From Romania to Wellington: Amy Clarke on Chance and Empathy in Successful HR Careers

Senior HR Advisor, Amy Clarke, takes nothing for granted. As one of the first Romanian babies adopted by New Zealand parents, she knows her life could have taken a very different path.

Amy's parents were moved by the stories of orphaned children in Romania after the fall of Communist dictator, Nikolai Ceaușescu, in 1989. They put their lives on hold to travel to Romania to help. Amy was only a few weeks old when the Clarke's met her and fell in love. That was the start of six months of form filling and worry before they brought Amy home to Masterton.

Amy says, €˜If they hadn't come and adopted me, where would I be now?'

After studying for an Honours Degree in Science in Wellington, chance intervened again to propel Amy into a career in HR.

€˜I accepted a fixed term role as a receptionist at EQC while contemplating starting a Masters degree. I became friends with a girl in the HR team and helped them out with a few small tasks. After a month, my friend resigned and I was offered the job of HR coordinator.'

The introduction to HR started with the basics. €˜I was doing the unsexy but important stuff: paperwork, filing, meeting minutes. One of the best things EQC did was sending me to an HR introductory course run by the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ).'

The HRINZ course opened Amy's eyes to the full lifecycle of HR and gave her key resources to help succeed as a beginner in HR. €˜It made me think €“ I could do this as my career. And I've never looked back.'

Amy thrives on employment relations work. She sees parallels between her journey from Romania and her work in HR.

€˜Having that start has made me thankful. It's made me quite empathetic, just realising how lucky I am to be here. I like giving back. I like being able to do well by people who find themselves in ER situations, on both sides of the table. The more humanity you can bring to a disciplinary process, the better.'

Chance has played a significant role in Amy's life. But other qualities have seen her flourish in HR. 'The most successful HR mentors and practitioners I know, love people. Empathy is a strength in this line of work. If you love working with people, HR is a great career choice.'