Norie Yagi

Originally from Toyohashi, Nori Yagi first ventured to New Zealand in 1999 after a glowing recommendation from her sister who had honeymooned here. “I had a one-year working holiday visa and studied English for two months, worked in a Japanese restaurant and did lots of traveling”. She was so impressed with the country that she vowed to return permanently. “Japan is very stressful, you work very hard. The Kiwi lifestyle is very free. I love it here. I want to buy a house in New Zealand and stay forever.”

After a short stint back in Japan, Norie returned to New Zealand in October 2000 and has been here happily ever since. After 18 months traveling and studying English she decided it was time to further her career prospects. “In Japan I worked at the Toyota Company for seven years doing administration, accounting and general office work. However I didn’t really have any computer skills so I decided to study business in New Zealand to improve my computer knowledge and also my English.”

A Japanese agent recommended New Zealand Management Academies (NZMA), an Auckland-based provider which offers certificates and diplomas in business, hospitality and call centre operations. In January Norie completed her National Certificate in Business Administration and Computing Level 3. She says the 20-week programme gave her a good grounding in computing and inspired her to go further.

“At first it was quite hard because I didn’t know anything about computers but my classmates and tutors helped me a lot.”

Norie has now staircased onto the one year National Diploma in Business Level 5, loving every minute of it. “The course is very good. The tutors are great – if I can’t understand something they will teach it to me again. Most of my classmates are native English speakers so they help me a lot. I think my English has improved a great deal since I came to NZMA.”

Norie will graduate in December and although she hasn’t decided what she’ll do beyond that, she is positive about her future here. “At this point I’m still deciding what kind of job I want to pursue – I think I need to try a few different things. One option I’m considering is staying on at NZMA and gaining my Diploma in Hospitality Management Level 5. If I have diplomas in hospitality and business, I think my future job prospects in New Zealand will be excellent.”