Constructing a satisfying career is a lifelong endeavor. This conference will give you the skills you need to establish and maintain the career you want, no matter where you are today.
Concurrent workshops will be organized around four stages of “career construction.”
1. Survey
In this phase, you will look at where you are today, where you hope to be, and what you might need to learn or do to achieve that goal. Workshops will help you with assessment, self-reflection, and career exploration.
2. Design
Build a plan that incorporates the steps you need to take. Your plan might be general or highly specific. You can use the knowledge gained in these workshops to design a road map for your next career moves.
3. Execute
Next, you will implement your career plan. Conference workshops will provide specifics skills and tools to help you work through your plan, step by step.
4. Maintain
Are you planning to maintain your current role? You still need to keep your skills up-to-date, stay current in your industry, and network with others. Conference workshops will address how you can continue to develop…and possibly even become a mentor to others.
Workshop Descriptions
On-the-Job Professional Development
Steven Catania
Are you looking for ways to develop yourself, or your employees, without breaking the budget? If so, then consider the 70:20:10 Model. This model suggests that 70 percent of employee development should take place through on-the-job experience, 20 percent through coaching and mentoring, and 10 percent through formal training. This workshop will explain the model, highlight success stories in both academic and industry settings, and provide attendees with resources to use when implementing the 70:20:10 Model.
Leverage the Power of Positive Influence to Build Your Career
Tamie Klumpyan
Does your work require you to influence a diverse range of people? Do you have a desire to learn how to effectively and positively influence decision-making, problem-solving and planning across your team? Are you interested in learning how to use your influence to achieve win-win outcomes? The power to positively influence people and situations is a vital skill relevant to professionals and leaders at all levels. Join us in this interactive session where we will explore what influencing is and how it can positively impact your career path. You will learn specific strategies to successfully influence without authority and gain valuable insight on how to use the communication strategy of “framing” to get what you need. You’ll take away techniques to shape opinions and build influence that will help you guide people and situations successfully now —and in the future.
Professional Development for UW–Madison Employees through Learning and Talent Development
Jessica Swenson
Did you know there are many free or low cost opportunities for your growth and development on campus? The Learning and Talent Development department in the Office of Human Resources offers hundreds of courses each year to thousands of UW–Madison employees. All offerings are during work hours and are developed specifically for UW–Madison employees. Classes are available for all career and job levels across campus. Attend this session to explore the many professional development opportunities offered to you and how you can register for our events. Additionally, you’ll learn how to use our registration system to manage your learning transcript, register for courses, and search for classes that fit your professional development needs.
Dust Off Your Résumé and Polish Your Skills
Christopher East
Is your professional résumé up to date? Are you describing your work and involvements at the highest level? Have your shared your skill strengths and possible areas for skill development with your supervisor? Join Christopher East, communication coordinator and career advisor, SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science as he shares effective résumé writing techniques and establishing personal goals for professional development.
Following this program, you will be able to:
- Identify the essential elements of a good resume
- Know how search committees screen applications
- Write effective job descriptions
- Understand the value of community involvement on your resume
- Assess personal/professional strengths
- Create skill development goals with your supervisor
- Incorporate skill development into your performance evaluation
“I’m Retiring…Now What?”
Sybil Pressprich
Although many people look forward eagerly to retirement, this major life transition can be unexpectedly challenging to negotiate. How will you remain active? Who will be your circle of friends? What will you do with your time? All these unknowns can be daunting. This session will look at how retirement has changed in recent years and provide a better understanding of the “new retirement.” We will also learn about strategies and tools to help you assess your priorities, explore your options, and evaluate your ideas as you develop a plan for a rewarding third quarter of your life.
Managing Your Career
Elizabeth Schrimpf and April McHugh
Constructing Your Career: Active Career Management
This workshop serves as an introduction to career management for individuals unsure of their current career development needs. In this workshop, participants will learn about the career management cycle, understand the goals of each stage in the cycle and identify where they are in the career management process. Participants will learn about specific steps to take in each stage and information on how they can manage their own career more effectively in the future.
Three Steps to Authentic Networking for Introverts and Rookies
Keith McHugh
Three Steps to Authentic Networking is meant for anyone, including us self‐declared quiet types, who would like to connect with other professionals without the stress and would like to get the most out of any business or social networking environment.
Three Steps to Authentic Networking is presented by an introvert and is the culmination of years of firsthand research and experience with meeting new people, connecting others with resources, and keeping up with new and old friendships. It is recognizing that this is not easy for everyone all the time and learning how to tap into the strengths we possess. Attendees will be offered a new way to see what networking really is, be introduced to resources and tools to make meeting new people more fulfilling, and learn how to leverage the strengths and source of energy introverts.
What Is Impostor Syndrome and What Can You Do about It?
