Our Experts
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Feeling wobbly about the future of work? You’re not alone. Between the rise of AI, tech upgrades dropping every second day, and the pressure to stand out at work, it's a lot.
The reality is, there’ll always be things in our careers we can’t control, but that’s exactly why it’s smart to double down on the stuff we can.
For that exact reason, we’ve teamed up with Swinburne Online and their online MBA—the course for professionals keen to fast-track their career in the corporate world.
We spoke to industry experts, Swinburne academics, and people who have actually lived it, to give you all the info and inspo you need to propel your career to new heights.
Pairing Cute And Quirky With Utilitarian
Putting A Fresh Spin On Athleisure Wear
Rolling From Boardroom To Bar
THE
Corey de Hoedt:
John Webster:
Claire Seeber:
Leadership And Careers Coach
Swinburne’s Programme Director
Chef Turned Data Security Expert
Swinburne Stories
Humans of Swinburne Online: Corey’s Story
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How To Navigate Post-Graduate Study For Your First Degree
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How You Can Do
A Master’s Degree Without A Bachelor’s Degree
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Why You Should Do An MBA—6 Career Benefits
Read More
For three years, Corey lived the high-pressure, high-reward life of a classically trained chef working in a fine diner. Think long hours, hot pans, and plating perfection. “It really suited me because it’s procedural-based and process-based,” he says. “Similar to baking a cake, you start with a nice sponge base, and you add things to it. Same with business, you can’t just throw something together and hope it works. You have to build it over time.
But when he lost his job, his livelihood disappeared—along with his plan A.
“Losing your job is extremely distressing,” Corey says. But it also cracked something open. That something? A new path. He took a leap and enrolled in an MBA with Swinburne Online. One cybersecurity unit later, and he was hooked.
Through confidence building at uni and an awesome unit choice, I managed to find what would eventually become my career.
Sure, switching careers and going back to study isn’t exactly a walk in the park—but Corey reckons it’s way less scary than you think. “Studying is nowhere near as scary and difficult as I imagined. Especially when you have an awesome support network.”
The MBA didn’t just give him tech skills—it sharpened his business brain too. Security isn’t only a job that requires technical knowledge—half the battle is understanding how technology impacts a business,” he says.
How this former chef found his confidence in tech.
Here’s your step-by-step game plan.
Chasing A Promotion?
CURVE
LEARNING
These are the skills that will define the next decade.
Work In Progress
From Kitchen To Code
Claire Seeber, Career Coach
It'll be less about having the longest list of qualifications, and more about your ability to solve problems and get results through and with people. It’s all about how you show up—how you communicate, collaborate, and keep things moving in the moment.
Emotional Intelligence
Turns out the real power move over the next decade won’t be coding or crunching data—it’s emotional intelligence. Think: self-awareness, social awareness, and knowing how to read the room like a pro.
04
Careers Coach Claire Seeber’s Hot Tip:
Ask colleagues in different departments about their roles, what a day in their life is like, what challenges they face, what assumptions they think people make about their jobs. This will demonstrate your hunger to learn and develop.
Adaptability
With change coming in hot, the experts agree that adaptability is about to be the career skill to have on lock over the next decade. Flexibility? It’s your new superpower. Adaptability is all about getting curious, making a real effort to diversify your skills and scope out other areas of the business. The more you know, the more you grow.
05
John Webster, Programme Director
Higher education plays a pivotal role by building not just what students know, but how they think. Our MBA aims to future-proof careers by bridging academic rigour with real-world innovation, helping students anticipate disruption, design ethical solutions, and remain agile across their careers.
Curiosity And Lifelong Learning
If we want to stay up to speed with technology and its grasp on the way we work (and live), we’ve got to remain genuinely curious and open to learning. To support growth, it’s important to consistently ask for feedback. Get specific—vague vibes won’t cut it. The goal is to walk away with real, actionable intel you can actually use.
03
Career Coach Claire Seeber's Hot Tip:
Make intentional reflection a weekly thing and ask yourself: What did I learn? How did I grow? What could I do differently?
Critical Thinking
When it comes to levelling up, a little intentional reflection with a critical thinking lens goes a long way. In a world of information overwhelm (and overload), and where everyone has a platform, a strong ability to think critically, challenge the information we're being fed, and ultimately challenge our perspectives on things, will become an even more valuable skill in this coming decade.
02
John Webster, Programme Director
Rapid technological shifts, climate risk, ethical complexity, and evolving leadership expectations will demand a new kind of professional agility.
Learning Agility
How quickly can you learn something and then apply it?
This agility is crucial to career development, as technology and how we use AI continue to evolve at breakneck speed.
01
Step 1
Get Clear On
Your Next Move
If you’re currently in a role where you're working 70 to 80 per cent of the working week without breaking a sweat—and still nailing it—that's a clear sign you’re ready for your next step.
Once you’ve clocked that it’s time to make a move, the next step is getting crystal clear on what you actually want. “If it's directly the next role up the ladder, great, but also consider that your next stretch opportunity could be a lateral move into a different team to broaden your skill set, or spearheading an important project,” Career Coach Claire Seeber says.
