Dream Job - SEEK Career Advice

Isaac is an account manager for energy provider, Origin. He’s been there seven and a half years and it has served him well - but he’s yearning for something different.

Isaac believes in helping people, physical discipline and being the best you can be – that’s why he dreams of working in fitness, as a personal trainer (PT).

‘Giving back’ is a value instilled in Isaac from an early age, and he brims with positive energy. Adopted by Australian parents from his native Kenya at the age of 13, as a young professional Isaac had to financially support his brother overseas. Now that responsibility is gone - he’s a free agent, and at 34 years old feels the time is right to take life in an exciting new direction.

But moving from a comfortable well-paid desk job to a passion project like PT won’t be easy. Isaac’s experience of the fitness industry is limited to his local gym, and he has no idea how to make a career out of it. Will Isaac’s sparkling personality win clients over? And how will he reconcile his upbeat personality with the tough love approach of a real PT?

When Sarajane left school, she dreamed of working in tourism and signed up for a Bachelor of Business degree. However, the life as a travel agent has been different to her expectations. “It is a highly stressful job, it doesn’t pay well and there isn’t much travelling involved.”

Sarajane, 21, is still working in travel. But after some soul searching has decided that she needs to consider a new career and dreams of landing a job in real estate in Melbourne.

She would love to help others find them their dream home. Sarajane is fascinated with every aspect of property from how markets change over time to the interiors and exteriors of homes. “This is definitely something I want to be part of,” she says. 

In an attempt to get a foot in the door Sarajane entered LJ Hooker’s Million Dollar Intern competition for amateurs who want to become agents. She was placed a creditable third in the competition, but unfortunately it didn’t land her the real estate gig she was hoping for.  

Sarajane has found that another roadblock to finding a real estate job in Melbourne is that she has currently been living in the country and feels that employers don’t believe she has the local knowledge required of the job. Sarajane knows she can put in the groundwork needed to get to know Melbourne’s high-end property market, but hasn’t yet been given the chance to prove her worth.

Can Sarajane use her love of property to land her first job in the industry? 

Peter was forced to end his first dream career as a podiatrist thanks to a hand injury. At the time his assessing doctors recommended he took an office job. So, that’s what he did. 

English-born Peter went back to school and completed a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice at Griffith University, but has found life behind a desk not to his liking. 

At the same time Peter had discovered bee-keeping and partner Carly and his parents set him up with his first hive and related equipment for his 40^th birthday present. 

Peter was always the child down at the stream catching frogs, and studying bugs and he was really taken with the idea of keeping bees. 

Over the past couple of years, he has built up a number of backyard hives at his home and at his in-law’s house, but isn’t sure how to translate this into a business to support himself. 

Peter, now 42, is absolutely committed to pursuing his passion and has even considered mortgaging the couple’s home to buy a piece of land and start his own business. But is beekeeping a realistic career pathway for Peter or will he decide after his Dream Job experience to take his dream in a different direction? 

Angela loves life, loves dogs, and loves people. 

She has worked in human relations (HR) for 30 years. The work is about people, but sometimes it’s a thankless task. 

“My favourite saying in HR is nobody walks into a HR Manager's office to tell them they love their job. There is always an issue when they come to see us,” she says. 

Angela has given HR her all and has risen all the way up through various roles and organisations from HR officer to a Vice President Global Human Resources. She enjoys certain aspects of her work such as enabling the development of employees, and supporting the business strategy, but her passion for her work has gradually been waning

With her daughter having flown the nest, Angela believes the time might be right to change careers and wants her passion for dogs to be the basis of a new career. 

From childhood dog Buffy to her current love Mac the Spoodle, dogs have always lightened up Angela’s day with their unconditional love. She can’t think of anything better than spending her days taking care of dogs.

 “I would love to be able to combine my management skills with my dog skills,” says Angela. “That would be the perfect job for me.”

Angela hasn’t pursued this career up until now due to financial reasons, but says she is willing to make the sacrifices needed to make it work, which includes forgoing travel for now. Can Angela give up her much-loved international holidays and translate her passion for dogs into a career?

