Anna Taufao
Financial Crime Investigator, Westpac NZ
Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics
She wakes up every day happy to be in the job she is in, says Anna Taufao who studied mathematical sciences and is now a financial crime investigator at Westpac NZ.
“The environment within my job is amazing! I particularly enjoy reconciling our suspense account, which I do daily, and love remediating our cases and completing what doesn't add up. Being able to do some problem solving is my favourite part of the morning; figuring out why things aren’t balanced and using the knowledge from my degree to adjust things. I love the fact my managers trusted me to do this a few weeks after I started my role and enjoy that I’m still in charge of doing this.
“I first came to Westpac when I was doing my last course at AUT over summer and decided to apply at the Westpac Cards Contact Centre to get my foot in the door. I started there in January 2023 and once I graduated in August 2023, I applied for the financial crime investigator role in the Financial Crime Department; a role I then started at the start of 2024. At first it was a secondment, but I was offered a permanent role on 16 May 2024. Becoming permanent in this role had been my goal when I first got in, and I was over the moon when I received the offer on the day my son Jayden-Mikeni turned five. I really believe he is my lucky charm.”
Anna says her son is her inspiration and motivation.
“My son Jayden-Mikeni makes me want to be and do better for myself and for him. He gave me the motivation to study, which got me to graduate with a degree that got me into my current role. I was in my mid-20’s, and my son was only six months old when I started studying at AUT. He was diagnosed with autism at the age of two, and he is five now and still too young to understand that it was him that got me to where I am today. Now my goal is for Jayden-Mikeni to be as inspired by me as I am by him.”
Feeling looked after
Anna says she has enjoyed numbers since she was a kid.
“Mathematics was always the subject I enjoyed most in school, and problem solving and puzzles became a hobby for me. That’s why I decided to study a mathematics degree. I chose AUT because I had heard a lot of great things from friends who studied at AUT.”
She considers this the best decision she could have made.
“AUT made me feel important. Because I was studying during the COVID pandemic, they checked up on me during lockdown, which wasn’t easy, especially because I was a solo parent and studying at home with an autistic child. The AUT lecturers made things less stressful and were easy to approach whenever I needed. For example, I lost my grandma, one of the most important people in my life, during the exam period and I wanted to give up. But my lecturers understood and gave me the option to sit my exams after the funeral in Brisbane. Knowing that I was looked after was the highlight of my time at AUT.”
Advice for other students
Anna, who graduated from AUT in 2023, has some great advice for other students.
“When things get tough, stressful or you just want to give up, take a breath, remember why you started studying and remember your motivation that got you to apply at AUT to reach that goal of yours. No matter what the obstacle is; you’ve got this.”
There is a particular saying she swears by.
“I have this saying on my wall; ‘There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs!’. Remember the goals you started with because its only going to be up from here.”
