What's your job about?
Rothbury is an insurance broking company servicing domestic, commercial, specialty, and motor vehicle insurance across New Zealand.
As a part of the service desk team my role is to provide internal IT support. I am the first point of contact for all employees who need help. These requests come through as jobs in a queue, which we assign to ourselves to attempt to solve. Most jobs can be solved within a day, but sometimes it requires a bit more investigation and we will turn it into a kind of mini project. These often involve working directly with users to understand the deeper issue, co-ordinating with service providers to delve into a wider level of knowledge, and brainstorming with team members to test adequate solutions.
What's your background?
I lived in Whangarei my whole life before I moved to Auckland for university. During high school I was actively involved in community groups such as Scouts and the Whangarei Theatre Company. I achieved my Queens Scout Award in 2019, the highest youth award in the Scouting movement. I always loved being a part of a team, being able to bounce ideas off each other, and getting hands on.
I attended Tikipunga High School. This was a very small school but provided great opportunities. Non-mainstream subjects had small attendance rates, which made it easy to path your own way into learning the things that you want to learn, in the way that suits you. Taking digital technologies in high school founded my love for computers, mucking around in the computer lab with my mates, learning things as we go. From that point I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to do after high school.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
For sure. We are a diverse team with all different backgrounds and skill sets is what makes us great. Problem-solving wouldn’t work if everyone’s minds worked in the same way! It’s great to hear ideas and questions that really make you think, and these often come from working with people with different experience.
Communication skills are key. The job requires you to talk to and assist people, often breaking down complex IT into simple terms. This is sometimes difficult, but patience and friendliness help you deliver.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love taking ownership of a job, working hard, seeing it to completion, and being rewarded with the feeling of self-satisfaction. I love the light-bulb moments of realising that I know something, often connecting the real-life experience to a theory learned at university.
What are the limitations of your job?
It can be very draining sometimes. There is no consistency to workload, which means some weeks will be chill, you are able to catch up on your background work, then you’re hit with an insane amount of work that will last for an unknown amount of time. For some reason everyone decides to have IT problems all at the same time! You can get home and have no energy to do your own things, but you just have to remember to take it easy, not stress or burn yourself out, stay positive, and remember that your team is there to support you and that we always get through the slumps.
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