On a career break after spending time overseas, Christine Wood, embraced the opportunity to study online. With a background in hotel sales and looking for a management position, Christine decided studying would improve her CV and increase her chance of employment in a management role.
Christine looked at a number of online providers before deciding to study a New Zealand Diploma in Business (Marketing and Sales) (Level 5) through eCampus NZ. She chose eCampus NZ as she was impressed with the offerings and liked that it was backed by well-known polytechnic’s and institutes.
“I felt safe studying with eCampus NZ and knew the qualification would be industry recognised. I had previously studied with Ara Institute of Canterbury, so it was great to be enrolled with Ara again through eCampus NZ,” says Christine.
After three months studying, Christine landed a new job as a Sales and Marketing Manager for a large hotel chain, a role that she credits eCampus NZ with helping to achieve.
With working fulltime, and studying fulltime, Christine was busy, but through time management she was able to complete the Diploma on time and in less than a year.
“I studied a few hours after work each night and then all weekend. I started on 8 April and finished on 21 December. Unlike university there isn’t set breaks so as soon as you finish one paper you can start the next.”
Christine enjoyed the content on social media and online marketing. She liked learning about the different platforms available to businesses as well as the back end and analytics, such as, who is viewing what, what time of day is best to post and how to reach additional people.
“Prior to studying, I didn’t have much experience in marketing. I now manage the social media accounts for the hotel I work for, so for me to understand this in-depth is really helpful,” says Christine.
Christine also enjoyed a core business paper on New Zealand’s legal system, which she said was hard, but covered things you need to know. She also enjoyed the content on different sales styles and approaches and a video project which required you to film yourself doing a sales pitch and addressing a group of people.
“It helped watching myself back and the tutor’s feedback was really constructive. This has changed how I present and communicate with my colleagues and new clients.”
With working at the same time as studying, Christine said the course was relevant and went hand in hand with what she was doing every day. She appreciated the support of the tutors and liked the interaction with other students. She said while you do have to be self-motivated to study online there are deadlines for everything which helps.
“eCampus NZ is easy to use, you have all the tools, access to tutors and the content is relevant and up to date. You can make it work no matter what you’re doing.”