Who got that job?

Job title: Financial controller

For: Panavision New Zealand.


English accountant Claire Lake fended off 74 other applicants for this job in a sexy industry - cinema and television.

Panavision is a United States-listed company dealing in state-of-the-art cameras, technical back-up and consumables.

It is a great change of scene for former Hertfordshire resident Lake, who transferred to New Zealand a year ago with her former employer, for whom she had been doing taxation work.

"When I saw the ad in the paper I had not really been looking for a job," she admits. "It just attracted me. I had wanted to get into the media and entertainment after five and a half years in private practice.

"I wanted something more intimate and friendly, with a corporate atmosphere.

"I had heard of Panavision in the United States and thought it would be fun to be part of a worldwide company."

Once she had looked around the Freemans Bay production village run by Panavision in Auckland - based in a converted warehouse, it rents space to other film-related businesses - Lake was hooked.

"It's a converted warehouse, spacious and airy, and it's got a nice buzz," she says.

The job will require a lot of budgeting and reviewing work, and "getting out being part of the company rather than coming in at the end."

KPMG Consulting's Mary-Jane Richards says the most important personal quality required of the successful candidate was the ability to fit in with a small, team-oriented environment.