Advocate
For Yourself
The old advice of 'just keep your head down, work hard, and the rewards will come' might sound noble, but it’s a surefire way to get overlooked—and leave your career progression up to chance. “Hard work matters.” Seeber says. “But only if people actually know about it.”
To make sure your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, Seeber stresses the importance of building strong relationships, strategically promoting your value and ideas, and making sure they’re seen.
Step 4
Make Yourself
More Valuable
When trying to move up or around in the workplace, focus on building both your performance currency and your relationship currency.
When it comes to relationships, Career Coach Claire Seeber advocates for building a network within your organisation that goes beyond your immediate team—consider who you know, who knows you, and who you need to know to progress. Find a sponsor within your company—someone who’ll champion your growth behind closed doors, even when you’re not in the room.
You can also invest in performance currency through further education; an MBA curriculum blends technical performance with leadership, strategy, and communications skills to create a mindset build on agility.
Step 3
Show That
You’re Ready
It’s time to start gathering your performance evidence. Consider the results you’ve delivered, the problems you've solved, the feedback you've received, and use them all to kick off a chat with your manager about your growth goals.
According to Programme Director John Webster, "success will hinge on an ability to combine innovation with impact. Skills like ethical decision-making, entrepreneurial thinking, systems leadership, digital literacy and risk-based strategic planning are core to our MBA. These aren't just desirable—they're becoming essential."
This focus means programs like the Swinburne Online MBA can help mid-level pros looking to fast-track their careers.
Step 2
Was it a total reset? “100% that’s what I thought,” he reflects. “I truly was starting from nothing to try and find myself, and find my place in the world. That idea is kinda freeing though. The idea that I can really do anything, be anything, try anything."
These days, he’s swapped late-night kitchen shifts for big-picture thinking and long-term goals. His advice? “Give it a try. The worst thing is knowing there's a path to improve yourself and your life, then not taking it. A risk is only a risk when you don’t have a supportive team to catch you.”
Your guide to getting future-ready.
Critical Thinking
When it comes to levelling up, a little intentional reflection with a critical thinking lens goes a long way. In a world of information overwhelm (and overload), and where everyone has a platform,
a strong ability to think critically, challenge the information we're being fed, and ultimately challenge our perspectives on things, will become an even more valuable skill in this coming decade.
Career Coach Claire Seeber's Hot Tip:
Make intentional reflection a weekly thing and ask yourself: What did I learn? How did I grow? What could I do differently?
02
Emotional Intelligence
Turns out the real power move over the next decade won’t be coding or crunching data—it’s emotional intelligence. Think: self-awareness, social awareness, and knowing how to read the room like a pro.
04
Curiosity And Lifelong Learning
If we want to stay up to speed with technology and its grasp on the way we work (and live), we’ve got to remain genuinely curious and open to learning. To support growth, it’s important to consistently ask for feedback. Get specific—vague vibes won’t cut it. The goal is to walk away with real, actionable intel you can actually use.
John Webster, Programme Director
Higher education plays a pivotal role by building not just what students know, but how they think. Our MBA aims to future-proof careers by bridging academic rigour with real-world innovation, helping students anticipate disruption, design ethical solutions, and remain agile across their careers.
03
Adaptability
With change coming in hot, the experts agree that adaptability is about to be the career skill to have on lock over the next decade. Flexibility? It’s your new superpower. Adaptability is all about getting curious, making a real effort to diversify your skills and scope out other areas of the business. The more you know, the more you grow.
Career Coach Claire Seeber's Hot Tip:
Ask colleagues in different departments about their roles, what a day in their life is like, what challenges they face, what assumptions they think people make about their jobs. This will demonstrate your hunger to learn and develop.
05
Claire Seeber, Career Coach
It'll be less about having the longest list of qualifications, and more about your ability to solve problems and get results through and with people. It’s all about how you show up—how you communicate, collaborate, and keep things moving in the moment.
Advocate
For Yourself
The old advice of 'just keep your head down, work hard, and the rewards will come' might sound noble, but it’s a surefire way to get overlooked—and leave your career progression up to chance. “Hard work matters.” Seeber says. “But only if people actually know about it.”
To make sure your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, Seeber stresses the importance of building strong relationships, strategically promoting your value and ideas, and making sure they’re seen.
Step 4
Make Yourself
More Valuable
When trying to move up or around in the workplace, focus on building both your performance currency and your relationship currency.
When it comes to relationships, Career Coach Claire Seeber advocates for building a network within your organisation that goes beyond your immediate team—consider who you know, who knows you, and who you need to know to progress. Find a sponsor within your company—someone who’ll champion your growth behind closed doors, even when you’re not in the room.
You can also invest in performance currency through further education; an MBA curriculum blends technical performance with leadership, strategy, and communications skills to create a mindset build on agility.
Step 3
Show That You’re Ready
It’s time to start gathering your performance evidence. Consider the results you’ve delivered, the problems you've solved, the feedback you've received, and use them all to kick off a chat with your manager about your growth goals.
According to Programme Director John Webster, "success will hinge on an ability to combine innovation with impact. Skills like ethical decision-making, entrepreneurial thinking, systems leadership, digital literacy and risk-based strategic planning are core to our MBA. These aren't just desirable—they're becoming essential."
This focus means programs like the Swinburne Online MBA can help mid-level pros looking to fast-track their careers.
Step 2