How do you move to a tech career in less than a year? This panel discussion looks at ways to retrain into tech, or get tech-job ready.
What's it all about?
With the future of work becoming more high-tech and digital each year, the ability to move with the times is vital. In this session, SIGNAL ICT Grad School shines a light on the skills and experiences needed to future proof your career.
Perfect for those considering making the move to a Tech career, whether a new graduate, or an experienced professional from any other discipline.
You can drop into this event at any time.
Thursday 23 May
9:30am - 9:55am
This event does not require registration.
View webcast Email OrganiserSpeakers
Kylie Jackson started with SIGNAL in May 2017, with an initial focus on the Operations and Engagement side of the SIGNAL Dunedin studio. Kylie was the Dunedin Techweek Coordinator for 2018, and along with a talented team of volunteers organised nearly fifty tech-focused events for audiences of all ages. Kylie is passionate about boosting the profile of NZ's tech sector, both by assisting people from any background to transition to a career in tech, and by assisting businesses and organisations looking to future-proof themselves with SIGNAL's professional development programmes.
"Tech roles exist today in nearly every sector imaginable. SIGNAL's visionary approach, combining the best tech training and development resources in the South Island with industry-focused, real-world learning, is definitely the way of the future. I love the opportunity to work with local industry to boost their current tech staff capabilities, and to find meaningful and rewarding industry placements for our Shift students. These things really set SIGNAL's offerings apart."
Jessica Wren
Jess completed her Bachelor of Health Science, endorsed in Medical Radiation Therapy at the University of Otago in 2007, and then moved to London where she joined the clinical team at the prestigious Harley St Medical Centre.
After four years, Jess moved away from clinical practice into a product specialist role with Vision RT, the market-leading company supplying surface guided radiation therapy equipment to medical practices. As part of both the clinical applications team and the sales team, Jess had the medical knowledge required to promote the equipment and to train staff on its use, but felt she wanted to go more deeply into the technical side of the products.
Jess says "I wanted to learn more about technology, especially programming, so I could use it as a problem-solving tool to enrich peoples' lives.
“Coming into SHIFT with no tech background, I never dreamed I would be working on real tech projects within just a few months of starting. These really extended my new tech skills, and during my internship with Datacom as a software development project coordinator, I worked closely with the programming team and the client, which was a huge responsibility and fantastic learning curve. Whilst I could probably have done some parts of this role before SHIFT, the tech knowledge I gained means I can now talk to the team about the technical side of the product, and understand the issues and solutions, whilst ensuring our clients' needs are met right throughout the development process.”
During SHIFT, Jess’s project work included developing a sports tracking widget showing the 3D movement of boats for Dunedin firm Igtimi (known for its part in America's Cup yacht tracking), and a way-finding map app for Otago Museum. Jess has now joined the Datacom Team in Dunedin in a permanent role and is loving it.
Julia Pye
Julia Pye graduated from the University of Auckland with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
Julia has worked in the food and beverage (mostly brewing) industry for over 20 years. She started out in engineering then gained experience in a variety of areas including packaging, brewing, product development, process optimisation and operations management.
Julia was the Brewery Manager at Speight's from 2012 to 2016, throughout the $40 million brewery redevelopment. She is very passionate about health and safety, and has experience in people management, strategic planning and continuous improvement.
Julia chose to study Shift because of a desire to pursue her interest in strategic planning and process optimisation from the perspective of utilising technology to achieve these goals.
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