Career story
Assistant site manager
Robert Humphries
Why he likes his job
"What I like is the challenge of the job and the variety of people I work with."
Career Highlights
"Coming second in the Young Horticulturist of the Year Competition and working in Italy on a joint NZ/Italian kiwifruit orchard."
Qualifications
Diploma in Horticulture.
Income range
Starting salary: $35,000 to $60,000, depending on experience and the size of company operations.
Pathway
College: Southland. Year 13 subjects - Chemistry, Technical Drawing, Statistics, Calculus, Agriculture and Horticulture.
Robert Humphries always knew he wanted to work with plants but it wasn't until he shifted from his home in Southland to Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin that he developed a passion for hairy green fruit.
"I stumbled onto the kiwifruit industry, got hooked and decided to pursue it as a career," he says. Now in his role as an assistant site manager he works for Seeka Kiwifruit, a Bay of Plenty company that packs and stores kiwifruit for sale to local and overseas markets.
The packhouse operates six months of the year. "We're operating three grading machines here and about 23 coolstores," Robert says. "The main kiwifruit season starts in early April and finishes by mid-June. Last year we employed 600 to 700 employees over a 24-hour period.
"During the season I can be doing anything from spreadsheets for budgets and organising our packing schedules, through to chasing up contractors and ensuring we have enough staff on-site.
"The biggest part of my job in the last three years has been problem solving. I've been the 'go-to guy' to fix anything - from the fruit quality not being good enough through to the machinery not working. If I can't fix it then I need to find someone who can."
Robert started work as a trainee orchard manager and rapidly moved into other roles. At the tender age of 23 he took on a new challenge.
"I did the post-harvest and packing season in one of the sheds and was asked to install a new computer labelling system for all packaging. I quickly learned how big post-harvest time was in the kiwifruit industry. It was very rewarding in that I achieved a lot of things that I never thought I could."
Robert has also worked for four months in Italy, helping to pack a green kiwifruit crop for a New Zealand / Italy joint venture.
How Robert became an assistant site manager
- Studied fruit production and nursery horticulture at Otago Polytechnic.
- Became fascinated by kiwifruit and qualified with a Diploma of Horticulture.
- Moved to the Bay of Plenty to work with kiwifruit as a trainee orchard manager and later, orchard manager.
- Became a packhouse manager and was promoted to assistant site manager.
- Moved into a job specialising in inventory management, controlling the quality of fruit being exported.
- Is now studying part-time for a Bachelor of Applied Science from Massey University, majoring in horticulture.
