Rajashekar Thota

Rajashekar Thota (Raj) came to New Zealand to focus on gaining managerial skills.

The 27 year old from Hyderabad, India, enrolled in NZMA's National Diploma in Business and also gained a part-time job as a Crew Member for Pizza Hut. Four years later and he's got an NZQA-approved business qualification under his belt and extensive experience working for Restaurant Brands. He's had a host of positions within the company including Shift Supervisor, Assistant Manager and now Restaurant Manager.

Here is his story...

"I came to New Zealand in April 2002. I already had a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Rural Industry and also a Diploma in Computer Hardware. I'd worked for a year at the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology and also for two years as a Customer Service Hardware Engineer for Comiga Communications.

"I heard New Zealand was a good place to learn about customer service and management so I decided to come here. My aim is to eventually become an IT Manager. I've come here to gain management qualifications and experience so that when I go back to India I will have a huge advantage as far as getting a good job as an IT Manager."

Dedicated and ambitious, Raj set about achieving his goal as soon as he arrived in Auckland. He enrolled in NZMA's National Diploma in Business Level 5 and also gained a part-time job at Pizza Hut.

"I really enjoyed my NZMA course. It's different from the courses back home. All the tutors were really friendly and I learnt a lot of things. My classmates were good specially my Island friends. I really enjoyed my time with them. I respect their cultures and they respect mine. It's a very multi-cultural environment at NZMA. I had classmates from the Philippines, Samoa, South Africa...it was great."

Raj was keen to work throughout his studies but initially this proved more difficult than anticipated.

"When I first got here I tried to get a part-time computer job because that's what I had experience in. However I needed to be able to work full-time not part-time to get a job in that so after two or three months I gave up. Then I changed my mind and decided I should work in a job related to my NZMA course and build on my career.

"My neighbour was a manager at Pizza Hut and he used to tell me about the company. It sounded like a good team environment with lots of potential to move up."

And move up he has. Raj started working as a part-time Crew Member at the Grey Lynn outlet but after a year he was promoted to Shift Supervisor and began management-level training with the company. After graduating from NZMA in April 2004 he became full-time and was promoted to Assistant Manager. He is now the Restaurant Manager.

Pizza Hut is obviously impressed with his performance. Not only has he had numerous promotions, but he has also won the Best Customer Service Award several times. This award is presented as a result of visits from mystery shoppers.

For Raj combining business studies with relevant work has proved to be a winning combination and one he recommends to those contemplating study.

"I always suggest to people starting their Business Diploma that they should try and get a part-time job in the business field and work throughout their studies. That way it will be much easier for them to gain a good job when they finish their course. This is especially important for international students. If you work for a year part-time and if the company is pleased with your performance then they may sponsor you for a visa. Don't chop and change jobs take the time to find the right job, stick with it part-time throughout your studies and then go full-time. If international students don't do that it can become very hard to get a job after graduating."

Raj is now well on the way to achieving everything he came Down Under for and in a few more years he plans to head back to India, ready to take the IT world by storm.

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