Miro Muriel Harré

“I started university when I was 20. I went overseas on my gap year here for a couple of years after high school, partly because I didn't really know what I wanted to do, and also because ever since I was at primary school, I had wanted to do a gap year. It was really such a significant, informative experience. It really helped me decide what I wanted to do both in terms of my degree and my majors.

“I did a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Commerce conjoint. I decided to do a Bachelor of Commerce because when I was living in the UK, I worked in hospitality the whole time, literally just waiting tables. And during that experience I was like, “I want to open a restaurant when I get back to New Zealand!” So, I thought that I’d better study commerce and learn how to do accounting and stuff!

“During the first year, because you take courses across various subjects, I realised that Accounting was not for me. But that first year meant that I was exposed to a lot of the different majors on offer.

“I came into the Business School with no prior knowledge or work in or around business and commerce. But immediately I was intrigued and fascinated about the many different kinds of pathways that you could take.

“In the end, I chose International Business as a major due to my interest in travel and engaging with different cultures. I also wanted to be able to find the opportunities to tell the New Zealand story and share that in an international context.

“And Marketing was my second major in Commerce. It made sense to me because of the creativity and storytelling element to it. Learning about customer behaviour and psychology also really piqued my interest. From a theoretical perspective, the Bachelor of Commerce created a solid foundation.

“When I reflect on my university journey, I think that what's been quite funny for me is how true to myself those majors were in the end. Now that I'm out in industry, I find that those majors [were] a great starting ground and feel as though they really reflected my natural strengths.

“I think the highlight of my experience in the Business School was my extracurricular activities. I was part of Management Consulting Club (MCC) and the Commerce Association for Pacific and Māori (CAPM), and I was also a Tuākana tutor. These roles really helped me develop important skills like engaging and relating to people, presentation skills, how to communicate effectively to different audiences, relationship building, self-management, developing ideas, and more. These are some of the most valuable experiences I had at university. I was able to take all these transferable skills into the workplace, which has helped so much.

“I would really encourage students to participate in extracurricular activities at university. I can't emphasise enough how important that was for my success as a graduate, not only for developing skills, but also for having more points of reference for your recruitment journey as well.

“I was able to use my experiences when I was applying for internships and grad roles. Towards the end of my degree, the Student Careers Centre helped me find a summer internship at Xero. This really helped set me up to apply for graduate role applications.

“I had also attended a lot of the Business School’s networking events and I had a pretty good idea of where I wanted to work. I applied for a grad role at KPMG, and I was fortunate to be successful. I worked in the Management Consulting team, and it was an incredible experience. I was able to be a part of many exciting opportunities and benefit from some great leadership.

“After I left KPMG, I travelled and worked in different industries for a while. One of my old mentors from KPMG contacted me about working on a contract for New Zealand Māori Tourism. This led to a full-time role at NZMT, where I’ve been ever since! Currently, I lead an exploration of what regenerative tourism might look like for the Māori tourism sector.

“In this current role, I do quite a bit of research to understand the landscape and where the gaps are. I need to be able to understand what the needs and priorities of our industry and tourism operators are, and then how best we can respond to that. I think what's important for me is having my finger on the pulse.

“There's always problem-solving. There's a bit of strategising, there's a bit of partnership management and a lot of ‘big thinking’, which I love. This role is perfect for me because I get to work with the New Zealand story. I want to keep working for New Zealand companies that tell our story and share our knowledge with the world.

“University really helped ground me in my journey. I was able to cultivate my natural interests, and that led me to a career I love.

“I would encourage new students to keep an open mind. Be curious and use your time at university to create experiences and adventures. Be engaged and think about what you naturally align with and embrace that.”