From retail clothing store assistant to working accountant

From retail clothing store assistant to working accountant

Renata’s decision to study for a business degree at home gets a result

Renata Himiona of Whangarei is proof that if you put in the hard yards you can go from having a part-time job in a retail store to a bright career in business.

The work Renata has put in over the past three years towards the Bachelor of Applied Management degree, which has ACA accreditation by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, has paid dividends with Renata securing employment at Sudbury’s Limited Chartered Accountants in Whangarei. She started work last Tuesday.

Before studying Applied Management at NorthTec, Renata used to work part-time as a retail assistant for the Glassons clothing store in Whangarei.

Renata said making the transition from working part-time to studying full-time had not been easy, but that the sacrifice had netted her the ultimate result where she will be starting on ‘reasonable’ money.

“It is quite a change going from working part-time to studying full-time. It can still be difficult getting by as a student, but if you take that leap of faith and apply yourself when studying you can become what you want to be. I’m glad I opted to study business at NorthTec.”

It was business tutors Anne Patrick and Lou van Es in particular, who helped Renata land the graduate position that she said was as a result of them helping to facilitate her appointment at Sudbury’s. This is one of the advantages of staying at home to study where she is not treated like just another number, she noted.

“Anne offered general advice to me and helped with my CV and interview techniques and Lou kindly offered to act as a referee,” explained Renata. I am definitely most appreciative of the advice I received from Anne and Lou. I hold their advice in high regard.”

Anne said it has been a privilege to watch Renata develop as a promising accounting student over the years and it is especially pleasing to see the hard work she has put in pay off by getting the job at Sudbury’s. She also congratulated the local accountancy firm on showing faith in NorthTec’s accounting programme which was encouraging for the future.

“I felt great as this was the only accountants I applied at,” said Renata. “I am really thrilled I go this job because Sudbury’s is quite different to any other accounting firm. They are modern, innovative and customer focused and look at ways to improve what they do all the time,” she said.

In the past Renata said she had taken her CV into Sudbury’s but without success. However, persistence had paid off with her this time round, having shown a commitment to completing the BAM degree and with the ACA accreditation attached to the degree helping. She will be returning to NorthTec in 2012 to finish off part-time the BAM degree whilst working, which is being supported by her new employer.

Renata said in her new job she will be working as a junior accountant and on annual accounts making sure they comply with tax rules, such as ensuring GST is paid on time.

What she will face at Sudbury’s will not be completely foreign to her. While at NorthTec, Renata was employed to do some fixed asset accounting projects for NorthTec Director of Corporate Services, Andy Britton.

Renata said being involved with an internal auditing project, writing an audit report summary and working on NorthTec’s fixed assets register in between studying was “something real” that was useful and gave her an opportunity to learn further.

“I have grown in confidence as a result of this experience. It may have helped as well with me being able to manage my own time, organisation and management skills.”

Mr Britton was highly complementary of the work Renata had put in for him and NorthTec. He commented that the attitude she displayed while working on the auditing and fixed asset projects would hold her in good stead for her accounting job and experiences to come in a dynamic business world.

ENDS

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