Like many people, Fabiano (Fab) fell into teaching. It was something he knew he would be good at and get satisfaction from. He loves learning and loves sharing his learnings with others. 

After high school, when it can time to choose his career path, Fab would have loved to pursue a career in design but his subject choices meant that he didn’t have the portfolio of work required to get into the right course. So, Fab decided instead to indulge his love of languages at La Trobe University and pursue a career in teaching so he could share his passion with the next generation. Fab currently works at the high school he attended.

While Fab loves teaching and adores his students, the 29-year-old’s passion for interior design has never subsided. He says he often lays awake in bed at night, dreaming about houses and goes online to look at real estate. Fab is in a happy place when he can be creative. “I really enjoy the idea of making a space conducive to its purpose,” he says. 

Time is Fab’s biggest obstacle to pursuing this passion. Work takes up nine to 11 hours of his day during the school year, making it difficult for him to undertake the study required to get into interior design. 

He has indulged his hobby by transforming his office and classroom from sterile environments to aesthetically pleasing workspaces, but he often wonders what life would be like if he could switch careers. So, Dream Job is giving him that opportunity.

Will Fab find working on his own as an interior designer everything he had dreamed of?  

Amanda has had more than one career, but is still looking for her dream job. Working as a real estate agent became too difficult after her children Jack 14 and Miley nine came along.

Hoping for more flexibility, Amanda bought a franchise mobile coffee company. Unfortunately, the business wasn’t what Amanda hoped it would be. Instead of finding more time to be with her growing children, Amanda ended up burning the candle at both ends, with early starts to keep customers happy and late nights to do all the cleaning, ordering and administration. “I don’t hate it, but I think it’s time to move on,” Amanda says.

From childhood, Amanda had always dreamed of becoming a carpenter. The 37-year-old grew up around construction with her step-dad being an architect and one of her brothers a carpenter. Like them, Amanda has always had a passion for creating and building things, most recently it was the island bench complete with dining table that takes pride of place in the family home.

Deterred by the stereotype that only boys went into trades, Amanda never pursued the career in carpentry when she was younger but has toyed with the thought ever since. “The idea came up again when Jack was quite young but at that time the early starts put me off. I enjoyed building as a hobby and was satisfied with that. 

It was only when I started questioning my passion for my current job and the opportunity with Dream Job presented itself that I began to realise, I could either see out my working career doing a job half-heartedly or I could throw caution to the wind and start a journey that could see me fulfil my dream of building homes here and abroad,” she says. 

But moving into a new career in construction is a risk. Will Amanda’s passion for hobby projects translate into a career in construction and if so, how will the single mother of two manage on an apprentice wage?  

Royce’s life has changed. The fly-in fly-out (FIFO) jobs that served him well for 15 years are now starting to take their toll. He misses special moments with his loved ones, in particular his partner Kelly. 

Royce believes he’d be much happier if he could follow his true passion and find work brewing beer and has moved to Melbourne to pursue his dream. He networks like crazy in the micro brewing industry and offers his time to local Mountain Goat, Mornington Peninsular and Three Ravens breweries to hone his beer making skills. 

"I day dream about brewing beer. It consumes my life, I steer just about every conversation to beer, and the creativity I want to bring to the craft. It's a passion, a hobby and a dream and there's nothing that will stop me from attaining my goal," says Royce.

If the career move works it will involve a huge lifestyle change. Up until now he has worked hard for 12 hours a day during his three-week FIFO stints. 

There is no doubt brewing is Royce’s calling in life, but switching career will also mean a huge step down in the pay stakes. Will he be able to take the step from FIFO money into the highly competitive brewing industry in order to follow his passion? 

Danica always has a huge smile on her face. That smile would be even bigger if she could land her dream job in the police force. 

The 23-year-old’s inspiration to join the police came from watching her uncle who worked for the Australian Federal Police and special operations for Victoria Police. 

