We are glad to share another success story with you. Vishi DHARMARAJAN completed NZIE’s Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Business in March 2019 and have some great feedback and advice for students looking to study at NZIE. We had a catch up for an interview so you can read what Vishi had to say.
First of all, tell us about your background before coming to New Zealand.
I am a professional accountant who had a decade of experience. During the part of my
experience I have worked in various places in India and Middle East. My basic qualification
was in completion of Bachelor of Commerce in India. I have further completed
Cost and Management Accountant in India, UK and Certified Public Accountant
from the California Board of Accountancy US.
Why did you choose to Study Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Business Level 8 at NZIE?
Improve my leadership and management skills and to have in depth understanding of New
Zealand business and workforce.
How did you find studying at NZIE?
NZIE provided a neat and tidy classroom’s for studying. Access to students from 8AM
to 8PM. Free coffee/tea facility at the cafeteria and a lot of banner information
about NZIE rules and regulation, class information, students corner etc in the
cafeteria for the students attention.
Can you explain how was your internship and research project?
NZIE has been putting a lot of effort in helping students with the academic writing
to help students to reach and maintain a Level 8 standard. They have helped us
to complete each course.
In a high level. There is the academic support from the Learning
Support Centre Academic that helped me with the academic writing skills and
research writing guidance. You also have pastoral care through Student Services
and Think recruit with job seeking and internships. They also can counsellor
you with any personal issues you have energy and time to focus only on your
studies. Some students struggle with academic writing, but to write
academically there is a pattern and if you follow that pattern you will get it
right. Just make sure you seek the help from NZIE staff, put the energy and
time and you will succeed.
Can you explain how was your internship and research project?
I did my internship as part of NZIE’s Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Business which
was arranged by NZIE. The students service supported me in forwarding my resume
to the organisation and in fixing an appointment for interview. After
successful completion of the interview, Share NZ accepted to pursue my
internship and undertake the research project. On discussion with the company
related to academic research project requirement, SHARE NZ who deals with
Insurance, Investment, Mortgages wanted to research on the topic “anticipated
future interaction from customers in a service agreement.
SHARE wanted to improve their understanding of its customers’ expectations, so they
could improve their services/products with a final goal of increasing
sales/revenue. With the concurrence of my research supervisor I accepted
to start my research around anticipated future interaction from the customers
of SHARE in a service relationship.
I collected 72 online survey responses from their customer of SHARE to proceed with my quantitative research.
Swami Vivekananda.
What were the main issues you found and what solutions did you present to the company?
SHARE wanted have customer feedbacks on its firm reputation, service provider expertise and satisfaction derived from previous interactions.
Can you please talk about how your internship and research project helped you interact with NZ business how you think this will help in your future career in New Zealand?
You will spend 10 weeks with your host organisation doing an internship and that’s a great value to your career
NZ so you should also be able to provide value back to that organisation. You also learn a lot of soft business skills in the New Zealand professional environment. The idea to send us to a internship in a NZ business organization is that so we can walk out ready to work in NZ business environment.
What are you doing now and what’s the plan for your future in New Zealand?
I’m now studying NZ taxation system on the way to become a charted accountant so I can
progress with my career in New Zealand in the finance area.
When you first started your studies at NZIE, what challenges did you face and how did you deal with them?
Initially, education system is different it took a while to get used to the NZ academic
standards such as APA referencing, etc, but I always like to think ahead so
once I knew what I had to know I studied, researched, dedicated
time and energy to understand everything I need to know.
What’s the best advice for someone looking to study in New Zealand?
Be prepared to accept the change. You should be ready to be outside of your
comfort zone. You need to match your skills with Level 8 expectations which is
pretty high. All the assessments and content that you will have to study are
challenging. Take a small step everyday so you never stop. Every day is a lot
of new information coming so you need to have a mind fully focused on that.
It’s a full-time programme and each paper has its own content and number of
rules that you need to know. If you don’t spend a certain amount of hours
dedicating to that paper you won’t get the results you need.
One great thing about NZIE is that all tutors are very welcoming and all questions
you have to them they will guide you to find your way. Tutors won’t do the work
for you, but they will guide you in how you should get the word done for
yourself. If you accept the change you can reach your best. NZIE is putting
100% of work to guide you and if you also do your 100%
How was the support from NZIE during your studies?
NZIE has been putting a lot of effort in helping students with the academic writing
to help students to reach and maintain a Level 8 standard. They have helped us
to complete each course.
In a high level. There is the academic support from the Learning Support Center Academic that helped me with the academic writing skills and research writing guidance. You also have pastoral care through Student Services and Think recruit with job seeking and internships. They also can counselor you with any personal issues you have energy and time to focus only on your studies. Some students struggle with academic writing, but to write academically there is a pattern and if you follow that pattern you will get it right. Just make sure you seek the help from NZIE staff, put the energy and time and you will succeed.
