By Eukeni Udaeta | 25 May 2018
Nasreen & Janine, the digital marketing duo
Nasreen Shaikh & Janine Casas
This week’s feature features the girls that have been featuring all the features! Confused?
You might have heard of NZIE’s own former students and interns Janine and Nasreen, they wrote some of the blogs and managed social media for NZIE. If you haven’t, keep on reading to learn more on why they chose to go digital.
The digital marketing duo started off their careers in a different but somehow related area, Janine studied a Bachelor in Science and Nasreen a Bachelor in Commerce, both majoring in Information systems, they felt an innate attraction for the digital marketing industry. They both completed the course together, formed a strong friendship and were lucky enough to get an internship at NZIE to keep collaborating together, where they bounced ideas off each other.
Janine Casas
Hailing all the way from Cebu, Phillipines, Janine has always been quite the techie. She learned how to code websites when she was only 10 years old! She’s also had her fair share of entrepreneurship and digital marketing when she set up an online store with her sister and tapped into social media marketing and influencer marketing, just for kicks, and she’s had numerous job experiences in the digital field. With the technical skills she’s already had, her hungry mind wanted to explore the creative side of things. Digital marketing was just the perfect complement to what she already knew, an industry that would keep her busy and current. With a thirst to keep herself in-the-know, she’s gotten herself certifications from Hubspot (Inbound Marketing), Hootsuite, and Twitter Flight Academy.
What’s even more impressive, she currently works as a Digital Communications Specialist and oversees New Zealand Tech, as well as the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum and has been recently assigned as Content and Social Lead for TechWomen New Zealand. On her spare time, she does contract work for digital agencies, developing websites, and creating and implementing social media and content marketing strategies.
Nasreen Shaikh
New Zealand born, Nasreen seems like she was pulled into the digital industry, after having finished her Bachelor in Commerce, she came across digital marketing, everything about the field intrigued her and the industry was booming. Enrolling in the course gave her a chance to meet people and make the connections she wouldn’t have been able to make otherwise. —“It was honestly one of the best decisions I made”
As an intern at NZIE, she had the opportunity to work as a content writer for NZIE’s Digital Marketing Blog. After, she got a chance to work at a digital marketing agency, working as a community manager, helping clients execute their content strategies, building their social media presence, creating SEO optimised content for their websites and essentially helping them grow. Nasreen currently works at Blackdrop.
Getting to know the girls
I got a chance to talk to these inspiring girls, and their love for the industry. The course allowed them to learn about the aspects of the industry, and helped them find the niche they are good at, a specialty to focus on. They are both very happy working in an industry that is demanding, an industry that keeps requiring them to learn and evolve. With a mix of creativity and technicality, they reckon it is among the best fields of study and work to immerse into. They are both super excited to see where their careers will take them.
Recommendations for students
Work hard to up skill yourself, enrol into different courses to gain the skills you need. Put yourself out there to gain all of the opportunities and try to make connections with the people in the industry, and most importantly, keep up-to-date with the latest digital marketing news and practices by reading tech and digital news.
Janine’s love for travelling and photography has inspired her blog, check out her Instagram and website.
If you are interested in working with them, you can connect with Nasreen & Janine on LinkedIn.
