Hi, I’m Andy. I have just finished my first official week at our new Xero Hawke’s Bay office. For those unfamiliar to the Hawke’s Bay, it is a region of New Zealand on the east coast of the North Island. It’s known for its sunny climate, beaches, pip fruit and vineyards.
Funnily enough, my first unofficial job for Xero was helping Rod’s son to ride a bike at Waimarama Beach about 8 years ago. He nailed it by the way. It was then very cool to see Rod again at the interviews interacting and meeting people. Amazing to know the CEO takes such an interest in people keen on joining Xero.
Born and bred Hawke’s Bay
So as you might guess, I’m a Hawke’s Bay lad. Born and bred. I went to Lindisfarne College and spent my summers working on cropping, sheep and beef farms. That’s when I caught the entrepreneurship bug. My jobs weren’t fun or well paid. I decided to be an avocado tycoon, selling my grandparent’s avocados door-to-door, business-to-business and then through retailers.
It was then time to make my pilgrimage to Otago University to study a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Accounting. Once I had graduated, I worked to make enough money to go travelling for 6 months throughout both SE Asia and Europe in a van with nine of my friends from Hawke’s Bay. After returning with an account balance of zero, I heard Xero was planning to open a Hawke’s Bay office. Xero has such a great reputation, so this along with my qualification from Otago I thought joining the team would be an amazing opportunity.
Becoming a Xero
I enjoy helping people and solving problems so when I saw some cool roles advertised in their Customer Experience team I jumped at the chance. I was invited to a three hour assessment centre. There I took part in interviews, group sessions and a written tests. I also got to meet some amazing Xeros who all clearly all had a huge passion for the company.
A week before Christmas they offered me the role. Christmas came early! On my first day I discovered I was officially the first Xero signed to the Hawke’s Bay team. That earned me a nice bottle of wine.
The first week at Xero has been awesome. It’s very cool to be a part of Xero’s first move into the region and everyone has made the transition into this company seamless and enjoyable. It’s amazing that I, and lots of others, don’t need to travel to Auckland or Wellington to build a career and be part of an exciting global company. I can live in the Hawke’s Bay, close to family, friends, and avocados while being part of a large, inspiring, and hyper growth company.
For our local Hawke’s Bay partners, we can’t wait to show you our new offices. In fact, we can’t wait to see them ourselves. I think they will be ready in May, but like many things in Xero, we move incredibly quickly. We have a strong team in a temporary space through our friends at the Hawke’s Bay Business Hub and NZ Technology Group. The Hawke’s Bay team and I look forward to working with our partners and customers from across the world in the future. We know how important our customers are, and we will continue the amazing customer service Xero is known for.
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