July 16, 2013

Mayor to meet South Auckland secondary students taking part in IT industry experience

Mayor Len Brown will meet students from South Auckland schools taking part in an innovative programme about careers in IT being run by Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) this week.

The Business Career Experience Programme is being held from July 16 to 18 and is an initiative by MIT’s Faculty of Business and Information Technology in partnership with Davanti Consulting.

As part of the three-day programme secondary students will have the opportunity to go into large organisations including Telecom, Vodafone, Watercare, Hewlett Packard and Gen-i to interview a range of people about their careers in IT.

Last year 20 students took part and this year the number of places has increased to 32 students from schools including Papatoetoe High School, Otahuhu College, Aorere College, Mangere College, Alfriston College and James Cook High School.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown will be coming to MIT to meet the students involved in the programme at 10.30am on Thursday July 18 to see what they have learned.

Programme organiser, MIT’s Industry and Community Engagement Manager, Edwina Mistry says, “The Year 10 and 11 students selected by interview for the programme are mainly Maori and Pacifica and they don’t have the opportunities others may have to go into these large organisations.” she says.

“When you bring an industry person into schools, it’s like having another teacher teaching them. I felt it was important to take these kids outside of their comfort zone by taking them into large organisations to experience what the real work environment it like.”

Edwina Mistry says technology is a huge growth area so it’s a great career path for young people to choose.

“We want the students to understand that a career in IT is not all about computers or programming and can be fun and varied,” she says.

“As well as having a high earning potential, they learn that IT plays a fundamental role in every type of business and that the industry is calling out for more people with IT skills.”

On day one of the programme the students will be trained on communication and interviewing techniques. They will then be split into groups and will interview four different IT industry employees in their workplaces. Through this process they will gain an insight into the varied career opportunities in IT within major organisations.

The interviewees are selected to provide a cross-section of career types including help desk, project management, CIO, sales, business analysis and architecture. They are also chosen for their ability to relate to the children and to be both inspiring and motivational.

The students will then put together a presentation on what they have learned and what career opportunities there are in IT from their perspective. The presentations will be shown at a prize giving on Thursday July 18 where a prize will be awarded for the best presentation.

The programme has received funding from a range of organisations including ANZ Bank, Dell NZ, Duo NZ, Davanti Consulting, Eagle Technologies, Fuji Xerox NZ, IT Engine, Imagetext Systems Integrators and NZICT.

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