About Heather Carpenter

I am a  careers and education consultant whose work roles include educator, career counsellor, lecturer, facilitator, trainer, researcher and writer. I am the author of three books, The Career Maze: guiding your children to a successful future, (2008), and Your 21st Century Career: new paths to personal success, (2010) and most recently, Facilitating Independent Learning in tertiary education – new pathways to achievement, (2021), a work-based learning resource co-authored with Glenys Ker.

My work has included designing and producing many career programs and resources; training career practitioners, and developing and writing programmes for tertiary institutions and organisations. My doctoral research was in Career Management and focused on identifying the effective career management skills that sustain career progress and satisfaction in the 21^st century employment environment. The model derived from this research appears as a self-assessment tool in chapter 10, Your 21^st Century Career.

As well as maintaining my career business, I  have had  extensive experience in tertiary education in teaching, curriculum development and management; most recently as a facilitator, academic mentor, assessor and curriculum developer for the College of Work Based Learning, Otago Polytechnic. My focus there was on those qualifications gained  through assessment of prior learning, and within the Graduate Diploma and Master of Professional Practice degrees, which provide opportunities for completion via workplace projects.

All of my work is underpinned by the thread of self-assessment, reflection and self-knowledge: these are the skills that bring people the insights for career decisions, and the confidence for adaptability and career progress.