Using creativity and confidence to fashion a career in the public service

According to one public service leader, bureaucrats can develop more confidence about diving into the deep end with practice and a good dose of curiosity. 

Rina Bruinsma is a self-professed ‘accidental public servant’ but that is not to say her career gains have come without reason. A senior mandarin with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), she says the philosophy of her career is to be open to interesting work. Listening to her muse on the topic, it is clear a growth mindset has set the public sector leader up for success. 

“If a task was hard and challenging, and other people sort of shying away from it, I’d put up my hand and say ‘I’ll give it a go’.