Louise Yarrall

Studying Law with Arts subjects, sharpened Louise's critical thinking, curiosity, and creative storytelling skills, ideal for a career in communications.

Our family has a tradition of working as lawyers, and so for me, Law was the obvious route of study from a young age.  I followed through on my interests at school which included English and music leading to me undertaking a BA and LLB. I majored in Politics and International Relations for my BA but also filled this degree with courses of interest including Music, Religious Studies, and English Literature which gave me plenty to learn and enjoy more broadly.

The combination of Law and Politics, particularly with my focus on international relations, helped me secure my first role in the Beehive working in research and media for the Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs. I was a strong writer, researcher, and an independent student with initiative able to fit into a fast-paced environment. As a student, I worked as a sub-editor on case law for a legal publishing company which also helped hone my research skills and attention to detail.

My studies helped me be curious, able to research different points of view from a variety of sources and fine-tune my writing skills, both creatively and academically. This helped me forge a successful global career in public relations, working with media and telling stories that help companies reach a variety of markets including the UK and North America.

My advice to students is to look beyond the traditional to understand how your degree and skills translate into different jobs. This is especially so for Law students. Are you a strong writer? Think about working in communications. Do you tend to be an analytical thinker? Find out more about working as a policy analyst, for example. You’ll be amazed at where life can take you!

Currently, I am a self-employed communications consultant, based in the Cook Islands. We moved here for my husband's job as Chief Economist, and I can work part-time remotely around supporting our kids and their hobbies. This new cultural experience is giving me a valuable perspective that I will take into future jobs, and the enforced part-time nature of remote employment and parenting means I have also taken up music as a hobby again, forming a band with another Kiwi living here.