Skip to main content

Site navigation

  • University of Technology Sydney home
  • Home

    Home
  • For students

  • For industry

  • Research

Explore

  • Courses
  • Events
  • News
  • Stories
  • People

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Study at UTS

    • arrow_right_alt Find a course
    • arrow_right_alt Course areas
    • arrow_right_alt Undergraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Postgraduate students
    • arrow_right_alt Research Masters and PhD
    • arrow_right_alt Online study and short courses
  • Student information

    • arrow_right_alt Current students
    • arrow_right_alt New UTS students
    • arrow_right_alt Graduates (Alumni)
    • arrow_right_alt High school students
    • arrow_right_alt Indigenous students
    • arrow_right_alt International students
  • Admissions

    • arrow_right_alt How to apply
    • arrow_right_alt Entry pathways
    • arrow_right_alt Eligibility
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for students

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Apply for a coursearrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt
  • Scholarshipsarrow_right_alt
  • Featured industries

    • arrow_right_alt Agriculture and food
    • arrow_right_alt Defence and space
    • arrow_right_alt Energy and transport
    • arrow_right_alt Government and policy
    • arrow_right_alt Health and medical
    • arrow_right_alt Corporate training
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Tech Central
    • arrow_right_alt Case studies
    • arrow_right_alt Research
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for industry

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Partner with usarrow_right_alt
  • Explore

    • arrow_right_alt Explore our research
    • arrow_right_alt Research centres and institutes
    • arrow_right_alt Graduate research
    • arrow_right_alt Research partnerships
arrow_right_altVisit our hub for research

For you

  • Libraryarrow_right_alt
  • Staffarrow_right_alt
  • Alumniarrow_right_alt
  • Current studentsarrow_right_alt

POPULAR LINKS

  • Find a UTS expertarrow_right_alt
  • Research centres and institutesarrow_right_alt
  • University of Technology Sydney home
Explore the University of Technology Sydney
Category Filters:
University of Technology Sydney home University of Technology Sydney home
  1. home
  2. arrow_forward_ios ... Newsroom
  3. arrow_forward_ios ... 2018
  4. arrow_forward_ios 12
  5. arrow_forward_ios Helping students to design their own careers

Helping students to design their own careers

21 December 2018

 

Students designing their careers

From working alongside algae accelerators to students in forensic crime labs, Helena Asher works as the Science Faculty and Graduate School of Health (GSH) career consultant in UTS Careers where she has been helping students plan and navigate their career development for the past six years. Pioneering innovative teaching styles and collaboration with Faculty as part of the Curriculum Career Development team in UTS Career, she and the team have been recognised at the 2018 UTS Learning and Teaching Awards for excellence in team-led education. We spoke with Helena about a new workshop, based on design thinking methodologies, being developed for students who are experiencing confusion around planning their career trajectories, based.

So, you get to work with a real mix of disciplines across the faculty, give us an insight into your role and what you do each day?

On a typical day, I’m out of the office, running workshops within Science or GSH. I run a range of activities to help students develop self-awareness and soft skills. I also meet with students who might be experiencing confusion around their career direction or who might want a sounding board as to whether they are on the right path. Every day is different!

And you obviously like being in the Science and GSH space, why?

Its unique, working within these faculties because there are so many options around what’s possible. The world is changing at lightning speed; career data is showing that traditional degree pathways are much less limited. For example, a medical science student might want to develop applications and
interventions alongside a software developer or coder, and then they may need a marketing student to join forces to launch a brand-new startup business capable of global influence; that would not have been so easy even a decade ago.

The environment here is positive for students who want to get creative, and collaborative, with their career trajectories. 

It seems that UTS does foster innovative approaches, do you think there’s anything else that students here can boast when it comes to speaking with potential employers?

My sense is that students here at UTS are very practical. We know that UTS students are in demand and there is a reason for that. It's not just about a great transcript; so many students I speak to are working in conjunction with study. Being driven by curiosity and a desire to develop makes our students extremely sought after. When I studied, I felt that grades were a lot more important, whereas now, they are part of the picture but not all of it. Hands-on experience really adds to student development and we do that well here.

