There are lots of career theories and theorists out there – some pioneering, some completely outdated and quite a few just brilliant.

I love the idea of CHAOS and Happenstance theories – which kind of sums up my life. It was definitely Happenstance when a dear senior colleague tapped me on the shoulder many years ago and asked if I would do a twelve-month maternity relief in the ‘Careers Room’ at a large independent Tasmania secondary school. If this job had been advertised, I probably would not have applied for it, as I had an administrative, not teaching, background. He recognised in me what I had failed to identify, I was great with students, (I mostly came into contact with the naughty ones at that stage), but what he recognised was a caring, empathetic and bubbly personality and students responded to that. We know if you have great transferable skills, especially communication, the rest can be taught and that is what he saw in me.

I walked into a room where the windows were covered in posters, the walls were grey, the whole area looked unloved and neglected, and as a student dedicated service, it was a wildly under-utilised. BUT I had been given complete autonomy to make it fab.

My very first student was a young man in Year 12 (he was in my daughter’s year). He bounded through the doors and told me in a very determined way that he wanted to be an equine osteopath and needed to work out how to get there. Immediately I thought – I am in the wrong job – I had no idea where to start and strongly considered walking straight back out the door again.

My response to this fantastic young student was “Absolutely we can make that happen – let me do some research for you and we can come up with a plan”!! A couple of years ago this young man contacted my daughter and asked her to convey a message to me, “tell your mum, I’m now an Equine Osteopath and I have my own business in Victoria and tell her thank you”.

That message has made my entire nearly 20-year career worthwhile. I stayed in that role for twelve years – I painted the walls bright pink, brought in sofas and opened up the windows. I sent hundreds of students overseas and to the outback on GAP years, I sent hundreds to multiple Universities across Australia and into apprenticeships and I helped develop thousands of resumes.

To this day I will be forever grateful to my colleague and my friend. He set me on a career path that is full of overwhelming privilege and positivity.

– Vale Bruce Fairfax