Rachel Nowicki

Out-of-the-box problem-solving skills Rachel developed studying History laid the groundwork for several career leaps in the tech industry.

I always knew I wanted to go to university and I had loved history at school and wanted to continue to expand on my knowledge. Although understanding historical facts and events still has relevance in day-to-day life, you learn so much more than just that. You may be asked to evaluate a historical event but then you must determine your own thoughts about it. My learning has had positive impacts on my work and even personal life.

For me there are two standout skills that I take with me everywhere and are important to my work: the ability to think outside the box and to create new solutions for existing problems. In all my roles, flexibility and the ability to innovate are critical. This may mean challenging decisions made previously and seeking new opportunities.

While I was studying I worked part time with BNZ, first as a collections customer service associate before moving into project management. This then led me to becoming a full-time team leader and when I finished my studies, I moved to Xero, an accounting software company, as customer experience team leader. While in this role, I was fortunate enough to win the national contact centre team leader of the year award, organised through the Contact Centre Institute of New Zealand. We had to present both a written application and an hour presentation to the judges demonstrating evidence of people skills, the ability to envisage and present plans I had for the team, key relationships, and system improvements. Being able to motivate others, analyse data, and find solutions in a fast, tech-savvy environment has really helped me reach my goals.

A lot of people might be surprised to hear I have a career in tech. I’m currently working for Trade Me as a development manager and prior to joining Trade Me I was global billing manager for Xero. I led a global team of billing specialists managing customer subscription accounts, invoicing, and payment. The team resolved queries while educating and building strong relationships with customers. Since my role at Xero I have continued to work in the tech industry, joining a couple of start-ups as one of their first 50 employees and helping recruit and develop their growing customer teams. Now I lead a team of software developers and testers in the engineering team at Trade Me who are responsible for building out the app Kiwis love to use. My focus is on culture and people development, ensuring our team have all the tools and resources they need to not only do their roles day to day but grow at the company.