A part of your role is to deliver training through workshops; why do we run workshops? Why wouldn’t we just send a pdf to students?

Don’t get me wrong, digital content is vital. However, human beings are experiential, people learn in different ways and we need a mix. We like to learn with other people around us through sharing, experiencing things and collaborating. A workshop caters for different levels of understanding, we deliver information with constant feedback occurring and knowledge being shared. In this way, different learning styles are catered for.  We also try to focus on application, that’s a key element.

The “Designing your Career” workshop is one which you’ve developed here at UTS, tell us about this workshop and what it involves.


It’s based on a book written by Bill Burnett and David Evans, two Stanford professors who work with students and professionals around holistic life-design by using design principles.

“It's about thinking creatively, beyond what a career ‘should’ look like, to what it could look like. We are working to break the model of the traditional careers service by offering something new.”

 

Students working on career Planning & Decision Making

How does design thinking apply to career planning?

By using ideation principals, we are exploring the creative possibility. We are not worried about finding a quick solution, we’re open to the breadth of possibilities available.

Often the dreaded question in any career planning setting, is ‘what do I do with my life?’; which is hard because there are many facets to that question. Often a person's thinking may be limited by societal expectations, culture, familiar pathways, things like that. By exposing students to imaginative and creative ‘play’, we help them start to reframe these hard-wired concepts.  Just because a job doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean it can’t be created by someone, or exist very soon somewhere.

Are there any ‘light bulb moment’ moments that happen?

The ‘lightbulb moment’ often happens during the ideation phase of the workshop, when suddenly, a student can see the connections between the idea and the steps that would make it possible; the abstract becoming a reality. This process can be significant, especially for people from a scientific background, where they are not used to thinking this way. Our brains are wired to fight, freeze or fly. We shut ideas down, we fear judgement. These workshops offer the chance for students to glimpse into a different way of planning and working.

What advice would you give to someone who is wanting to rethink a career path?

It’s fun to imagine, and it's a vital skill to cultivate, whether in relation to career planning or otherwise.

 

A chance to zoom out, let ideas have time to evolve, all these things are helpful. Often there are answers within our subconscious minds and the best way to tease those out is to give ourselves the opportunity and the time to do that.

Helena Asher-Chiang is an experienced Careers Consultant who has been working with UTS Careers for over half a decade. In her past life, she worked as a Teacher, a Recruiter and Human Resources Professional. She delights in helping students to discover their own potential and loves speaking with strangers about their dreams, aspirations and working lives.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenaasher/

 

 

Byline

by David Lt
Share
Share this on Facebook Share this on Twitter Share this on LinkedIn
Back to We Hire News

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation and the Boorooberongal People of the Dharug Nation upon whose ancestral lands our campuses now stand. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands. 

University of Technology Sydney

City Campus

15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007

Get in touch with UTS

Follow us

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Facebook

A member of

  • Australian Technology Network
Use arrow keys to navigate within each column of links. Press Tab to move between columns.

Study

  • Find a course
  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
  • How to apply
  • Scholarships and prizes
  • International students
  • Campus maps
  • Accommodation

Engage

  • Find an expert
  • Industry
  • News
  • Events
  • Experience UTS
  • Research
  • Stories
  • Alumni

About

  • Who we are
  • Faculties
  • Learning and teaching
  • Sustainability
  • Initiatives
  • Equity, diversity and inclusion
  • Campus and locations
  • Awards and rankings
  • UTS governance

Staff and students

  • Current students
  • Help and support
  • Library
  • Policies
  • StaffConnect
  • Working at UTS
  • UTS Handbook
  • Contact us
  • Copyright © 2025
  • ABN: 77 257 686 961
  • CRICOS provider number: 00099F
  • TEQSA provider number: PRV12060
  • TEQSA category: Australian University
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Accessibility