When I was in Year 10 at boarding school, I described my exact job I have now to my friends. I remember it so vividly. I would be working at a school but not teaching, I would be helping young people with advice and insights on their future options, and I would have a lot…
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after I finished high school. I worked odd jobs from IGA to stacking pallets for distribution at Big W. At 20 years old, I worked at a small-town farm that produced, packaged and sold potatoes to markets in Brisbane. I worked my way…
From a young age, I knew I wanted to pursue a trade. I entered the resources industry straight out of school and earned my Mechanical Trade qualifications four years later. My career has taken me across oil and gas, construction, building maintenance, mining, and rail – both in Australia and overseas. Often the only woman…
When I was in school, I enjoyed maths and science and being outdoors. The thought of being in an office all day wasn’t very inspiring to me! My dad works in oil and gas and suggested that I should do engineering, particularly environmental engineering, so I could have a job that pays well, a job…
When I was in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I had always found maths and science came most naturally to me and were the most interesting subjects. My grandfather, father, and uncle had all worked as blue-collar construction workers when I was growing up, so I had some…
Some people know exactly what they want to do after school – some don’t. I thought I did, starting a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and Management, but soon discovered my passion lay in project management. While working in estate management, I gained experience in sales strategies, budget management, estate maintenance, and civil construction. I…
I have always loved building things, whether it was playing with LEGO or getting hands-on with projects. Throughout primary and high school, I really enjoyed maths and science but wasn’t sure how to turn that passion into a career. Luckily, engineering was offered as a subject in high school, and that’s when everything started to…
Leading up to the end of high school, I struggled to pick a career I wanted to study for, torn between my ‘competing’ interests in graphics, legal studies, and physics. My first part-time job as a jewellery sales assistant also sparked my passion for problem-solving, customer communication, and people management. When it came time for…
When I was in high school, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. I enjoyed graphics and physics, which naturally pointed me toward engineering. While I found engineering interesting, I struggled with the theory-heavy side of university, and maths was never my strongest area. To make sense of it all, I looked for…
When I left school, I knew I wanted to pursue a trade. I’d enjoyed technical drawing and applied to the Polytechnical Institute to study architectural design drafting. Over the years, I changed careers several times but I always found my way back to drafting. The tools of the trade have evolved dramatically, from pens, paper…
After high school, I enrolled in university with an interest in fashion and marketing, though I wasn’t certain about my career direction. Initially considering a gap year, I chose to start university to broaden my horizons and meet new people. During my studies, I spent a lot of time traveling. It was in my final…
I never knew exactly what profession I wanted to be but I knew I was good at reading, writing and talking. So I followed this and initially went to university to study Journalism. I quickly realised being a journalist wasn’t for me, but fortunately, a teacher pointed me towards Public Relations and Communications. My first…
Growing up in regional Queensland, I didn’t always have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my future. It felt uncertain – like a blank page. But over time, I realised that not knowing gave me the freedom to explore, to dream big, and to figure out what truly inspired me. When…
All through school, I was known as the sporty kid, I won age champion every year and just loved being active. I always knew I wanted to do something sport or exercise related when I finished school, but I had no idea exactly what that would be. I went to university and studied a Bachelor…
As a General Manager Strategic Projects I work across our integrated aluminium business leading small teams to find better ways of doing things. Aluminium is made through 3 stages – bauxite is mined and then transferred to a refinery to be made into alumina and is then sent to the smelter to make aluminium. A…
I grew up traveling a lot as my dad was in the aviation industry and I caught the travel bug at a young age. In high school I enjoyed studying Maths and Physics as well as Japanese and German, however had no idea what I would do when I finished. I decided to study engineering…
I was living in Queensland from 12 years old and completed my Cert 3 in Business Administration straight out of high school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I also knew that university wasn’t for me as I struggled to study and complete assignments. I now know that I am ADHD. After…
I had no idea I would be the Assistant Operation Manager at the Port of Brisbane. I would come out to the Port as a teenager and hang out with friends riding dirt bikes and playing loud music. I started my career in childcare and did work experience in Year 12 that led into a…
When I was in high school I was interested in math and science and also the environment, so I studied environmental engineering. When I finished university, I applied for various graduate jobs and was successful with Rio Tinto. I was not targeting mining specifically, but I immediately enjoyed the job, especially when I moved to…
In high school, I assumed my career path would be in physiotherapy or nutrition due to my love for sports. At the same time, I excelled in Maths and Economics, which broadened my academic interests. My mother arranged for me to see a careers counsellor, who conducted strength-based and psychometric testing. This process ultimately led…