The Star: November 30, 2017

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22 Thursday November 30 2017 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi The Star 4352 New Full-time Tech Jobs Created in NZ in the last year *2017 TIN Report Tech is New Zealand’s third-largest export sector and is growing fast with over 9000 new jobs expected to be created over the next two years*. To fuel this growth, NZ needs more people with a grounding in tech to meet the rapid expansion within this exciting and varied area, which crosses into many industries. SIGNAL ICT Grad School develops tech professionals to meet that growth via SHIFT, enabling more people to enter this dynamic and diverse sector. The SHIFT Programme SHIFT is an innovative industry-driven programme for those who are seeking a new career path who may not have a tech background. Open to degree-holders in any discipline, learners in the current cohorts have various backgrounds, from philosophy, sociology and marketing to graphic design, engineering and science. Available in both Christchurch and Dunedin, this one year programme offers relevant and current content to ensure you are well equipped to work within the tech area, where the skills you have learnt in previous work and study are highly valued. Partnering With Industry SHIFT uses immersive studio-based learning and real-world industry experience to produce graduates with a solid base of core computing skills, as well as communication and employability skills required in today’s collaborative workplaces. The current Christchurch cohort, which started in July, have just finished two collaborative studio projects; making an app to track native planting in New Zealand and coding a small computer to create a personal bus schedule monitor. These projects are tailored to complement their preferred specialist tech area and enhance their employability. Opportunities With tech roles existing in nearly every area from aviation to zoology, career possibilities are extensive. Through the SHIFT programme, learners can focus on software design and development, or allied roles, such as business analyst, web designer, project manager, user experience designer, technical writer, sales and client support . . . and the list goes on. SIGNAL’s SHIFT Programme transitions graduates from any discipline into tech. Many new and mature graduates are considering tech as a viable and lucrative career option and this is increasing as the range of roles within tech becomes more widely known. Diversity is welcomed; in the current Christchurch cohort, 80 percent are women, and two learners in the SHIFT programme have young families. SHIFT is also well suited to new graduates who may be looking for that X factor to boost their employability. The tech sector can potentially offer flexible hours and work locations – making this an exciting and viable option for those with families. Situated at 181 High Street, SIGNAL Christchurch is in the heart of the growing Innovation Precinct. *NZ Tech Digital Skills Survey 2017 The next SHIFT intake commences in February 2018 and scholarships are available. Call SIGNAL today on 0800 990024 and start your shift into NZ’s fastest-growing sector. SHIFT to a Career inTech FIND OUT MORE! Tech Careers Lunch Dec 5, 12:30-1:30pm Register at bit.ly/SIGNALLunch or call 0800 990 024 Tech jobs exist in every industry, from aviation to zoology. Combine ANY DEGREE with the innovative SHIFT Programme and kickstart your new career today. ISAAC’S STORY: With a Masters in Geology and 10 years experience working in the mining industry, Isaac re-assessed his career goals, wanting a career that was more flexible and portable. ‘I saw the SHIFT programme as an exciting opportunity to add specific tech skills to my knowledge base, so I can translate those skills into a new career.’ For his industry project, Isaac is working with Stantec NZ to represent aerial drone footage. ‘The school-friendly course hours have allowed me to carry on with my before and after school duties, and this has really helped my family and my career training.’ FELICIA’S STORY: Felicia has a computer engineering degree from the Philippines where she worked as an Air Traffic Controller for 12 years before coming to New Zealand. ‘SHIFT will enable and empower me to reignite my programming skills to eventually help me become work-ready. I am invested to take as much knowledge and practical skills from this course and apply them in more meaningful ways.’ She has really enjoyed the studio projects so far and is looking forward to working with industry early next year. Level 1 181 High St, Christchurch P: 0800 990 024 E: info@signal.ac.nz signal.ac.nz/shift SIGNAL is powered by: SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE for February 2018. APPLY NOW!
