Graduate enjoys national business role

Graduate enjoys national business role

Working for an international company, EIT business graduate Rachel Newland regularly meets Lady Gaga in her job.

That’s not the American singer, songwriter and actress mind, but a nine-metre long digital printing machine housed in EIT’s reprographics department – the first in Hawke’s Bay to produce bound booklets.

Naming the department’s equipment after celebrities, the reprographics team have worked with Elvis, Freddie Mercury, Beyonce, Madonna and other superstars.

Customer services delivery manager for Fuji Xerox New Zealand Ltd, Rachel says her company’s photocopiers are often given pet names – one of many aspects she likes about her customer-facing job.

Based in Auckland at Fuji Xerox’s New Zealand head office, Rachel averages three days of travel a week, ranging throughout New Zealand. That brings her onto campus every quarter to ensure EIT’s photocopying and printing equipment needs are being met.

Born and raised in Wairoa, Rachel joined Fuji Xerox after graduating with a Bachelor of Business Studies in 2011. Since then she has been promoted twice.

As a Wairoa College school leaver, she was attracted by EIT’s Year 13 degree scholarship and as “a home person” she was also keen to stay in Hawke’s Bay.

“I really struggled at the start with what I wanted to study,” the 27-year-old says of EIT’s range of degrees, but business studies quickly proved a good fit and she went on to major in marketing and management.

Rachel found the comparatively small class sizes, knowing her fellow students and the accessibility of lecturers all supported her learning and she feels her studies prepared her well for her first role at Fuji Xerox as assistant bids and tenders manager.

“A degree,” she says, “shows stickability, that you can follow something through and know how to write a report.”

What she most likes most about her career path is that it combines her two passions, people and technology.

“I love the team I work with, they make a huge difference in what I am doing. And of course our generation is all about technology.”

Flatting in Ponsonby and just a two-minute drive away from the buzz of head office, Rachel also enjoys getting out into provincial New Zealand.

Rather than hanker after OE, she prefers to travel overseas on holiday. Having been to Australia, she is now looking forward to a trip to Bali. Coupling that with two homes – the family home in Wairoa and her Auckland base – and a great job, Rachel agrees her life is very good indeed.

ENDS

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