Vanessa Regidor

Originally from the Philippines, Vanessa Regidor loved studying in Tauranga because of the lifestyle it offers and wants to stay indefinitely after securing her dream job in the city’s council organisation.

Vanessa moved to Tauranga in July 2017 to study engineering at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology. She completed the New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Civil) (Level 6) last year and started working at the Tauranga City Council as a Graduate Development Engineer in January.

She says the course helped her get her job and provided the foundation she needed to kick-start her career.  

“Most of what I’m doing is to review and evaluate building consent applications on geotechnical and other natural hazards, infrastructure development and compliance with required standards using judgement and best practice engineering.”

I had classes where I learnt those skills, so it was easy for me to step up at work because I had done it before.”

Vanessa says Tauranga was a great place to study and she plans to apply for residency because she’d like to make it her permanent home.

“I chose to study at Toi Ohomai because it had a campus in Tauranga. Tauranga is quite central and has really great beaches as well as lifestyle.

“I also got to meet two great mentors, who were my tutors in the course and whom I still have contact with to give me support and guidance in my career. I was really happy about that because I was an international student so it was great to have that support.”