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday November 30 2017 23 Our People Constable Ben Rutherford, 27, has become a well-known figure on the Canterbury Police Facebook page. He spoke to Bridget Rutherford about breaking down the barrier between police and the public through humour You first appeared on the police Facebook page when you made a young boy’s day by delivering him a photo. Can you tell me the story behind that? I was on an operation based out of Hanmer. I just took a photo of the sun rising near Culverden and sent it to the media team in Wellington and asked if we could post it on Facebook encouraging people to drive safely on State Highway 7. Then I got a phone call from the media team saying they had heard from someone who said her young son really liked the photo and wanted a copy. I got in touch with her and she said her son wanted to be a police officer, so I printed the photo and got it framed and dropped it off the next week. He was blown away, I showed him all the switches and dials in the police car and he wanted to know what I did and how long I’ve been in the police. I can remember being that age and knowing I wanted to be a policeman but I didn’t know anyone who was a cop, and finding somebody who was and wanting to ask all these questions. What’s your job? I’m on a specialist traffic group and we do a lot of road safety, attending crashes, speed enforcement all that sort of stuff. But we go to frontline jobs as well. We’re district-wide and we get taskings. So if we got complaints about people going too fast outside schools, we will go and sit the police car outside the school at 8.15am, and it’s amazing the affect that has on people. How long have you been in the police and what made you want to join? Four-and-a-half years. I couldn’t do a desk job, I’m just far too hyperactive. I like being outside and meeting people. I didn’t want to do a desk job that required a degree, although I did go to university before I joined the police. I just wanted to be out there doing it, plus I really like having a positive influence on people. People who are continuously offending, there’s got to be a reason why they’re doing that. So I like talking to them and finding out why and trying to help them. What did you study at uni? I went to Lincoln and did sport and recreation management. I’m originally from Tauranga, but I got a hockey scholarship to Lincoln. I tried to join the police straight out of school but I’d just had a knee operation and they said you’re young and you need time for your leg to get back to normal strength. So they said go get some life experience and come back. Did you come straight to Christchurch when you graduated? No, I went to Counties Manukau in South Auckland on general duties for two years. It was good, I was thrown in the Ben Rutherford Constable’s road to social media celebrity PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER deep end. The training is really good, how you get trained at college is actually what you deal with on the street. My wife Sarah and I were doing long distance then we got engaged and we had to make the decision where we were going to live our lives. She’s from Christchurch and I’d studied here so I transferred back and went to Ashburton for about eight months, then came up here. Do you play a lot of hockey in your spare time? Yes, it just consumes the winter. I try and keep fit and our garden at home is pretty high maintenance so I spend a lot of time in the garden. Who do you play for? Southern United. Have you played rep hockey? •Turn to page 24 aDVERTORIaL Glass creations now being made in bright new premises Whichever way you can imagine glass being used creatively in your home, AJ Creative Glass can make it happen. From splash-backs in your kitchen to kitchen bench tops, showers, bath surrounds, mirrors and fire hearths or walls – in plain colours to harmonise with your décor, or with any design you would like – the creative team at AJ Creative Glass, have the skills and experience to produce stunning and unique results. Now in its eighth year, the family-run AJ Creative Glass, now also known as AS Design, is owned and operated by Andrew and Alona Skelton. Their company is made up of family, all experienced in their own areas – painter Jay, installer Nate, sandblaster Josh, and Trina front line in the office/ showroom, and all trained in other areas as well. For the team, it is more fun than work, and all say they love seeing the end results, along with the clients’ reactions. Six weeks ago, the business shifted from Fitzgerald Avenue to 413 Tuam Street, (on the corner of Saxon St) where many of their glass works are displayed in a ‘real life’ setting in the new showroom that has been set up like a home. You can browse round the showroom and get ideas, and at the same time, watch the glass and work being crafted in the workshop. “The possibilities for incorporating glass into the home are endless,” Alona says. “Clients can have imagery such as photos put on to the glass. This is printed on, so it’s permanent. Or they can come up with any design they desire, and we will produce it for them. For painted glass we use Resene paints, which are mixed by Resene in the client’s choice of colour. AJ Creative Glass and Resene both give a 10-year warranty on their products. “Clients have control of their design from start to finish,” Alona says, “and we encourage that as it is their home they should love what they live with.” The glass items can be shipped anywhere across New Zealand, with the company also having facilities in Auckland for measure and installation. “We are now looking at more avenues for using glass in the home. For example, we are upcycling furniture by adding painted and sandblasted glass to items and bringing them back to life.” To see many of the ways glass can be used creatively, call into their new showroom at 413 Tuam St, with plenty of off-street parking, phone 338 3733. Check out their website, www.ajcreativeglass.co.nz or ‘like’ them on Facebook. Every now and then you can also catch the AJ Creative team at the Christchurch Home Show where they display samples of their glass creations. 413 Tuam Street, ph: 338 3733 www.ajcreativeglass.co.nz
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