Graduates pass on knowledge to Wintec students  

The Grad Panel is a regular feature of the annual RAMP festival, where former students of the School of Media Arts are invited to speak about their careers since graduation.

The panel, held on the 10th of August, was hosted by Wintec-Te Pukenga tutor, Elna Fourie. It featured two former graduates, Oskar Howell and Courtney Titchmarsh who hoped to pass down their wisdom and experience to the current students.

Oskar Howell works as a social media and communications professional and is currently employed by Livestock Improvement Corp as a social media specialist. He described completing his journalism degree and embarking on a freelance career as a technology writer, before covid hit. He returned to study for the Graduate Diploma in Communication and has been working in communications roles since. 

 Courtney Titchmarsh trained as a graphic designer and is now the brand and design manager at Farm Source, Fonterra. She described her journey from the certificate to her degree and how her degree has progressed from design into management over the past 8 years. 

Students and staff alike listened attentively as Howell and Titchmarshy discussed their journey and some of the learning that came with it. 

After the presentations,  the audience was able to question them about all sorts of topics such as freelancing, the evolution of technology and their advice on how to be versatile as well as adjust to fields that they may not be knowledgeable in.

Although both graduates work in different fields, they both acknowledge the importance of one’s personal brand. Titchmarsh shared a quote saying,

“Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Titchmarsh elaborated that she wished she’d learned that sooner and discussed how people often perceived her as ‘busy’ and didn’t want to disturb her work, when in actuality she loves to help and assist people.

Something that Howell and Titchmarsh liked to emphasise was attitude, which tied back to the personal brand idea. Having a good attitude and ‘keenness to learn’ are good qualities that employers look for. 

Howell often mentioned how versatility was necessary to survive as a creative. Having both a keen insight into journalism as well as communications, it was good for him as it got him to where he is today.

After many good discussions between the graduates and questioners, the event ended with an acknowledgement of RAMP Festival Director Megan Lyon. Afterwards, many of the audience stayed to have a good yarn with the graduates and further ‘pick their brains’ for knowledge.