Ashleigh Mercer always knew an office job wasn't for her, so it was no great surprise to friends and family when she started her working career at the tender age of 17 picking kiwifruit on orchards around Katikati.

Now firmly entrenched in the industry, Ashleigh works for Satara as an orchard supervisor, supervising a team of workers who do all of the orchard work on around 15 orchards.

'I just like being outside,” says Ashleigh.

'The orchards change every day - one day is different to the next, the plants change; you never know what you're going to find.”

To get her career on track, Ashleigh knew she would need some great qualifications under her belt – and that's where Bay of Plenty Polytechnic's Orchard Skills course came into its own, offering her an opportunity to gain a qualification which reflected the valuable skills she'd already picked up on orchard.

The polytechnic consults widely with industry to ensure the programme is relevant and up-to-the-minute – for example the programme now includes current KVH hygiene protocols. And of course, all training and assessments are completed on-orchard, meaning everything learnt is highly relevant.

Ashleigh's career has never looked back –she's currently completing her two year cadetship. The cadet programme is taught in Tauranga one day a fortnight and Ashleigh says she is gaining loads of plant science knowledge, a better understanding of how plants behave and how to grow better quality fruit.

A bonus of studying at the polytechnic was the social aspect for Ashleigh, who really enjoyed meeting people her own age also working in the industry.

'The course is great; meeting like-minded people to hang out with socially.”

And, according to Ashleigh, the academic workload has been okay to manage too.