When Candice-Lee Maree was looking for opportunities to study, work full-time and raise her family, she found the answer in SIT2LRN.
Through Southern Institute of Technology’s distance learning arm, Candice-Lee was able to complete her Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and is now – despite the extra challenges posed by COVID-19 lockdowns – working towards a Master of Applied Management.
Originally from South Africa, Candice-Lee moved to New Zealand six years ago, and now lives in Auckland with her husband and two children – nine-year-old Nathan and three-year-old Ava – their beagle and a rescue cat.
“We love travelling New Zealand, exploring new places, the beaches and food. I enjoy running, cooking and am a passionate collector of information, and as such love reading and studying.”
Her background is in human resource management, and she studied industrial relations in South Africa.
“I worked for trade unions in the United Kingdom and in human resources in South Africa and New Zealand, and I currently work as a Continuous Improvement Lead for Lion Breweries.
“I took a secondment in a continuous improvement role while working for Nestle and loved it. For me, it’s very much about people (organisations employ people not machines) and my passion for human behaviour and performance has been a great fit.”
Candice-Lee had studied through distance learning in South Africa through UNISA (University of South Africa) and had enjoyed it.
“When I moved to New Zealand, I was looking for an option to study, work full-time and raise a family and SIT2LRN was able to offer just that.
“I heard about it from a colleague at work who was doing a Diploma in Health and Safety and loving the course.
“I love the flexibility of the programmes, being able to take more or less credits during an intake, depending on how hectic my life is. I have had phenomenal support from SIT2LRN faculty staff during those busier times.
“I enjoy my interactions with fellow students, who often, like me, are juggling busy schedules and interesting careers.
“SIT2LRN has provided me with a great New Zealand context to management theories, which I use daily in my career.”
Being a student undertaking distance learning could be challenging at times, but the best way to overcome those challenges was to be organised and stay on top of the workload, she said.
“It’s a great option, I couldn’t recommend SIT2LRN enough. It has multiple course options, flexibility and affordability. The facilitators are all passionate about their fields, and willing to engage with students via multiple pathways.”
Candice-Lee now plans to finish her Master of Applied Management, focusing on New Zealand’s talent pipelines in single gender dominant industries.
“After that I may take a break before pursuing a doctorate.”