The 20 Minute Career

A careers presentation at sixteen, and Brooke Duffy knew what she wanted to do. Today she's a paediatric occupational therapist (OT) who helps children build the skills behind opening a snack packet, holding a pencil, or getting through a morning routine, all through play. In this episode of The 20 Minute Career, she tells Jane Butler what occupational therapy actually involves, how a Year 10 careers program at her local hospital a...

"I didn't want to be a real estate agent. That sounded terrible." That's how Tim Grosmann felt before he found his way into commercial property, where he's now spent fifteen years chasing what he calls the thrill of the win. In this episode of The 20 Minute Career, he tells Jane Butler what changed his mind, why relationships take years to build and even longer to pay off, and what it actually takes to earn that feeling. If you're ...

Ask most people who's making sure AI is safe and you'll get the same picture: big labs in the US and UK with whole teams built for the job. Angelica Chowdhury is doing that work from Sydney, in a field where the community is small and there's no established career path. In this episode of The 20 Minute Career, she tells Jane Butler what AI safety research actually involves, and how she's building a career in it from somewhere this ...

Ask most people what it takes to build a real career out of dance and you'll get the same answer: pick something more stable, this isn't a "real job." Kellie Singh built her whole career doing it anyway, and in this episode of The 20 Minute Career, she tells Jane Butler how a rented country hall turned into the biggest dance academy in rural NSW, a state business award, and a career her own daughter is now following her into. If yo...

Ask most people what they think it's like to be a data scientist and you'll get the same picture: equations, spreadsheets, someone quietly crunching numbers in a room by themselves. Nadya DeBeers has spent her career finding out that's only half true, and in this episode of The 20 Minute Career, she tells Jane Butler what the job actually involves, and why the real skill has almost nothing to do with maths. If you're a student curi...

Every single day, Philippe Kilpatrick wakes up hoping he doesn't turn on the news to a major aviation incident. His job is to reduce the risk of that happening, and make sure the system can catch it if it still does. In this episode of The 20 Minute Career, Jane Butler sits down with Philippe, a Human Factors specialist in aviation, to discuss a field almost nobody has heard of the intersection of psychology and engineering that sh...

She's an introvert by nature. Her job is constant conflict, debate, and delivering updates to boardrooms on risks and issues. Discover the honest reality of risk management in this episode of The 20 Minute Career. Jane Butler sits down with Edwina Berry, a risk management leader in financial services, to discuss the unfiltered truth about a career built on asking the questions nobody wants to hear. Nicknamed the "fun police" and th...

Forget the medical drama version. The nurse trailing the doctor, chart in hand, scrubs pressed. That's not the job. The real job is a patient load that doesn't ease up, a PM shift running into an AM the next day, finishing at 11pm and back on the floor by 7am, four or five hours sleep if you're lucky, before you're responsible for someone's life again. You don't get to switch off. You just show up again, shift after shift, half you...

Ask most people what they think it woould be like be a pilot and you'll get the same picture: crisp uniforms, layovers in glamorous cities, that effortless confidence walking through the airport. Instagram is full of it the cockpit selfies, the sunset landings, the caption that makes it look like one long holiday with better parking.

Craig Harmon has lived the real version for twenty-five years. He always wanted to fly chose his sch...

Sarah Clisdell spent 18 years climbing the corporate ladder before she ever stepped into a boxing ring.

Straight out of school, Sarah moved roles and industries every 18 months, testing out different paths until she landed in one corporate role for the next 18 years. She built a career around big job titles, big pay packets and proving to herself she was capable. Then, in her 40s, she hit a wall in both her career and her fitness jo...

Anna Lohkemper didn't grow up dreaming of a career in tech. She grew up dreaming of Broadway.

At 18, Anna moved to New York for musical theatre school, chasing a career in performance. After two years of auditions against hundreds of girls fighting for the same roles, the dream didn't work out. She moved home to Atlanta feeling like a complete failure, and started over.

In this episode, Anna takes us through her honest, non-linear pa...

What does a digital marketer actually do all day? Danni Russell started out studying science at university, then left after realising a lab job wasn't for her. She eventually found her way into digital marketing — and now runs her own digital marketing agency.

In this episode, Danni breaks down digital marketing careers in plain terms why it's less about clever captions and more about data, testing, and numbers.

What you'll lea...

Josh Nicholls left school in Year 10, started his electrical apprenticeship at 15, and by 22 had launched his own business with nothing but a van and a plan. Twenty-five years later, he's the founder of two national companies, Platinum Electricals and Jet Black Plumbing, and he's already stepped back from the day-to-day.

In this episode, Josh breaks down what it actually takes to go from apprentice to business owner: why you don't n...

What do psychologists actually do at work if they're not a therapist?

Jaymon Kirk is an Industrial Organisational (IO) Psychologist at HireVue, one of the world's leading hiring assessment companies. His job is to apply psychology science to hiring making sure the AI-powered tools companies use to assess candidates are valid, fair, and actually predict who will do well in the role.

In this episode Jaymon breaks down what Industrial O...

Ever wondered who tracks down the wealthy people who give away millions to universities, charities and causes? This week on The 20 Minute Career, Jane talks to Stephanie Papadopolous who works in Prospect Development/Research at the University of Sydney, uncovering and researching the donors behind major philanthropic gifts a career almost nobody knows exists.

Steph's path in was anything but linear. She studied journalism, then mad...

Ever wondered what a career in marketing actually looks like beyond the creative brief? This week I sits down with Rushenka Perera, VP of Marketing at SAP, to find out what B2B marketing really involves — and it's a lot more than you'd expect.

Rushenka shares her honest path into marketing emerging from university straight into a recession and grabbing the first opportunity with both hands. From that starting point she's built...

What does it actually look like to build a career around reducing waste and do it inside a major retailer?

Pen Turnbull didn't plan a career in sustainability. She started by volunteering five hours a week at a tiny social enterprise salvaging timber from earthquake rubble in Christchurch. That one email changed everything.

Now she leads waste minimisation and circular economy programs across a large retail group keeping unsellable p...

Engineering is one of those careers that sounds straight forward from the outside. You build things. You solve problems. You apply what you learned at university and get on with it.

Mark Sproule started where a lot of engineers start curious, hands-on, and drawn to figuring out how things work. As a kid it was old boats. At university it was biomedical engineering. At ResMed it was prototyping with 3D printers, and the thrill of see...

Law is one of the most popular career choices young people nominate year after year, cohort after cohort. And it’s not hard to see why. For generations, students have grown up watching legal dramas - LA Law, Suits, The Good Wife and wanted that life. The sharp suits. The courtroom wins. The confidence of Harvey Specter walking into a room and owning it. It looks like the perfect career. High stakes, high reward, and never bor...