For Shipping Gazette
December 18, 2002

School's Freight Students in Demand

Many training course have a drop-out rate, often caused by students changing their minds about their career choice or deciding that they have other priorities.

But students dropping out of the New Zealand Maritime School's shipping and freight forwarding programmes mostly have a different reason - they are being offered jobs before they have even complete their studies.

Dave Hope, the tutor running school's programmes in the shipping and freight forwarding area, says he is delighted that so many of them are getting good jobs, although his delight is tempered with a certain sense of frustration.

"For many of them it would be in their own interests to complete the course before joining the workforce," he said.

"Obviously with the sector growing and employers looking for people with an interest in the industry, it's natural that the students are keen to get started on their work careers.

"However, our experience is that often those who leave to take up positions find that after they have been working for a while they need to do some postgraduate study to advance their careers.

"Obviously they can't do that when they haven't completed their diploma first, so what we recommend is that students at least complete that."

He said that last year at least 10 students left to take up job offers. To accommodate that situation the school had started night classes so that the students concerned had the option of finishing their training on a part time basis.

The school runs New Zealand's only dedicated full time programme of study that specifically prepares students for the shipping and freight industries (the Diploma in Shipping and Freight).

Typical shore-based career options for graduating students are with importers, exporters, airfreight companies, freight forwarders, shipping companies, ship brokers, road transport operators, port agents, container companies and depots, and warehouse operators.

Choices within the diploma cover matters such as cargo stowage, importing and exporting terms, documentation, agency matters, transport law and computer skills.

Dave Hope says that the school is working hard to have these industries put a real value on the range of qualifications the school offers.

"Long term what the industry needs is people coming through who are properly and fully trained and who have the skills required to work across the wide variety of jobs that the freight sector offers.

"We're working with companies to help more students qualify through full time study and now have a range of sponsorships in place that allows students to complete their studies and then work with the employer in question.

"There's no doubt that properly trained people are vital to ensure the industry has safe work practices and is able to operate effectively and competitively.

"Freighting and shipping is an extremely vital and growing part of our economy and the industry needs to ensure that it offers good long-term career prospects for those who have the right qualifications.

"We can provide training that is as good as any in the world and exactly what the industry needs. But it is a challenge for us having students take up job offers, as it reduces our class numbers.

"I don't like to see students walking out the door when I know they still have lots to learn and will probably be back with us juggling their job and night time study.

"Of course those leaving have taken course places that could have been filled by someone else at the start of the year, who wanted to complete their study on a full time basis."