IM BLOG: When the Path Isn’t Straight - Building a Records & Information Management Career

I had absolutely zero plans for what was going to happen when I finished high school in 2012. The only thing I did know was that I intended to go to university, and I’d work it all out when I got there. I was accepted into a Bachelor of Social Science at the University of New England, Armidale, because I genuinely find people fascinating.

Letting an 18-year-old “work it all out” is never a recommended move, because other than not knowing what I was going to do with a Social Science degree, I never ended up working anything out. So, I withdrew at the end of my first year, moved back home for a little while and vowed that I would finish a full undergrad program once I worked out what I was going to do when I grow up.

I moved around a little, thought I’d heard a calling here and there, started some stuff that I never finished, and then I ended up in Bega, on the NSW far south coast. A far stretch from Port Macquarie, where I’d spent my entire childhood. 

It was here that I began my professional career. I’d attempted to get my foot in the door at Bega Valley Shire Council in a few different entry-level roles, and after a year of applications I was able to score a two-year traineeship in the library services (Seems to be where a lot of R/IM practitioners start out!). I loved the behind-the-scenes work, the technical and strategic, but if I had to identify a weakness of mine when it comes to working in a library, it’s recommending books (I love biographies and some self-help, so I do struggle with fiction).

I got my Certificate IV Library, Information & Cultural Services from Sydney TAFE Ultimo - a year early, thanks to a slight hiccup on Council’s end. This hiccup (and the fact I enjoyed the job) ended up winning me Sydney TAFE’s Trainee of the Year for 2016.

Once the traineeship ended, it was another 18 months before the opportunity that would begin my R/IM speciality: a three-month contract in Council’s Records office.

What was meant to be three months turned into twelve, then permanent part-time, initially. The permanence of my role was the catalyst for my return to university; I knew I loved the information side of library services, being behind the scenes. I would’ve been all over this much earlier had I known R/IM was even a profession!

The next four years were nothing short of brutal: full- time study alongside parenting a toddler-turned-primary school-aged child, mixing part-time with full-time work to cover for personal and medical issues within my team, moving out of my home, separation and divorce, remarriage, upgrading to a permanent full-time role, my own (ongoing) ailments, and everything else in between. I would also never, ever, ever recommend five subjects a semester (and I did this twice!).

On 6 December 2024, I got to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, to Oz at the end of the Yellow Brick Road: I was conferred the Bachelor of Information Studies (Records and Archives Management) from Charles Sturt University. 

From here, the only way was up. Within the next two weeks I was granted Associate status with both the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA).

Turns out you can’t have these kinds of massive highs without at least one massive blow, and a massive blow I certainly got when on Boxing Day 2024 my Mum died suddenly. The two weeks that followed emphasised that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. 

So, 2025 became the year of Doing Things Stacey Wouldn’t Normally Do:

• I bought my first fancy pair of heels in a very long time (I got married in Crocs) to walk the stage at CSU Port Macquarie’s graduation ceremony. The heels are the part I wouldn’t normally do; I was going to my graduation ceremony anyway!
• I went through RIMPA’s Certification program and became one of the first to attain Skilled certification (CSRIM)
• I attended my first RIMPA Roadshow in Sydney
• I nominated myself for a RIMPA Company Outstanding Award
• I was part of the first cohort of the Unlocking the Potential of Information Management Masterclass, based on the first series of Making Information Management Sexy (MIMS) eBooks
• I attended my first RIMPA Live. Normally not a fan of large crowds, but to be in a space with people also geeking out over R/IM was genuinely exciting. I made some new friends, got so many crazy ideas, and won the Tom Lovett Outstanding Student award
• And I had to big-time sell myself for RIMPA Associate status. I can’t sell a toaster (believe me, I have tried), selling myself is an obstacle I don’t think I’ll fully overcome!

Then just to cap off the rollercoaster that has been the last year, the amazing Tynelle called me on December 8 2025 letting me know that I’m not only the first person to go through the new status upgrade process, but that the assessment panel had approved me for RIMPA Associate status. 

Just over a year to the day that I graduated, I had achieved the final piece of the puzzle. I now had the Associate trifecta.

These milestones from the past 12 months are the result of my ongoing commitment to professional development and excellence within the R/IM profession. These accomplishments are my own, achieved independently without support or investment in my development from my workplace, demonstrative of the self-driven dedication that many R/IM practitioners will recognise. As our profession continues to gain visibility and strategic relevance, I’m hopeful that organisations will acknowledge and support their R/IM staff: the expertise that supports optimal and effective information management and governance.

What’s next?

Glad you asked! I’d like to do postgrad, but I’m unsure which way I want to go first: Business Analytics, Organisational Change, Data Management, Knowledge Management, or delve further into IM.

Meet your blog author:

 

Stacey Boillat ARIM | CSRIM | ASAAM | AALIA

Stacey Boillat CSRIM ARIM is one of Bega Valley Shire Council’s Records Officers. Armed with a Bachelor of Information Studies (Records and Archives Management), she was awarded the Tom Lovett Outstanding Student Award by RIMPA Global in 2025, recognising her academic achievements and contribution to the RIM industry by politely confirming she knows exactly what she’s doing even when the systems (and whichever colleagues are resisting that day) absolutely do not. 

Stacey has six years of practical experience in navigating and attempting to control organisational information chaos and has become the de facto subject-matter expert for all things RIM. Blending her uniquely potent yet valuable combination of sprout sharpness and practitioner perseverence, she specialises in tailored classification design and capability building, backed by feral determination aimed directly at any system (or occasional colleague) bold enough to resist, stall, or misbehave. 

Passionate about strategic RIM visibility in organisations, advocacy for professional development and reframing the profession for future generations, Stacey approaches her work with humour, honesty, and the kind of semi-controlled gremlin energy to make optimal information governance impossible to ignore and unwise to underestimate.