Melissa Wenzlick

6.15 AM

I hop out of bed. With a cold engine, it takes a strong coffee and premium breakfast to fuel myself up. I shoot off to work and am greeted by friendly faces and welcoming smiles from my colleagues. The nature of my 1-year graduate programme is a bit different from others. I get the opportunity to spend six-week rotations amongst different departments of the business to get a nice overview of how everything operates. As I am currently in the sales and admin department, I start at 7:30, but this will change depending on where in the business I am placed for my six-week stints. For example, I will next be placed into Vehicle Deliveries while managing the pre-sale conditioning of vehicles. Later in the year, I’m positioned to work within finance and admin, parts, service plus have a brief placement out at the Morrinsville or Te Awamutu branch.

8.00 AM

I have started on the banking and finished any urgent tasks before my fellow receptionist arrives. I have been training her at this role for a few weeks and she works alongside me as customers start flowing through the door. I have also started training our newest recruit, who will become our new front desk supervisor/concierge. The rest of my morning consists of registering new cars with NZTA, taking phone calls, liaising with customers, admin assistance and plenty of problem solving. The wheels of the Hamilton branch are definitely spinning and my co-workers are buzzing around productively.

12.00 PM

Typically for lunch, I will bring in leftovers or something of the like. I try to sit with different people in the lunchroom each day as I love connecting with our staff members and hearing everyone’s stories. I try to save money where I can so I will only occasionally buy food when needed. A nice half-hour break refreshes my mind and allows the day to feel less of a constant race-track loop and more of a winding, adventurous road trip.

3.00 PM

Typically at some point, the deliveries team will ask me to come out on a drive. This is typically to drop off or pick up vehicles with re-conditioning work. These drives are a nice way to have a break from computer work and allow me to appreciate the awesome range of vehicles we have in stock.

5.00 PM

I finish off any tasks I need to complete urgently before pulling the handbrake on my workday. Typically, I’ll head to the gym straight after work, or take the dogs for a walk. Sometimes I will go with a couple of work-mates and we’ll do new workouts together while ensuring we have a good laugh along the way. On sunny evenings, a few of us from the office like to do our local hike up to the Hakarimata Summit. It’s great being able to spend a bit of time together outside of work to bond and socialise.

7.30 PM

Usually, I’ll start cooking dinner around this time, it’s never anything fancy, but I make sure there are plenty of leftovers to spare for the week ahead. Some nights I’ll treat myself to dinner out with friends at one of the many restaurants Hamilton has to offer.

9.00 PM

I’ll use the fleeting hours of the day to catch up on any chores or errands on such as washing, cleaning or looking after the flat’s pets. Before heading off to bed I’ll typically read a chapter of a good book or watch a couple of episodes of an entertaining show to wind down. I’ll catch some sleep at around 10:30pm to get enough rest before another busy workday.