Nadia Dimmatina

Please tell us about your trajectory since Top Designs.

I was featured in Top Designs for my magazine Piccolo, which had a range of articles and photographs about coffee. Since finishing VCE in 2014, I have gone on to achieve many things and I am currently working as a regional journalist for 9 News, based in Gippsland.

After graduating from high school at the end of 2014, I went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University (majoring in Japanese and journalism). I spent three years completing a plethora of internships for my journalism degree including at places like The Age, Broadsheet Media, Channel 9 and the Geelong Advertiser. Internships were such a pivotal part of building my portfolio and definitely came in handy when applying for jobs.

It has been pretty non-stop since graduating from my Bachelor of Arts at the end of 2017. After my last exam, I got a phone call from the director at Channel 9 asking if I would be interested in a full-time position as a social media producer in their Melbourne office. I accepted instantly, and a few weeks later I began my first full-time job at Channel 9. I spent 18 months in this role, managing the social media pages for 9 News Melbourne and the regional bureaus. This led to my next career step, as I did a couple of casual shifts in Bendigo and Ballarat and later accepted a full-time position based in Traralgon.

I have been working as a regional journalist for six months. This has been a whirlwind of an experience, covering all sorts of stories from colour yarns, court and crime. Most recently, we have been following the devastation and recovery mission of communities impacted by the East Gippsland bushfires, which have been covered by the media worldwide.

Do you feel that Top Designs had an impact on your personal/professional development? If yes, please explain how.

Top Designs gave me the confidence that I was truly good at something; I doubted my abilities constantly, so getting that recognition in the exhibition was a big step for me. Professionally, it was a fantastic experience and I am incredibly proud to have Top Designs as part of my portfolio and résumé.

What advice do you have for people wanting to work in your field? What is next for you?

Internships. I can’t stress this enough. I believe that if anyone wants to get into the media/journalism field, the only way in is through experience and contacts. Despite all or most internships being unpaid, you can gain such an incredible amount of experience and it definitely pays off in the long term.

Looking ahead to future career goals, I would love to stay in the media industry. I am currently really enjoying being a broadcast journalist (despite always believing I would end up in print), but who knows where my career will take me next.