The final part of SHIFT is the 200 hour industry placement, within some of New Zealand’s leading tech companies and each student showcased their experience at the Signal Studio last month.
Once again, the demand for SHIFT interns was high, and many students had multiple offers to choose from. Some of the outstanding projects the Signal team presented include Software Engineering, Data Analysis, API Development, Digital Marketing, Mobile Application Design, Project Management and more.
Besides settling into a new role and new place of work, during the placement the SHIFT interns jump into a brand new project, or even more challenging, a project well underway, and aim to gain valuable experience and deliver meaningful outcomes in just a few weeks.
We want to acknowledge the support of the many Dunedin businesses that presented offers of placements. It is this type of engagement that has assisted previous SHIFT graduates to move into employment.
As always, our students are placed across a broad range of tech companies:
Cameron and Ewa are at Best Practice Advocacy Centre (BPAC).
Georgie, Christena and Rory are all at biotech firm Winely.
Will is at AbacusBio with former SHIFT Graduate Martyn.
Martha is at Aurora Energy.
Tzu Chien is doing an internship in data analytics with MTF Finance.
Ian is working with Gallaway Cook Allan’s IT team.
Jiro has started with data analytics firm Cast Intelligence.
Thang has ventured to Auckland to complete his internship with Mentemia, the mental health app promoted by Sir John Kirwan.
Indu will commence her internship in 2021 after returning from maternity leave.
Within less than a year, this final cohort of Dunedin SHIFT students has worked hard and grown in confidence and knowledge in their chosen area of tech. The professional skills each has developed is astounding, and we are very proud to watch them now step confidently into the world of tech.
Next year Otago University will continue to run a SHIFT-like programme, albeit under a different name. If you are interested in speaking with tech students, offering studio projects or hosting a tech intern in 2021 please register your interest with julie.pearse@otago.ac.nz.