Sherry Boeger
Some of the most capable, intelligent, hardworking people you know might experience the phenomenon of secretly feeling incompetent. It is so common that an estimated 70–75 percent of people will experience it at some point in their lives. Impostor Syndrome occurs when someone feels inadequate and undeserving, despite clear evidence of skills and success. In this interactive session, we will define various categories of people who struggle with confidence and help identify symptoms. My hope is you will gain perspective, learn tools and be confident as you move down your career path and beyond.
Making Connections: Developing Self-Awareness to Build Work Relationships
Jacob Klett
Mentoring can be formal or informal and, in either case, requires the ability to connect with others in meaningful ways. Self-management of our own emotions and assumptions can help us stay out of judgment in order to build and sustain positive work relationships. Often, when our emotional responses are automatic, they provide us a quick answer to a perceived problem such as the familiar “flight or fight” response. With intentional practice, we can learn to manage our emotions and increase our self-awareness, allowing us to recognize and overcome our internal assumptions. This interactive session will provide participants with opportunities to explore ways to improve work relationships through increased self-awareness. Through a blend of presentation, active discussion and personal reflection, participants will explore tools and strategies to increase their own self-awareness and take the first steps toward developing positive mentorship relationships with others.
UW Technology for Productivity and Professional Development
Lane Sunwell
This lecture-based session will showcase the myriad of tools available on campus that all university employees can leverage for professional development and better work productivity.Come discover how to use Lynda.com to improve your work skills and decrease time performing menial labor. See how a free university WordPress site can showcase your skills and capabilities to your next employer. Find out how to use UW–Madison’s Google Suite to collaborate with coworkers and save time. Bring your laptop to try out ideas as they’re presented. Attendees will leave with a better comprehension of free university tools available to them and how to use them.
Nuts and Bolts of Returning to School
Autumn Sanchez
Thinking about returning to school for a first, second, or advanced degree? This workshop provides information and options as you plan to continue your education. Learn about:
- Undergraduate, graduate, professional and certificate programs
- Becoming a University Special Student
- Student support services
- Financial assistance
If you are an adult who has been out of school for a while and are considering returning to pursue undergraduate or graduate study, or to update skills, this workshop is for you regardless of the school you plan to attend. After attending this workshop, you will have a better understanding of how to get started on the process of selecting and applying to schools and how to research financial assistance. Lecture-style delivery with time for Q&A.
Personal Branding for Professional Growth
Ellen Bartkowiak
When was the last time you spent an hour focusing on yourself? If you haven’t taken the time to work on your personal brand, let’s do it together! As a career counselor, you spend time helping others with their career goals and brands, but how often do you take the time to work on your own? This session will allow you the time to focus on personal branding, review the basic formula, and create a plan for implementation. This interactive session will put your needs first so that you can return to work focused, engaged, and maybe even a little more confident about your strengths, gifts, and unique selling points.
Interviewing from the Inside Out
Elizabeth Disch
Have you ever had a job interview that you thought went well, confident you would get the call with the offer of your dreams, only to receive that standard rejection email a week later? You replayed your answers in your head, trying to find “the thing” you did wrong, but had no idea what it was? The experience likely shook your confidence, perhaps enough that you paused (maybe even abandoned) your job search. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. In this presentation, we will examine the various elements leading up to, during, and following a job interview that—believe it or not— are actually within your control and can lead to improved interview outcomes. Once you master these and start “interviewing from the inside out,” you will have the tools you need to rock your next job interview.
Understanding and Developing Career Self-Reliance and Resiliency
Lynn Freeman
“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life…Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” Steve Jobs, on being fired from Apple in 1984
Career resilience is the ability to adjust to career change as it happens, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks and learn from experiences so you keep moving forward. We benefit from having career resilience when something unexpected happens (like a job loss). We also benefit from career self-reliance, or taking responsibility for our career growth while maintaining commitment to the success of the university. Do you have career resilience and career self-reliance? Join us for this interactive and informative session on what these are, why they are important, and how to develop them.
To Get What You Want, You Have to Talk about It
Shelly Vils Havel
Have you thought about what your role is in your own career development? You are responsible for your career and professional development. No one else is. Others can be your thinking partner and help hold you accountable, but it must be your plan and the conversation starts with you!
One of the best ways to engage your supervisor in your career development is to initiate a discussion. You have many opportunities whether through formal performance or goal-setting conversations, or informal one on one conversations.
How do you get started? Attend this workshop to discuss ways to start conversations and gain traction towards your career and professional development. In this interactive session you will learn strategies and tips to better align the employee-employer relationship through goal-setting conversations. Learn to focus the conversation on the aspects that make the biggest impact on employee development and performance. You will also explore innovative conversation starter tools to get the ball rolling and maximize your results.
Panel Discussions: Career Paths
Various speakers; see conference program for details
UW–Madison employees representing a variety of professions will share their experiences, including their individual career paths, job responsibilities, professional challenges and rewards, and more. There will be time for questions. Attendees may choose from panels focused on the following career groups, all of which are well-represented at UW–Madison: administration; academic services and student experience; finance; information technology; and facilities and capital planning.