Discovering the next generation of retail talent

A career in retail can be an exciting opportunity for many students, but it can often be daunting to understand what’s really involved in the day-to-day of a retail role.

To inspire more Kiwis to learn about and pursue retail careers of their own, we developed the Red Shirts in Schools Gateway programme in 2009 with the support of ServiceIQ. The programme offers year 11 to 13 students around Aotearoa the chance to gain credible work experience in a retail environment at our The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery stores.

After a successful pilot, Noel Leeming’s own gateway programme, Discovering Passionate Experts, launched nationwide in February.

“We’re excited to be rolling out Noel Leeming’s very own gateway programme to help inspire the next generation of Passionate Experts,” says Tim Edwards, Chief Executive Officer of Noel Leeming and Chief Sales Officer at The Warehouse Group. “Our experts are integral to our role as the leading retailer in appliances, technology and services in NZ, and we’re proud to be doing our part to support youth employment by investing in the future of these young people.”

Schools in the areas surrounding one of Noel Leeming’s 73 stores can opt-in to the programme, which over the course of 10 weeks will give students 10 days of work experience and up to 20 credits which can be used towards a New Zealand Certificate in Retail.

The programme will allow participants the chance to build work-ready skills, increase self-esteem, learn how to positively confront issues and manage time effectively, while completing NZQA unit standards.

While knowledge of retail is beneficial for participating in the programme, reflecting key values of confidence, enthusiasm and likeability is more important than expertise, which can be trained and developed through the programme.

Learn more about our gateway programmes across the Group here.