Who got that job?

Job title: National manager, New Zealand, LJ Hooker Financial Services

Margaret Smith

After 22 years with the same bank, Margaret Smith, 43, needed more of what she calls "brain gym."

"I didn't have enough challenges, my mind wasn't working enough, I wanted more responsibility".

She has left behind her job nurturing the Bank of New Zealand's sales culture for the drama of a start-up - real estate financial company LJ Financial Services. It aims to offer a real estate-branded home loan, a rarity among New Zealand land agencies.

Although the job ad didn't name the company, Smith, a Yorkshirewoman in New Zealand for 23 years and in her new job a few weeks, understood it to promise something "exciting - it sounded like it was a new business. It sounded like an autonomous role, something you could really get your teeth into."

She's aiming for at least 30 consultants around the country, working off LJ Hooker's 100 offices.

"It's a huge job," she says, "but I'm loving every single minute. It's a big change and it's wonderful to have some responsibility and I know I can make a difference.

"When you're in a large organisation, you can influence change, but you're not often recognised as being responsible for it. Here I can see the results of my efforts, and that's great job satisfaction."