“UW PACE helped me hone my knowledge and push me in the right direction,” says Chris Hughes, who earned his Network Security Diploma from UWinnipeg PACE in 2021. “Though I knew I a lot coming in, I also learned a lot, because of that, I was able to land my dream job.”

Over the course of the 16-month program, Chris and his entire cohort, completed their program entirely online during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Doing online classes, we never actually had any hands-on training, doing the internship gave me the hands-on experience I needed. My time at Bit Space Development was excellent. They helped me achieve the goals I set.”

Chris, who is the IT Manager at BitSpace Development, an interactive digital media company that specializes in creating augmented reality and virtual reality training, completed an internship with the company to round out his program. He was offered the position of Network Administrator after completing the 4-week internship, before moving into this current role.

As IT Manager, Chris oversees the creation and monitoring of network infrastructures, on-premises and cloud-based servers within the company, as well as client-based servers, along with managing what he calls “a small but mighty IT team along with interns from many institutes.”

“I came into PACE with vast technical knowledge, so the management courses helped me prepare the most for my position as an IT manager,” says Chris, who had earned his CompTIA A+ certification in 2015 on his own and spent the last 15 years working in the customer service industry before studying at PACE. “I believed they were unnecessary; however, they proved to be equally important as the program's technical courses.”

Chris’ advice to others taking a program at pace is this: “It may seem difficult in the beginning. Stick it through and manage your time wisely!”

“[The program at] PACE is a very fast program; you need to manage time wisely otherwise you’ll fall behind.”