Dream job: Perth people talk about what they’d rather do, given half a chance

I loved teaching but my real passion is music, says Gabby.Credit: Mark Naglazas

Gabby: I’m probably a bit too cautious to take the kind of risks needed to embark on my dream career

I’ve been working on an IT service desk in the city for about five months. I’m really enjoying my new job. Before that, I was a primary school teacher. After eight years it was time for a change.

I initially enjoyed teaching, but after a while the job started to get me down. The heavy workload, the amount of preparation demanded of teachers, the disrespect from the students and the parents. After a while, it wears you down.

So when I was looking around for another career path I was looking for something like working on an IT service desk. Now when I go home, I don’t find myself thinking about my job and what’s happening the next day. I am able to disengage from work. I now really enjoy being at work, which wasn’t happening before.

I loved teaching but my real passion is music. I play a number of instruments — piano, guitar, saxophone — and dreamed about being a professional musician.

I auditioned for WAAPA but I didn’t get through. I was heartbroken at the time. But I came to think it was for the best. I’d just graduated high school and was very young. I don’t think I would have had the commitment to excellence required to get through a course like that and make it a career.

From very young I harboured the dream of being a professional musician. Perhaps playing jazz, but any kind of music. I’m pretty diverse with my music taste. When I think back on it, I probably lack the drive needed to make it a career.

But the dream of being a professional musician still gnaws at me, so I now play in a punk band. I’m probably a bit too cautious to take the kind of risks needed to embark on my dream career.

I’ve always been realistic about my career choices and my dreams. I would still love to be a professional musician, but I don’t think I would be prepared to make the kind of sacrifices necessary to succeed.

I’ve come to the conclusion that music is more of a hobby than a career path.

Tom and Josh are from farming families, and both love their sport. But do they have the drive to go pro?Credit: Mark Naglazas

Josh: Like most kids who grow up in the country my dream job is to be an AFL player. Who knows. I’m only 20. It could still happen

Josh: You got me at the right time! We’re celebrating my job offer from Westpac. It’s in rural banking. I’m over the moon. I just graduated from UWA in agri-business and agricultural science, so this is a great start to my career.

Tom: We are both 20, and we’re cousins and doing the same degree, but I’m a couple of years behind. We both come from farming families in the South West and our lives and careers are intertwined.

Josh: Even though I come from a farming family, and I’ve always helped Dad, it wasn’t expected that we would go into farming. It never got pushed on to me. It’s something that I love and wanted to do, which is why I came to the city to study agriculture. And I’d be happy to continue what Granddad and Dad set up.

Tom: I’m similar. I hope to take over the farm one day, so long as it doesn’t get sold, which I doubt will happen. I’m more than happy with carrying on the family tradition.

Josh: Like most kids from the country my dream job when I was young was to be an AFL player. I was a good player and I still play today for East Perth in the WAFL. But I just didn’t quite have the drive to make it into the AFL. Who knows? I’m only 20. It could still happen. Kick five goals in three games in a row and I could get picked up by an AFL club mid-season. But you have to have genuine commitment to have a chance of succeeding at the top level.

Tom: I’m similar to Josh, but my sport was swimming. I was good enough to swim at the national championships. But this is Australia, and we are amongst the strongest nations in the world. So the swimmer who wins at the national titles is pretty likely to be the best in the world or close to it. My best result was fourth, so I never got a medal, which I think made a difference to me continuing.

Josh: I still dream about playing AFL, but I know what sacrifices you need to make. You pretty well lose your social life if you want to make the grade and perform well enough to stay there. I love the game and the glory, but I’m not sure I’m prepared to put everything aside just to follow my dream and play footy.

Tom: I would love to have gone on to compete in the Olympics. And I’m only 20, so I guess there’s still a chance. But you have to have a breakthrough once a year to keep moving forward. I kept hitting walls. So I have evolved and enjoy other things in life.

Josh: It’s funny seeing your mates who are now playing in the AFL. They were not a lot better than the other guys we played with, but they are the ones who really wanted it. They are the ones who worked their arses off. There’s a fine line between those who make it and those who don’t.

Tom: I’m not sure how the family farm will be divvied up, but I’m sure it will be even and fair. I want to make something of myself on my own. I want to succeed in life without having to rely on an inheritance or handout. If I come into part of the farm that’s a bonus.

Josh: I will probably end up back on the farm, but for the moment I’m loving being in Perth and I am looking forward to starting my new job. I don’t have a goal. I just want to leave it open and see where it takes me.

A trip to Ibiza left a defining impression on Pat.Credit: Mark Naglazas

Pat: My dream job is to make music right on the beach, Cafe del Mar-style

Pat: I grew up in Manchester in a musical household, so my dream was to be a performer. This was the era of Oasis, who I loved, and I wanted to be a band, like so many other kids. My dad loved Elvis Costello and Sting and classic rock. So I studied musical performance at Manchester College.

By the time I graduated I was suffering burnout. And I was never really comfortable as a performer. So I took a job in a record store that was very early to embrace the Internet as a selling tool. That experience in e-commerce led to a job with an independent Manchester clothing store that was also using the Internet.

So I spent 15 years in fashion, which was widely recognised as more lucrative than the music industry, and it served me well. It led to a job with Yve Saint Laurent in Paris, which did not work out quite so well. It was very snooty, and I didn’t really fit in.

During this time as a brand consultant I met my wife Jane, who was from Perth. However, the time difference between Australia and the UK made working remotely difficult and my passion for music never quite went away. So I started a niche record store in Northbridge that came to the attention of the folks at the State Buildings, who invited me to set up shop here.

I now run Shari-Vari Records, an import record store that specialises in ambient, house, techno, soul, jazz and disco and other sounds not catered for by the mainstream.

I’ve worked in fashion in the UK and France, which would be many people’s idea of a dream job, but mine’s a lot more laid back. My dream job is to make music right on the beach, Cafe del Mar-style.

I went to Ibiza when I was a kid, and it had a huge impact on me. I loved how the music was a soundtrack for the ocean and the sky. I find it incredibly relaxing. It is definitely an unscratched itch — to watch a beautiful sunset beside the water and provide the soundtrack that would give people so much pleasure.

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