You are the culmination of every success, failure, win and loss you have

“Give things a go, even if they are roles in areas that you hadn’t thought about looking at. You are the culmination of every success, failure, win and loss you have,” says Spacetime managing director Alex Bartley Catt.

An AUT advertising and design business graduate, Alex is a living embodiment of his advice. He has worked in creative businesses while creating a number of projects and businesses that led to his founding of Spacetime, a business that designs and builds AI solutions. His past businesses have included New Zealand made fashion label Lucid Collective, an online publishing platform for events, a digital marketing company Tips and Olly, a part-time cafe, part time art studio.

Alex says it is really important to ask people for help and advice.
"Look for opportunities and ask for help. A key learning for me has been to ask other people if I don't know something. Ask, ask, ask. Email, email."

Alex was one of a number of graduates and seasoned employers to offer insights on the workplace and careers during Employability Matters, an Employability and Careers week long event that ran early May at AUT.

The theme of being flexible and open to opportunities was also a strong theme of the Thursday creativity and careers panel discussion.

Facilitated by Revolution Creative, an online creative community where creatives can set up portfolios to look for work, the discussions ranged from the importance of acknowledging the legitimacy of your role as a creative to the realities of working in the creative industries.

Freelance digital designer of the Beer Spot/TKRL Adrian Wills (far right below) spoke about creating within constraints.
“It is often about problem solving, about pulling together all the bits that already exist to make your own thing,” he explained, adding that everything he does now is a culmination of the skills and inspiration he gained through projects he started on the side.

Jessica Pearless (2nd right above), visual artist and director of art services agency Paragon Matter, reminded students of the worth of their study.
“Fine arts and arts degrees are qualifications in thinking, so they provide a good grounding in creative thinking that can be used in many roles.”

WORLD fashion designer Benny Castle (3rd right) pointed out loving a job doesn’t mean you’ll love everything about it.

“You can’t be passionate about everything in a job. Parts of my job, like using Xero, I hate but I have to do it and the good very much outweighs the bad."

This sentiment was echoed by a leadership speaker, psychologist Leah Royden, who spoke how it isn’t realistic to love a job 100% - or be happy all the time.

She says you can’t make happiness show up on demand and your best chance at being happy in the workplace comes from doing work that aligns with your personal values.

Employability Matters

Over the week, 26 organisations gave time to AUT through Employability Matters, doing presentations or panels and providing leadership speakers. There was a diversity of the organisations, from The Warehouse Group and Samsung Electronics NZ to Spacetime, Immerse me and Revolution Creative.

Another 17 participated in the Volunteering Expo, including Surf Lifesaving, Conservation Volunteers, StarJam, Girl Guiding NZ, Motuihe Trust, Camp Quality, Special Olympics.

The next Employability Matters Week will run Semester 2 in August.