What's your job about?
I have started my secondment under Enterprise Services, working with Ross and Phyllida in the Workplace and Supporting Technology team. During my time here so far, I have worked on a business case focused on reviewing one of the IT equipment fleets and am just looking for my next project now.
My day-to-day includes a meeting with my team each day so we stay in the loop about things we have going on and it’s a good place for me to start and see if anyone needs a hand. I sit in on meetings just to gain a bit more exposure to the IT world since it is not something I studied. My previous project had me conducting an environmental scan of all the IR sites around the country to see what the emergency procedures are in the event of any power outages. After that, there were a lot of meetings with business leads to run them past some examples of what our business case might change for the business as a way of managing expectations. It was a great way to get my name out there among business leads. All this information provided background information for a PowerPoint presentation business case that my manager will present.
What's your background?
I grew up in Matamata and went to University in Hamilton, where I lived for 5 years before moving to Wellington to start this job in February 2022. I did the Tuputoa internship programme during my studies where I worked at a marketing agency which was great first exposure to the corporate world and really opened my mind to taking opportunities that present themselves. Graduating from University in the middle of a pandemic was a big challenge. There weren’t a lot of graduate jobs available and lots of organisations were retracting their grad offers. I applied for roughly 50 positions before getting a job at a power company doing customer service. GovTechTalent was the last grad programme I applied for, and I had very much settled into the idea that I probably wasn’t going to get any grad positions, so I am very lucky to be in this role. I’m staying very open-minded to my Mahi here as I don’t have a tech background but am willing to learn.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes. I am working in IT but I studied Strategic Management and Economics at a business school, so didn’t have an optimal background. Aspects of the internal facing business processes are things that my degree has given me background on, so have supplemented my role so far but it’s been more of a learning experience so far. IT skills would’ve been a ‘nice-to-have’ I’d say, but not a necessity.
It’s important to just have a willingness to learn. Find what skills you do have that can be useful – for me it was my business background and systems thinking orientation that has helped me network and collaborates for ultimately better customer experience – but again, not a necessity!
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing has probably been learning more about IT systems. Because this wasn’t my background, I’ve done a lot of listening to learn, and it’s been great to get more insight into the systems that drive business today. I’ve also had a lot of great networking opportunities so getting to put my name out there has been something I’ve enjoyed. The working-from-home flexibility is also great as it’s a cost-saver not having to come into the city every day.
What are the limitations of your job?
A background in IT/Microsoft systems would help a lot. Sometimes there is a bit of pressure to meet deadlines, so sometimes I’ve had to stay later than a typical finish time to get things done, which does not suit everyone. I haven’t had to, but my manager does put in work after hours and at the weekend to keep on top of Mahi.
The biggest limitation has probably been the pandemic/working-from-home flexibility as I haven’t met as many people in person as I would’ve liked. It’s hard to network when people can’t put a face to your name, although I do try my best with Teams.
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