Working in New Zealand
3:17 PM
A description of any work day would not be complete
without describing the traffic. Auckland
is a rapidly growing city with not enough housing for the people who want to
live there. According to Wikipedia, the
population of Auckland
in 2016 was 1,495,000 and the
population density was 3,500 people/mi2,
which is a big difference compared to the 6 people/mi2 in my
hometown of Koeltztown, Missouri. With almost 600 times more people, I knew commuting
in Auckland was going to be intense. My host dad, who was also my supervisor, and I carpooled and had a
40-minute commute from home to work during the peak of rush hour traffic. When it wasn’t rush hour, the commute was 20
minutes. One benefit of the commute was the
opportunity to talk with my host-dad about whatever topics came to mind. I would forget about the crazy traffic when
we shared our interesting stories.
I worked for Chemical Solutions Ltd. (Kemsol for short.) Kemsol began in 1991 by Peter Vaughan who had
the desire to develop better products than what was currently available. Kemsol now offers a range of institutional and
industrial cleaners that are sold in New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific
Islands. Products include hand soaps,
floor cleaners, laundry powders, and air fresheners. I like the range of products that meet the Environmental
Choice New Zealand standard. The company is
100% NZ owned by its employee shareholders.
More information about the history of Kemsol can be found at the
following link: http://www.kemsol.co.nz/About/History
During my first two days at Kemsol, I had
difficulty with the Kiwi accent and names for objects. Sometimes, I enjoyed the sound of the accent
and would forget to focus on the task I was asked to do. After a few days, only occasionally did I
need clarification for what people said. My daily morning tasks as the lab technician
intern in Quality Control and Research & Development was to calibrate the
instruments. The remainder of the day involved anything from adjusting
production batches to product development.
I enjoyed all of it, every challenge and accomplishment I experienced including
the tedious microfiber (microfibre for my Kiwis) project. The work experience and new skills, such as instrument
calibration, broadened the scope of my résumé, which is always a benefit of any
internship because there is always more to learn.
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| Watching the Dye Disburse in a Sample Product |
The Kiwi work environment was more relaxed than the
American work environment. I am not saying
that Kiwi workers do not accomplish their tasks, but the pressure of work felt
less intense. There were times when I worked
on my projects while talking to a colleague about life at the same time. The stories I heard and the laughs we had
allowed me to learn more about my field and my coworkers. Since I was not the only person born outside
of New Zealand, I learned about other cultures thorough my coworkers. New Zealand has become home to many
immigrants in the last few years. One of
my favorite days at Kemsol was when a coworker noted at the lunch table that
everybody in the room was born in a different country: England, U.S., Malaysia,
and India. I also had co-workers from
South Africa, Philippines, Samoa, and Fiji (I hope I didn’t forget anyone!). Despite being a foreigner, I never felt like
an outsider at Kemsol.
Since the internship, I have more confidence in
my ability to problem solve and to be an effective chemist. My favorite part of the internship was
working alongside fabulous Kiwis who taught me about their role at Kemsol and
about their culture. Finally, I know the
type of company and environment in which I want to work. Overall, I would describe my internship as
wonderful.
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| Wearing mask to make laundry powder |
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