Ramp and Versatility: A chat with Oskar Howell

Oskar Howell recently returned to Wintec-Te Pukenga as part of the Ramp Festival Graduate Panel. As a communication graduate, he was keen to pass on his early career experiences and strategies for networking, tackling new skills and workplace versatility to the current batch of creative minds. 

After graduating in 2020 with his degree in Journalism, Howell entered the industry and worked as a freelance tech and gaming reporter, picking up gigs with Stuff, The Spinoff and RNZ. 

Then the Covid pandemic ‘shook things up a bit’. Howell used this time to return to Wintec, completing a Graduate Diploma in Communication in digital marketing.

He then gained a role in social media communications with a district council before taking a career step into the agriculture industry in communications, while continuing with freelance reporting.

 Howell relayed the importance of networking, including doing relevant internships. He said that for students looking to step out of their comfort zone and step into the industry “It’s not about breaking into it so much, it’s more looking for avenues to do that”

“The biggest one is knowing people around you that can provide the opportunities you need, and that’s businesses, that’s figures around the place.”

Networking and making connections is something the School of Media Arts tutors emphasise to their future creative professionals, something Howell experienced. He said, “Funnily enough, it’s tutors at Wintec that are very well connected and more than happy to extend an olive branch to students looking to further themselves.”

Howell preached the strength of versatility and how this comes in multiple forms, this could be having a flexible skillset or even just having the mental strength to adapt to different professional environments. Something Howell is very aware of, with how “drastically different” his two workplaces have been. From working in the E-Sports industry and now as the social media specialist for Livestock Improvement Corp. a dairy genetics company.

“The only thing that connects the two is that the skills very much stay the same, knowing how to write, knowing how to connect to an audience or pitch to an audience”

As a journalism and communications student, Howell said he had a specific set of skills but since then has had to adapt and add to them. “Having to have such an in-depth understanding of graphic design is something I didn’t expect, but it turns out that’s about 90% of working in digital communications these days”

Another one of the biggest takeaways from this session was the need to be a ‘complete professional’ with a range of skills as there are no more “set-up roles” these days. He said days of being a designated photographer or writer are fading in some aspects, but if you’re willing to learn and you’re driven to improve in the industry, this should not be a challenge.

Howell said, “It is very much just looking at what other people are doing, figuring out how to make that your own, figuring out how to turn thoughts and ideas into things that look good, which is probably the biggest challenge.”