Brooke McGrath
Business Executive, Chemistry
Bachelor of Communication Studies in Advertising and Brand Creativity & Public Relations
She loves specialising in social media, says Brooke McGrath who studied advertising and public relations and now works for creative agency Chemistry.
“Working at Chemistry encourages me every day to go beyond my comfort zone. My role involves looking after a variety of clients and their social accounts where I plan, help create and publish content. The people are full of life and the work is inspiring.
“My favourite thing about my role is how versatile it is – I’m able to try new things and continue learning every day. I get to work closely with the creative team and the design team to produce content we’re proud of. By liaising with clients, I’m able to learn their goals and try my absolute best to surpass them.”
Finding her path
Having always had a creative side, Brooke admits that she wasn’t too sure what career pathway she wanted to go down after school but after exploring all her options, AUT’s Bachelor of Communication Studies appealed to her the most.
“I loved that in the communications degree you quickly learn what you’re passionate about. With a wide range of subjects in the first year, there’s nothing that you don’t get to try hands on. Being able to give everything a go at the beginning is what made it easy to choose which subjects I wanted to focus on in my second and third year.
“In my final year at AUT, I was also lucky enough to go for the Student ORCA (Outstanding Radio Creative Awards). My creative partner at the time and I were able to experience a live recording of three radio scripts we had written for an assignment. We attended the awards shortly after and managed to walk out with second place.”
The lecturers do everything they can to make you feel welcome, she adds.
“I couldn’t thank my advertising and brand creativity lecturers enough; especially Matt Halliday, Dan Fastnedge and Jo Page. The energy they give is on the next level. They make you want to work harder, push for better ideas, always asking ‘What else have you got?’. They were there to help me whenever I got stuck in a creative loop, but they were also always available to chat to as a mentor. The skills I learned over my time at AUT have helped me develop a confidence in my work that I wouldn't have if it weren’t for the supportive lecturers and thoughtful assignments.”
Advice for other students
Brooke’s advice for other students is simple: go for it.
“Always put your hand up. Say yes to every opportunity as you never know where it might take you. Don’t forget to enjoy your university experience – it’ll go fast, so make sure you take it all in while you can.”
She says choosing AUT’s communication studies degree was the best decision she could have made.
“The people there are simply incredible, and by the time graduation came around I realised just how many amazing memories I had made. Over my three years at AUT I grew strong relationships that will last me a lifetime. The friends I made had me on the floor laughing, were always up for a trip to BreakTime for mid-study KitKats and never said ‘no’ to helping someone out.”
