A lot has changed since Janice Collins started working for Australia Post.
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Ms Collins started working at the Launceston Post Office the same year that Malcolm Fraser was prime minister, Hawthorn won its first premiership and when a young John Travolta starred in Saturday Night Fever – 1978.
Ms Collins recently celebrated her 40th anniversary of working with Australia Post and recounted the drastic changes she has seen over her time working at post offices.
“We didn’t have any computers or electronic stuff at all when I started,” she said.
“It was all handwritten records and basically we just sold stamps and parcels and took very few bills.
“There wasn’t many alternate means for sending things back then, so it was lots of letters, postcards and that sort of things.
“It was much busier back then.”
The senior postal services officer started with the company fresh out of school when she was 16 years old.
After spending most of her career at the Launceston Post Office’s business centre, she moved to the Kings Meadows site 12 years ago.
She has noted a drastic change in Kings Meadows office’s demographic, even over the past 12 years.
“We still get quite a few customers, because we do identity services, like passports and other things,” she said.
“The demographic has got a little older I think, but young people still come in and say, ‘I’ve never posted a parcel before, what do I do?’”
Her very first job after leaving high school was working in the postal service and it will likely be her last.
Coming out of high school, Ms Collins applied for the air force, however they were not taking any new recruits at the time.
Despite several calls a few years later opening up an opportunity to join the armed services, she decided to remain a postal worker.
Ms Collins still loves her job, despite the vast changes and doesn’t foresee leaving her role in the near future.
“Over the years I’ve had to learn lots of new things and I’m still learning new things with all the products and services they’re rolling out all the time,” she said.
“I love that there’s different things to do every day and I meet so many different people”
Stefan Boscia
Stefan came to The Examiner after working as a copywriter at a digital media firm in Melbourne and interning at The Conversation. He is enthusiastic about reporting on business, local government and environmental issues. When he is not chained to his work desk, Stefan enjoys getting brunch, reading Saul Bellow novels and watching Carlton games.
Stefan came to The Examiner after working as a copywriter at a digital media firm in Melbourne and interning at The Conversation. He is enthusiastic about reporting on business, local government and environmental issues. When he is not chained to his work desk, Stefan enjoys getting brunch, reading Saul Bellow novels and watching Carlton games.
