Wintec Adult Ākonga Aces Accounting

Rebecca Hoani has always been good with numbers, but never thought she would have an accounting degree, that seemed far too scary.

But the 29-year-old mama of two has not only completed her degree at Wintec she is also now a practicing accountant.

Rebecca finished her Bachelor of Business majoring in Accounting in July this year, but it was Covid that pushed her into starting it.

“I was working full time prior to Covid, but when lockdown happened, I was home with my family, and I had time to think about what I wanted to do career wise, and I realised I wanted to get back into study.”

She was working in retail and had realised that wasn’t really what she wanted to do with her life.

Not knowing exactly where to begin her studies she thought studying Business Level 4 at Wintec would be a good way of getting a feel for what she might want to do.

“I had completed a Certificate in Level 4 Computing and a Certificate in Social Work before I started working in retail. Social work really wasn’t my cup of tea, so I dropped that and just worked and had children. I have two kids, one boy and one girl, a nine and eight-year-old.

“I was working at The Warehouse, and I didn’t want to stay there forever.”

When she first started at Wintec, Rebecca attended a workshop for all the Māori and Pacific students at the Wintec marae.

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“There were guest speakers and one of them was a wāhine Māori accountant who had studied with Wintec. She had just graduated and got a job in the industry. She spoke about what it was like and how there was a need for Māori accountants. She really inspired me to become an accountant. It always comes back to her talk for me, and I can’t even tell you her name, but I wouldn’t be where I am if I had not listened to her speak,” Rebecca said.

She completed her Level 4 and 5 Certificates in Business and went on to do her degree in accounting, which she finished semester 1 of this year, 2024.

“I never thought I would become an accountant because I always saw it as a white man’s world and not a viable career option that most Māori would consider.”

She now has a part-time job at a small accounting firm here in Hamilton, Top Line Accountants.

“It’s only a small office, there are six of us in total. I love it. I love the experience I’m getting, I love that it is very family oriented and flexible and that I finally get to use my degree in a role that it is intended for.”

In her new role, Rebecca started doing admin to get used to systems and policies.

“That was beneficial. Now I’ve started working on returns and other things for clients. I haven’t done face to face yet as I’m still learning, but I’m working my way up to it.

“I’ve done a few returns now and every single one has been different so I’m learning so much every day and I’m loving it. I’m happy that I get to help clients, it gives me a nice sense of purpose.

“I really love this company, they gave me a clothing allowance when I got the job, which I didn’t expect, but it was so helpful as a new grad to have some money to go and get work appropriate clothes.”

As part of her degree, Rebecca had to complete a work placement and she did hers at Inland Revenue.

“After my placement, Nima Riini – Wintec Centre for Business and Enterprise Industry Relationship Manager – reached out to me about the job going at Top Line Accountants. One of the partners here approached Nima asking if she knew of any new graduates coming through and so Nima put me forward and I went for the interview and here I am.”

Rebecca said she was originally nervous to juggle being a mama and study with work, but she had so much support from family and good time management skills.

“I’m good at making sure we all get what we need. As a parent, you’re already a good time manager, just being a mum helped prepare me for study and it then helped me get into this industry.”

She said other mums shouldn’t be afraid of studying as they were probably better equipped than those who weren’t parents.

Rebecca said she chose Wintec because she learnt better in a classroom environment where people share, and where they could learn from each other and where the lecturers and tutors were more hands-on.

“I felt so welcomed at Wintec. I would highly recommend Wintec. It’s practical and everyone is approachable. Wintec is a lovely place for adult learners, you can just slip back into study. I never felt like I stuck out because of my age.”

She said studying at Wintec not only helped her improve her future, but her family’s future too.

“I’m now able to provide for them. I also feel like I’ve inspired them too. A lot of my family are teachers and when they heard I was going into accounting they were all shocked because, even though they knew I was into numbers, they thought it sounded scary.”

Rebecca said her kids loved it when she was studying because at school drop offs she would say “‘okay, you need to go to school and so does mummy’ and they would be like, ‘mum, how was school?’ when I picked them up and now that I’m finished I can say I’m all qualified and working now and they are really happy for me and they tell their friends what I do proudly. It’s really nice”, she laughed.

About Wintec:

Wintec (Waikato Institute of Technology) is an institute of technology based in New Zealand's Waikato region. Wintec offers a wide range of degrees, diplomas and certificates. With a focus on practical, hands-on learning, Wintec is dedicated to equipping students with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in their chosen careers.

Wintec is currently part of Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, located in region 2 of the national network.

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