EIT School of Business graduate Katie Reisima was set on studying chemistry after school, but a last-minute change of heart saw her pursue a Bachelor of Business Studies degree – a decision she does not regret.

The qualification – a double major in marketing and management – included an internship at Bayley’s Real Estate in Ahuriri, Napier at the end of her final year last year. She obviously made an impact because she now has a full-time job at Bayley’s as a marketing assistant.

“I was originally going to go to Massey University to do a chemistry course, and then I sort of changed last minute and did a business degree.”

A product of Central Hawke’s Bay College and with her parents living out the back of Waipukurau, Katie was keen to remain close to home.

“I decided on EIT because it was still close to home but gave me an opportunity to branch out without being thrown too much in the deep end. After all I am quite a home bird.”

Katie started her tertiary education in 2018 with the Diploma in Business Programme, but soon realised that she wanted to study for the full degree.

“The diploma has the same courses as the first year of the degree anyway, so it was quite easy to switch over to the degree, which I completed in 2020.”

“My internship at Bayley’s was quite hands-on and I really felt part of the team.”

As part of her degree programme internship, Katie had to work on projects.

“I did a Human Resources project and a marketing one. My marketing project was about creating a consistent theme on social media for the team to use.”

“The HR one was about identifying KPIs among the administration staff here. I made a value sheet and created KPIs for the team. And the sheet that I made has been handed out to all the staff this year in our last few meetings, which is pretty cool.”

The quality of that work led to Katie being offered a fulltime position of marketing assistant with Bayley’s, which she started in January this year.

The 21-year-old is grateful for the opportunities she has had at Bayley’s and sees herself going into management or even becoming an agent.

She also acknowledges the role EIT has played in her development and points to the small class sizes and the internship programme as being key features of her degree.

“One of the biggest benefits of the EIT Programme is that it gave us the opportunity to do an internship, because it gives you contacts in the industry and also prepares you for the workplace.”

James Macpherson, The Principal of Bayleys Gisborne Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa, and Katie’s direct manager, Becky McEwen, who is the Graphic Design & Marketing Manager for Bayleys Napier, said in a statement: “Katie Reisima undertook her internship with Bayleys Hawke’s Bay based in the Bayleys’ Ahuriri office, after which we were delighted to offer Katie a full-time job working alongside our Marketing Manager as a Marketing Assistant.”

“During Katie’s internship she delivered excellent projects which greatly helped us in areas we needed more research in order to analyse what would be required or what resources to be developed. This developed further in Katie’s marketing role with us where she provides social media guidelines for our agents, publication and pagination of all our property print advertising and helping our Marketing Manager communicate marketing updates.”

Russell Booth, the Programme Coordinator of EIT’s Bachelor of Business Studies, says: “Katie was an incredibly focussed student, determined to succeed right from day one of her studies!”

“I can see that in her job she has been quick to understand the needs of the business and the needs of individuals within the business.”