Success Stories

Career Paths and Success Story’s

Tarita Mulholland returned home to the Cook Islands in November 2016 for the Christmas break from Auckland University of Technology.

Like all University students, she wanted to earn some money through the holidays. She emailed CITC Human Resources ahead of time and we immediately saw her potential to become one of our Christmas casual staff. Each year students return to work with CITC which helps us through the busy festive season. When Tarita first arrived she worked as a Sales Assistant with CITC Pharmacy, within a short space of time she took on more senior tasks and we were lucky that she extended her stay several times to help fill staffing gaps. Tarita left the Pharmacy at the end of February 2017 a little unsure of what she would do next.

In April we became aware Tarita was still on the Island. At this stage we had a vacancy for a trainee pharmacy technician. This was an important position and an exciting opportunity as the Cook Islands Ministry of Health were embarking on their very first training course to give people working in a pharmacy a qualification to become Registered Cook Islands Pharmacy Technicians.

When we approached Tarita she felt able to commit to CITC and the training programme. Although initially nervous about the content of the course, she put a lot of energy into learning as much as she could in the short time. Tarita worked in the Pharmacy during the days learning on the job and the evenings attending lectures, doing assignments and studying.

We are proud to announce that on 1 December 2017 Tarita was notified she passed with flying colours and will now be eligible to be registered as a Cook Islands Pharmacy Technician. This means that Tarita can now run the dispensary as sole charge. You never know where a part-time position might lead you!

Kristopher (Kris) Williamson aka Kris ‘Gunz’ Williamson (for his golfing skills!)

Kris joined CITC part time whilst still at school in December 2009 in our Key Brands Division as a merchandiser. This involved Kris visiting trade shops around the Island and helping them merchandise their products. He worked several Christmas holidays with CITC.

Leaving school Kris tried a number of different industries and even worked in Perth, Western Australia doing landscaping before returning home. Before returning to CITC in August 2013 Kris ran his own business doing graphic design and traditional tattoos.

Kris came back on board commencing as a Trainee IT Technician. Kris is now an IT Technician in his own right. He has grown his skills from our IT Manager and undertaking Microsoft training.
Another part-time position that led to a full time career!

Heirani Rea – described at our last long service awards as a boomerang!

Heirani started her career with CITC in July 2012 as a Checkout Operator at CITC Supermarket. Wanting a change of pace she applied to transfer to CITC Liquor as a Sales Assistant/Checkout Operator in May 2013.
Having experience with our Point of Sale system helped Heirani when she applied for an Inventory assistant with CITC Administration, she was successful and transferred in April 2015.

The boomerang part comes in when a Senior Inventory Assistant role became available at CITC Liquor, wanting to step into a more senior role Heirani applied for the position, the Liquor team welcomed her back with open arms.

During her time with Administration Heirani was selected to enrol in the National Certificate in Business (Small Business Management) Level 4, she successfully completed this training in 2017.

Utavarau (Uta) Araitia 

Uta joined CITC in October 2013 as a Grocery Supervisor with CITC Supermarket. Some people thought this a different move for Uta who had worked with a well known resort on Rarotonga in various management positions for some five years.

However Uta had his eye on the big picture and his career and bought some great skills and experience with him. Uta worked hard with his merchandising team ensuring the supermarket was always well stocked and the pallets of product were ready for the night fill team.

He quickly proved himself as someone we needed to earmark for the future. In April 2017 CITC opened Kavera Central in the village of Arorangi – a new convenience store with an ice cream parlour and fuel dispenser catering for the locals living in the area.

Uta was promoted to become the Retail Manager of Kavera Central when it opened in April.
Whilst coming to grips with his new responsibilities and being kept very busy with 6am – 9pm trading hours he continues to train in-house and study for the National Certificate in First Line Management Level 3.