can be easily turned into practical solutions within organisations.  The course tries to cover every aspect relevant for an organisation to succeed – business planning, strategic management, entrepreneurship and innovation, communication, management practice, human resources and a whole lot more”.