Travels in Northland
ITC’s Account Manager Ceri Jenkins travels north for the CATE Northland Roadshow
ITC has been attending the Careers and Transition Education Association’s (CATE) Northland Roadshow for many years. The purpose of the week-long event is to talk to as many high school students in the Far North as possible about the career opportunities available to them. A whole range of providers attend the week, including many private training establishments, the main universities and polytechnics, the armed forces and many Industry Training Organisations. This is a great chance for ITC to put a face to our name and really get across to students what a fantastic range of careers are available in this industry that we love.
The week started for me with a bleary-eyed drive at 4.30am on Monday, so I could make it to Kaitaia College for an 8.30am start. Kaitaia is the largest school in the area, with a number of students considering moving out of the area to further their career opportunities.
It was great to be able to engage with such a motivated group of students, but I did receive an unwelcome gift from a flock of seagulls while at the school! While standing outside a classroom waiting my turn for a presentation, the birds decided to use me for target practice, and some of them were very accurate indeed – the students, of course, thought it was hilarious.
We then drove to Taipa Bay for the night; and I took a slight detour so I could sneak in a surf at Ahipara’s Shipwreck Bay. The surf was great and I was even joined by a pod of dolphins.
The next morning we set up our displays at Taipa Area school and then moved onto Whangaroa College.
The influx of students and their parents moving into the Northland region for the lifestyle has certainly had a positive impact on students’ career outlooks. The students from out of the area are not put off by travelling to Auckland to study and have a whole range of career goals and ideas. This has also had a noticeably positive impact on students who have always lived in the area.
After Whangaroa, we moved into our accommodation in Paihia – our base for the rest of the week. That night we found ourselves in Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack, where they were offering two plates of ribs for the price of one. Four of us decided we could handle two plates each. To say I was full that night was an understatement. The following night I had the vegetarian pizza, as meat was certainly off the menu for the time being!
Wednesday was a fantastic day at KeriKeri High School. The vast majority of students at this school have very focused career goals and have no fears at all about moving out of area to further their studies. The week finished very positively with visits to Okaihau and Northland Colleges on the Thursday and Bay Of Islands College on the Friday.
The level of interest in travel and tourism was really encouraging, and the students were amazed at the range of opportunities studying at ITC could offer. There is still sometimes a perception that this industry offers limited career choices, so it was rewarding to be able tell students about the huge range of options in the hospitality, airline, travel and tourism industries in New Zealand and overseas.
All in all another very successful Northland Roadshow. And, as always, all of the providers shared many laughs (and some great meals!) throughout the week. We certainly look forward to welcoming students from the Far North to
