Trainer
Kaiwhakangungu/Kaiwhakaako
Jade Boixo
Trainer
- Employer: Kiwibank
- Age: 26
- Where's home: With flatmates and two kittens, close enough to Wellington's Cuba Street to smell the coffee!
What's the best part about training staff at the bank?
"Definitely the people aspect. I train people across the whole bank in lots of different areas – leadership, customer service and communication skills, and in using the bank's new products.
"The bit I'm passionate about is being able to really recognise someone's potential and help develop them, whatever subject they're learning about. When you see someone understand a difficult concept it can be a very powerful moment.
"But I also love the networking – meeting new people across the business. By the time the office Christmas party rolls around, you know everyone!"
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"I have found a career I am passionate about."
What would surprise people about your job?
"You become a bit of an agony aunt in some ways! People will come and have a wee moan about things that might be annoying them – work-related or not. As a trainer people tend to see you as someone who can offer advice across a range of areas."
What are your least favourite parts of the job?
"When you have to come in an hour early and get everything set up and ready to go before a workshop. And that's on top of printing 18 copies of a workbook and binding them all. That's the part that no one sees, and to me that's pretty mundane."
What's the best advice you've been given?
"Don’t ever stop reading about training. It’s so easy to find a training method that suits you and then stick with it, and never try anything new. There is so much research going on into how people learn, and how to get the most out of people - keep feeding your brain that stuff!"
What's the worst job you've ever done?
"Probably somewhere between pruning kiwifruit and collating a 10-page A3 newspaper for a small community, and having to fold it all and getting four hours' worth of paper cuts."
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Jade uses different training approaches with colleagues
Who inspires you?
"Work-wise, an educational psychologist called Rich Allen. He's a big, loud, bolshie American who talks about how to engage people and get them primed to learn.
"He's fantastic for anyone going into a training and development role, and I still constantly refer back to the stuff I have learned from him.
"And not forgetting some of my old high school teachers. There's an element of teaching in this job and looking back I respect them a lot more."Jade's tips on becoming a trainer
- Talk to people doing the job so you can decide if it’s the job you want to do.
- Shadow someone in the job – including everything they do behind the scenes.
- When you start out as a trainer find a mentor who can give you input and guidance as you go.
- Get feedback from people on how you're doing, even if you know your subject matter really well.
- If you work for an organisation, get to know how all parts of it work, so you can build your credibility.
Jade Boixo - Trainer
How Jade became a trainer
2002-2005Completed a BA in philosophy, politics and economics at University of Otago. “The degree was really interesting but I realised I had no interest in the work it led on to.”
2006-2008Worked as customer services representative in Kiwibank’s call centre, then as call centre trainer responsible for induction and ongoing training of staff.
2008-presentBecame a learning and performance facilitator, helping to train all new and existing staff at the bank.
2006-2010Completed Kiwibank Leadership Development programme and the National Certificate in Adult Education and Training (Level 5).
PresentVice-president of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Association for Training and Development NZATD.
Updated
May 2010
