Ultimate Work Experience - April 2011

Secondary school students from all over New Zealand entered NZSkillsConnect’s latest Ultimate Work Experience competition held during March 2011. The students started by picking a tourism related subject. They had to describe its historical development, what it is like now, and its possible future. The prize was to spend a day working at New Zealand’s largest theme park.

The winning entries were submitted by year 13 students Pascal Bekhet (Carmel College) and Cibin Philip (Mt Roskill Grammar). Callee selected adventure tourism for her subject and Cibin chose aviation.

“It was a fun competition to enter” said Pascal. “I hope to work in tourism one day, and I have learnt some great tips from the senior management of Rainbow’s End that will really help.”

As well as experiencing the various rides and attractions at Rainbows End, the two winners spent time with Chris Deere (Chief Executive Officer), Ross Parton (Operations Manager), and Katharine Murray (Marketing Manager).

“I learnt why customer satisfaction is so important,” said Cibin. “I really enjoyed learning about the marketing aspects of the park too”.

In addition to the park’s senior managers, Pascal and Cibin spent time with the park’s attractions team. One of their daily tasks is to test each of the park's rides. Pascal and Cibin enjoyed helping with this task.

“It was a pleasure to host these two young people,” said Chris Deere. “They were both so enthusiastic.”

The visit included half an hour with Alan Walker, Rainbows End’s Theming Artist. Alan has the job of building and maintaining the park’s artwork and other unique features. 

A great deal of work has gone into improving Rainbows End over the last couple of years. Both Cibin and Pascal agree that the park is looking better than ever. There are also some exciting developments planned for the park for the near future, but those are secret. You will just have to visit Rainbows End to find out more yourself.

To see more photos from this competition, please visit our Facebook photos.

Click for more information about Rainbows End.