Former EIT | Te Pūkenga ākonga (student) Yannick Sheffield is an achiever, who sets goals for himself and then steadily goes about achieving them.

Originally from Germany, the 34-year-old undertook the Graduate Diploma in Business (Human Resources) at EIT | Te Pūkenga last year.

Yannick, who has lived in New Zealand for the past 18 years, including 8 years in Napier, says he felt very well supported throughout the course and highly recommends the programme to working professionals, especially if someone has an interest in HR.

Yannick, who has a particular interest in Human Resources within the IT industry, completed three papers, including Human Resource Management, Advanced Human Resource Management and Employment Relations.

According to Yannick, the programme offers flexibility to working professionals who want to pursue further studies, while working.

 “The course helped me out with adjusting timetables if I needed it, and there were classes available online, in case I missed any of them. EIT provided us with Microsoft and Microsoft Teams, and that was easy enough to use and connect to at any given time.”

Yannick, who initially started studying psychology and engineering, after completing his schooling in Palmerston North, quickly shifted focus to pursue a Bachelor of Information Technologies, which he completed in 2014.

Prior to studying the Graduate Diploma, he had accumulated a range of work-related IT experiences, both in New Zealand and the USA.

“After I finished off university, I worked for Black Sheep Design for a short period, before travelling to the USA for a year. I then came back to New Zealand at the end of 2015 and then ended up at Instra Corporation in Napier, which is a domain and hosting provider.”

While in his role as support administrator, at Instra Corporation, where he ran the support desk, Yannick says he felt the need improve his career prospects and therefore needed to further his qualifications.

“I needed a change of pace from my position at Instra Corporation, either a new job or a new career.”

By studying the Graduate Diploma Business (Human Resources) at EIT | Te Pūkenga, Yannick has managed to realign his career, which has created new and exciting opportunities for career progression.  

“I am now the Quality Assurance and Business Improvement Manager. I’m quite happy with that change”.

According to Yannick, the “class sizes were really manageable” which enabled him to raise any questions he had. He also had high praises for his lecturers.

Yannick is excited about his future and is already contemplating further study at EIT | Te Pūkenga at some stage.

“I am currently thinking of proceeding with a Master’s degree at EIT | Te Pūkenga. I have a new job, so I have to first of all work on that.”

EIT | Te Pūkenga Employment Relations Lecturer Conrad Schumacher says: “Yannick is exactly the student the Graduate Diploma in Business is targeting. People like Yannick who have extensive experience in a particular industry but wish to gain complementary skills and knowledge.”

“The best part is you do not have to complete the whole qualification! Yannick chose his courses around what he needed to know, and this has obviously resulted in a change of roles for him!”