Alexander Earl

Senior Communications Officer · Department of Transport and Main Roads, Brisbane, Australia. Bachelor of Communication, 2016

I absolutely encourage young people to consider a career in communication. For starters, no two jobs are the same, which makes it such an exciting area to be part of.

I developed the communication plans for the first rail strikes in Wellington in 23 years, helped communicate the reopening of the borders post-COVID, and wrote the letter to 120,000 people granting permanent residence, including some of my own friends. 
Currently, I am working on stakeholder engagement strategies for multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games. These are all experiences I am immensely proud of and attribute to that decision all those years ago to study communication.

I also think that with AI becoming part of our daily lives, we need brave people with new ideas and fresh minds to help retain the human connection organisations need with their people, customers and stakeholders. In a world of disinformation, targeted algorithms and more and more distrust in organisations and governments, a communication career is about being bold enough to challenge assumptions and provide a clear voice through the noise. It is up to us as communication professionals to show its value, be the voice at the table and challenge organisations to think carefully about how they communicate.

I have worked across both private and public sectors, and the consistent element I have enjoyed most is being able to interact with people who have a range of interests and expertise across different disciplines. Learning what a train driver does when approaching a platform, the journey an immigration form takes when someone applies for residency, or why certain types of roads are noisier than others, are all part of building a knowledge bank that I use daily to understand perspectives and help organisations communicate. Being able to play devil’s advocate, think from others’ perspectives and avoid assumptions can be challenging, but it is also one of the parts of the role I enjoy most, and a big reason I am still passionate about what I do today.