After working as a casual staff member at a bank, Cara Hall’s interest in employment law led her to study for a Bachelor in Business Studies (Management) at EIT’s School of Business.

Cara, 24, grew up on a sheep farm outside Dannevirke, but completed her schooling as a boarder at Napier Girls’ High School. After a stint in the family farm’s woolsheds, she went to work at ANZ’s Hawke’s Bay branches. She worked as a service consultant for the bank for a number of years, but then decided to study further.

“I really wanted to learn more about employment law and just get a better understanding about employment law. I just thought that it would be quite beneficial for me to have a degree behind my name.”

“So I decided to go to casual at ANZ and study alongside working.”

In 2018, Cara enrolled in EIT’s Bachelor of Business Studies (Management) Degree programme on the Hawke’s Bay Campus in Taradale.

She says that although the schedule of studying full-time and working part-time was quite heavy, her employer was understanding.

“I was very lucky with ANZ because they were quite flexible for me to be able to achieve that goal and sustain a decent lifestyle while studying as well.”

However, halfway through her first year, Cara had a change of heart and decided to go to university to pursue a degree in business psychology.

“I struggled with the university environment and how it was quite impersonal compared to EIT. So I came back to EIT.”

Despite losing six months, Cara was able to catch up with her classmates by “picking up summer papers” and having the knowledge she gained while working at the bank credited towards  some papers that are based on industry experience.

Cara did her work placement at ANZ bank and says her project was to set up an internship scheme that has seen a number of EIT business students go through.

She has fond memories of her time at EIT and does not hesitate to recommend it.

“Everyone’s very approachable there. They’ve got an awesome team of teachers who are willing to help you out and it just makes the whole degree thing seem so more achievable.”

After graduating this year, Cara began the task of looking for a job. She started as a legal assistant at legal firm, Willis Legal, but in about May she received a call from food production company Kraft Heinz asking if she was still interested in a Human Resources Advisor position she had applied for earlier in the year.

She got the job in Tomoana and is loving it.

“It’s what I wanted to get into while studying. Not every day’s the same, so you never know what’s going to come your way on any day.”

Cara sees Kraft Heinz as a long-term career option because it is a global company with many opportunities.

Russell Booth, the Programme Coordinator of EIT’s Bachelor of Business Studies, says: “Cara deserves the success that has come her way with the role of HR Advisor at Kraft Heinz.  She was a very conscientious and diligent student – always willing to help others and so we feel the role encapsulates Cara and all her qualities and attributes”

Dealing with people during the week, one would think that Cara enjoys quiet weekends, but instead she is out there refereeing rugby matches!