Jason’s Story
Jason Ford, seventeen, was a part of the cohort of young learners who’s high school years were defined by the Covid pandemic.
“It was weird,” he tells me. ”There was a lot of online stuff. You have mates that you’re used to seeing every day and all of a sudden you just can’t.”
The interpersonal skills of Jason’s generation are often criticised by those older than them. A lack of socialisation during key development years is the elder generations’ diagnosis, with those in GenZ chalking it up to ”Boomers” (a term for anyone older than them, even by a year or two, as this still technically GenZ writer has found) simply not understanding the vast difference in the environment they grew up in. Jason, however, approaches me with a firm handshake and a smile, and asks me how my day has been so far.
We’re at Harbourside restaurant, a tucked away eatery on the Tauranga waterfront with a classy, warm interior and a balcony that extends over the water. If you sit in the right place, all you can see is ocean. Jason’s been working here for a few months now, and as the rest of the kitchen staff start prepping for lunch, I steal him away to talk about his journey in the industry so far.
”I had a bit of a difficult schooling situation through Covid times. I Had a lot of time off school and fell very far behind,” he says. ”I was at the point of not thinking I would have an education.”
Jason recounts first hearing about EmployNZ, and enrolling in the Level 1 Careers Unlimited course. He tells me how it helped him with his social skills, where he started out quite shy, and built up his confidence to take on a Level 2 Cookery course.
“I decided to enrol in Cookery because its the one thing that I had a passion for.” He smiles. ”I was quite interested in cooking as kid. I used to help my mum in the kitchen. I remember making meatballs and helping her make chocolate cake for birthdays.”
Back at EmployNZ, I had a chance to catch up with Arone Penjueli, Jason’s Level 2 tutor, who was stoked to hear how well Jason was doing. ”I always found Jason had a good attitude and work ethic,” he says. “I was over the moon to hear he got the job.”
Arone shows me around Jason’s old classroom, pointing out poster on the wall. The title reads ”Ten things that require no talent” and lists out attributes like: punctuality, passion, and positivity. ”I know what its like,” he says, nodding at the poster, ”but you’ve got to try and get them to understand they’re not in high school. This is tertiary, and you’re considered an adult learner. We’re emulating a workplace.”
The course is based around the nine most common cooking methods, like boiling, baking, roasting, and frying, as well as foundational concepts like food safety, menu planning, and kitchen health and safety. The course also integrates Literacy and Numeracy, so learners walk away with a NCEA level 2 vocational pathway award.
Back at Harbourside, Jason tells me about his journey after EmployNZ. ”Through that course, I discovered it could be a pathway to a career for me, so once I finished I decided to go into Culinary Arts Level 4 at Toi Ohomai. EmployNZ had prepared me for that, and they helped me enrol in the course.”
Shane Yardley, Jason’s Level 4 tutor, was kind enough to give me some time during term break. As he shows me around Toi Ohomai’s kitchen classroom – a fully stocked facility with commercial ovens, mixers, and fryers – he remembers his old student. ”People clicked with him. he was humble and he got on with it. You could see he had a sense of purpose. Everyone was like ‘Oh wow, what’s Jason doing?’ Because you knew it was going to be of a high standard.”
Shane’s course, which expands on Food Safety, Kitchen Health and Safety, and other fundamentals, is designed to prepare learners to work in a professional kitchen. Shane describes easing them into it, and helping them transition from a school based environment to a work one – where tardiness is unacceptable, the dress code is strict, and dishes are expected on time, and on spec.
”It’s preparing them for the basics of the kitchen,” Shane elaborates. ”in teaching they say that there is no failure, its a learning opportunity. So that’s the way we’ve got to frame it. This is the environment they get to do this in.”
Jason credits the course for solidifying the idea that cookery could be a career for him. Just weeks after graduating, he interviewed at Harbourside. The next day, he was hired.
When asked what he would say to himself on his first day of EmployNZ, he smiles.
”I’d say just go for it. It was probably the most life changing thing I could have done. I went from having no self-confidence and no education to now being happy with who I am.”
I thank him for his time. He stands up and shakes my hand again, before heading back to the kitchen. While packing away my equipment, I overhear the other chefs gossiping about how they can’t believe how young he is. At just seventeen, he is confident, head strong, and a pleasure to talk to.
I think back to the poster on his Level 2 tutors wall. ”It’s just about being on time and doing your best,” Arone had told me. ”Work ethic, effort, energy. Those things don’t take specific talent or skills, it’s just a conscious decision that you’ve got to make for yourself.”
Jason certainly made that call. His pathway started with the simple decision to get serious about his education, and now, a few short years later, he’s a professional chef.
Published 20th April 2026