Photo from NZ Herald, credit: Michael Craig
Commerce graduate Madeleine McCarthy has enrolled for Unitec’s New Zealand Diploma in Cybersecurity, beginning in July, after making the decision to switch her career path. Madeleine’s story was featured in the NZ Herald recently, as an example of how people are responding to the pressure the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on jobs and the economy.
The one-year Level 6 New Zealand Diploma in Cybersecurity launched in February this year with a fully subscribed first intake.
Madeleine, who completed a commerce degree in 2019, was working in a paid internship for an infrastructure company when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. With a reduction in sales for the company, she lost her job and began searching for alternatives, without success.
Cybersecurity had always been on her radar, so she looked at what study options were available and decided to enrol for our diploma.
“I always did want to do cybersecurity, but I didn’t want to go back to study, I wanted to keep working,” she said. “Now that that’s not really an option, I decided to head to Unitec.”
Madeleine likes that our cybersecurity course puts students in work placements one day a week.
“They said some of it might be unpaid or paid, depending on where you end up going,” she said.
“I still want to work and get work experience in a relevant field, and I couldn’t get a relevant job without relevant experience.”
Dila Beisembeyeva, Academic Programme Manager, School of Computing and Information Technology, worked closely with NZQA, ITP New Zealand and industry including Datacom and Spark, to develop the course.
“In an industry stymied by an increasing skills shortage, we’re helping develop our own homegrown talent and ensuring we deliver what industry needs,” said Dila.
“We’re bridging the gap between education and industry, while at the same time providing employment opportunities for students and equipping them with skills for jobs.”
At the launch of the diploma in February, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Government Digital Services, Kris Faafoi, said the course is an important step towards investing in the future of New Zealand’s cybersecurity workforce and capabilities.
Source: NZ Herald (premium content)