Meet Libby - Business Analyst

What kind of work do you do at NZTE?

I’m a Digital Analyst, and I work in an Agile team with developers, designers, and product owners. My work focuses on systems that need to be automated - these need to be turned into a concept for developers to build it. I research this concept and develop it for the designers to build. 

What does your average working day look like?

There is no such thing as a typical day! But we always have a standup first thing. This is to make sure everyone is on the same page and select tasks to do for the day. Sometimes this is researching requirements or formulating/writing the requirements to communicate them, sometimes testing and bug fixes. I also need to attend meetings. Other than that I’ll be getting on Miro and creating the flow of a user, going through the process, and capturing everything. 

What do you enjoy the most about working for NZTE?

I enjoy the teams the most. It’s a work hard, play hard environment - we work hard then do lots of team activities like playing pool, or going to Wellington On A Plate events. It’s a really good balance. It’s a really supportive environment. If there was a mistake in a project, there’s a lot of support that comes in and discussions about what we can do next time to make that work. 

The culture is astounding - the managers in your team genuinely want to help you and make things work. The people are incredible, I don’t know how they’re able to always keep this culture but I can’t believe my first job is here!

What was the transition from intern to permanent employee like? 

Transitioning from an intern to a permanent employee has been seamless. The work has gradually increased over time because I am familiar with the work and how things work, so I am given more projects and responsibilities. When you become fixed-term, you become a really solid part of the team and float around less. You have direct connections to go to when you need support.

Meet Marta - Full Stack Developer

Marta is a Full Stack Developer at New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). Marta was a Summer of Tech Intern at NZTE in 2020 - 2021, and transitioned to a permanent position in Feb 2021. 

What kind of work do you do at NZTE?

At the beginning of my internship I was working in the front end, now I am transitioning into the back end to live up to my job title - Full Stack Developer. 

Our squads are working on the self-serve platform for NZTE called MyNZTE. A portal for potential exporting customers and investing customers to get some information for the exporting journey. We are providing the resources and assessments they might need to navigate through their journey. In terms of the technology, our operating language is Javascript. React Redux frontend, back end NoteJS also using a graph database.

What does your average working day look like?

We work in cadences/sprint squads. In two week rhythms we will work to complete a pre-agreed set of tasks, and check in throughout the sprint. 

Our team is divided into three squads. Each day we start with a standup meeting, plan for the day ahead, discuss anything blocking the way, and what support we might need from the team. 

Part of my work also includes talking to stakeholders and catching them up on our process - there’s a lot of communication. 

While the rhythm of my day is consistent, the tasks are diverse.

What do you enjoy the most about working for NZTE?

The 100% support from everyone. As an organisation, they are aware of and keen to mentor people to support their growth. They didn’t throw me into the deep end but gave me more challenging tasks incrementally. This allowed me to improve myself as a team member and I was treated like a permanent team member from the beginning. 

I’m quite lucky to be in an awesome team - I love how we work together, communicate, bond, and tackle problems - the weight of a deadline weighs on us as a team. It’s a beautiful feeling to have and gives me the confidence as a developer to keep on growing. It helps us to overcome the feeling of imposter syndrome. Obviously, the work is fun, too - we have diverse tasks and no day is the same. I haven’t had a repeat day yet. There’s so much work to do - it’s a thriving work environment. 

What was the transition from intern to permanent employee like? 

It was a progression of tasks and responsibilities - in the beginning, they gave me small and easy tasks to do. When I wanted to facilitate a meeting or run something that I haven’t before just to try it out, that was always possible. Naturally, I would get to know more parts of the business. We learned who to talk to if we wanted to know more about a certain area. The longer you stay at a company, the more you figure out when to call out to those teams and what you need. I feel I have a growing knowledge base.