Recruitment is more than just a numbers game for Fia Wilson.

Helping someone enrol in a particular course isn’t something she takes lightly.

“This is people’s lives we’re dealing with, they’re not just a number, we should take it seriously,” she says.

“I want to know what they want to do, what their aspirations are. That’s the beauty of recruiting, making sure the person gets the information and the direction they need.”

Fia is one of the friendly recruitment advisers for Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and has been busy enrolling tauira in Semester A programmes at the Māngere campus.

Recruiting is something she’s passionate about and she has a wealth of experience, having worked in the field for close to 10 years.

“I enjoy the job, I actually love recruiting. I have a passion for wanting to see people get into further education.”

Fia is South Auckland born and bred and has formed strong relationships throughout the community, something she says is crucial to her work.

“I’ve been part of this community for a long time and the most important thing is relationships. That’s something I’m really passionate about.”

She takes great satisfaction from seeing tauira progress through their programmes.

“The rewarding thing is seeing a person come in, and go from expressing an interest to enrolling and then you end up seeing them in class. You see that transition through the class and they take ownership of their lives.”

She particularly likes working with young people.

“I enjoy working in the youth sector. That excites me. For rangatahi, I like to give them direction. Even if they don’t have NCEA, it doesn’t matter, they can get that on one of our courses.”

Fia says she is equally passionate about spreading the word of what Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has to offer.

“I want people to be aware of our organisation and be aware of the free courses we offer. A lot of people I talk to live in Māngere but don’t know what the wānanga is. A lot think it’s just a Māori organisation.”

But at the heart of what she does is her passion to help people.

“I love recruiting and I’m good at it. I’m a talker and I love meeting people. It’s about making sure we’re helping someone.”