When Danica left school, she felt she wasn’t ready to join the police straight away and wanted to grow first as a person. She could have gone to university to study criminology or law but instead chose to join the army, believing it would provide her with great practical experience for the police force. 

Danica served two and a half years in the army in Queensland and more recently moved back to Melbourne and has been working at the airport in aviation protection. Danica has built a range of skills in these roles that she will be able to transfer into policing when the time is right. 

Her love of sports has also helped build the skills she needs for the police force. “I play VFL for Essendon Football Club. Football is who I am and it’s also keeping me in physical shape to help me with becoming a police officer.” 

Danica says she will feel that her mission is accomplished if she is accepted into the Victoria Police Academy. “We have goals for a reason and to achieve my goal to join the police would be amazing,” she says. 

The next steps are to undergo written, physical and psychological assessments and two interviews in order to be accepted. Will Danica still think she’s ready for that move after her Dream Job experience? 

Sophie struggled at school thanks to her dyslexia. At the time the only subject she excelled in was art. Her other passion was animals of all sizes and shapes. 

Studying was always going to be difficult for Sophie, so she chose interior design over her other passion veterinary nursing. “I failed everything at school except art and when I left school I had no confidence,” she says. She could get work in interior design without a university degree.

Marriage, mortgage and two children came along pushing the 47-year-old’s dream of studying veterinary nursing even further from her reach. The cost in terms of dollars and time would be huge. And Sophie would need audio textbooks because of her dyslexia. 

But Sophie’s life keeps coming back to her love of animals. “There have been many, many times in my life when I have tried to save animals,” she says. 

Being a giving person, helping animals makes her feel better. “That is why it would be perfect for me to be a veterinary nurse.”

When the opportunity arose to go on Dream Job, Sophie dared to dream again. But will all the hurdles life has thrown Sophie get in her way of achieving that dream?

Being an AFL player isn’t a job for life. So, at some point Collingwood Football Club's midfield player Tom Phillips will need to find a new career. 

At just 21-years of age, Tom could have another 10 or more years left as a player in his footy career. But professional Aussie rules football is a fickle game and he’s preparing for the future now.  

Unlike some other Dream Job participants though, Tom is only at the stage of investigating what he could do with his other passions. 

Fortunately for Tom, sport isn’t his only love in life. “Flipper”, as he is known by many, grew up travelling the world and doing volunteer work with his family. The family’s charity work has benefited local communities in Australia and in countries such as India, Nepal, Mongolia and Peru through a range of organisations including: World Vision, Reclink Australia, and Seven Women, a small charity launched by a young Australian. 

The young player is also toying with the idea of journalism. Tom really enjoyed creative writing in his final year at school and in conjunction with two mates has recently launched a podcast called The Boardroom. 

The ideal post-footy career for Tom might well marry his love of travel, charity and journalism together. The question is, does such a career exist? 

Amanda doesn’t just know what her dream job would be, she also knows exactly where she wants her dream to be realised. 

Amanda wants to be a User Experience (UX) designer at none other than Australia’s number one employment marketplace - SEEK. 

Until two years ago, Amanda didn’t even know UX existed as a career. She studied a bachelor’s degree in commerce majoring in marketing and management at the University of Auckland and soon after joined an up and coming start-up as a Business Development Account Manager. 

“In hindsight, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’d never heard of the term start-ups back then and had minimal understanding of what Business Development was.”

Amanda loved the job, but eventually moved onto working in recruitment where she first discovered the concept of UX. Amanda soon realised UX was a profession in which she could marry her creative and commercial sides. 

“UX became a passion because its main goal is to design something that can solve real problems for human beings and that’s what I’m passionate about,” says Amanda. “It marries creativity with logic and that’s exactly how my brain works.”

With the hope of getting into UX, Amanda decided on doing some upskilling and enrolled herself in a short course to develop some experience.

And now, thanks to Dream Job, Amanda is getting the chance to put her newly developed skills to the test. But, will she have what it takes to impress the tech wizards at SEEK?