Willow Diedricks

Merchant 1948 is a New Zealand owned shoe company. As a key holder within this company, my role is to assist in maximising store performance through assistance with leading and motivating team members, creating meaningful connections with all customers through providing consistent and knowledgeable service, resulting in meeting all sales requirements. As a key holder, I have the ability and the responsibility to run shifts in the absence of managers. This included organising a small team, assisting team members with issues arising throughout the day, and opening and closing the store. The process of selling shoes is very personal and requires a lot of rapport building with customers, which has greatly developed my interpersonal skills.

As an exam assistant, I support students with literacy and numeracy at NCEA level 1,2, and 3, by writing and reading NCEA papers across several subjects for their final exams.

The job of a guest service attendant was to present relevant information for guests with positive and pleasant demeanour to enhance the guest's experience. This job required me to respond calmly and professionally to guest complaints, resolve issues promptly, and escalated to management when necessary. Daily tasks included use of a POS system as well as cash handling, stocking the store floor and replenishing food supplies when needed. The communication skills I acquired through dealings with people of all ages has proven a useful skill in all situations.

Throughout my high school career, I worked as a Crew Trainer at McDonalds. This job provided a solid foundation of customer service skills I have been able to use in various other jobs and situations. I learned food handling procedures and also worked as a barista through McCafe. As a Crew Trainer, I held the responsibility of training new staff in customer service, food safety, and performance requirements for all areas of operation. A key skill I gained from this role was the ability to deal with unexpected situations for the best outcome for both customer and the company.

For the 2020 NZ election I worked as an election officer preparing voting spaces, including the setup and organisation of equipment, such as ballots and registration sheets. This job was extremely procedure based and required great attention detail. Having a detail oriented mindset I was able to assist voters in carrying out the correct voting procedures, ensuring their vote counted.

As a student representative to the Board of Trustees. I attended monthly meetings and given a portfolio of student communication. I was the voice of the student body ensuring they were represented within school decision process and were informed of any changes. During the pandemic I was in charge of student outreach via social media and corresponded with senior leadership team of the school.