Anush Hansen, Certified Career Counselor & Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC, CCC                                         Session 1 -11:15 AM

The pandemic has caused many of us to re-think how we want to work, and what is most important to us. As we think about entering into a more “normal,” post-pandemic world, it’s more important than ever to evaluate and vocalize our values, priorities and goals, and to determine what we need to feel more balanced, healthy and fulfilled in work and life. In this highly interactive session, career and mental health counselor Anush Hansen will provide some background on the connections between wellness and work-life balance, the use of card sorts in career counseling, and why and how she developed the Work-Life Balance Card Sort. She will offer strategies for how you can use it with your clients and students to help them prioritize self-care, career development, and better work-life balance moving forward. During the second half of the session, you’ll get a chance to try out a portion of the card sort yourself. Anush will facilitate an interactive group activity, where you’ll identify your top career priorities. She’ll lead you through a series of thought-provoking follow-up questions to help you reflect upon the meaning of your priorities, and start thinking about small changes you can implement to move toward your goals. Anush will also briefly introduce two new student card sort tools that are in development, including the Student Balance & Wellness Card Sort, and the Student Career Values Card Sort.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Be able to describe the 8 Dimensions of Wellness and how work-life balance can be conceptualized within a wellness framework.
• Be able to list 3 ways they can use the Work-Life Balance Card Sort with their clients and students in order to help them build more balance and wellness into their day-to-day lives. 
• Have a clearer sense of their own career priorities, and will walk away with some specific steps for moving toward their career and work-life balance goals.

Jennifer Brown Wegman, Career Counselor & Strategist, The Career Marketing Company                                         Session 1 - 11:15 AM

More employers than ever are relying on digital platforms for recruitment. As candidate pools grow, the days of just posting a LinkedIn profile and hoping to get noticed are gone. Instead, job seekers must actively campaign to stand out from the crowd by building a personal brand. By optimizing their profiles, posting consistent relevant content, and networking, clients will be able to establish their expertise, validate their value, and tap into the hidden job market to obtain referrals more easily. This session will provide proven, tangible strategies to help career development professionals guide their clients confidently through the brand-building process.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Understand how to optimize social media profiles to build a personal online brand.
• Learn how to create content that establishes industry expertise and validates value. 
• Discover how to tap into the hidden job market through virtual networking and referrals.

Dr. Constance Jenkins Pritchard, Owner, The Pritchard Group                                                                                  Session 1 - 11:15 AM

In the global world of labor shortages, employee succession and retention have become a critical concern of businesses.  This workshop will outline practices concerning career development functions in businesses as well as opportunities for us as career coaches. Knowledge is power and understanding ways for career professionals in business can help us. 

For individuals with little understanding of business, the workshop will provide an excellent introduction for thinking about career development in this sector. 

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Understand the delivery of career development in the business sector.
• Be able to identify key business functions that can benefit from understanding career development.
• Be able to describe career related training opportunities in the business sector.

Karen Chopra, Career Counselor, ChopraCareers                                                                                                        Session 2 - 1:45 PM

When clients are unhappy at work, they have many fantasies: becoming a barista or bartender, opening that adorable B&B, writing that long-delayed novel, or going back to school and starting over. Most of these ideas don’t make financial or professional sense. And yet these seemingly far-fetched fantasies can guide our clients to practical, achievable career choices. This experiential workshop will introduce the “Nine Lives” assessment exercise as a way of moving clients from fantasy jobs to real ones. Participants will engage in the exercise themselves and practice interpreting the exercises of others. You’ll add to your self-knowledge as well as your professional toolkit and have a great time doing it.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Administer the Nine Lives assessment.
• Interpret the Nine Lives exercise.
• Use Nine Lives assessment results to help clients identify career options.

Richard Feller, Ph.D, Professor, Counseling and Career Development, Colorado State University                               Session 2 - 1:45 PM

In this highly interactive group discovery experience, Rich Feller will lead participants through Who You Are Matters!, a fun interactive technique which introduces players to the One Life Tools narrative framework while providing them with substantive takeaways and insights about themselves and their possibilities.  This experience sparks meaningful conversations and helps participants connect the dots in their professional and personal lives.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Be able to analyze and self-evaluate elements of their life stories that influence the counseling process.
• Demonstrate an increased ability to show empathy, provide direct communication, and deliver constructive feedback.
• Use their Clarification Sketch to go deeper into their clarification and intentional exploration.

Suja Joseph, GCDF, Reemployment Program Manager, Maryland Department of Labor                                      Session 3 - 3:30 PM

The pandemic brought about advances in technology that were unprecedented, especially in the workplace. The pandemic also accelerated existing trends in remote work. In this presentation, we will look at the workplace of the future and learn more about what it might look like, to work in the Metaverse. The future is here!

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Discuss and comment on the following: What is the Metaverse? What role will it play in the future of our work? What are some new workplace trends? Are ‘dematerialized offices’ and workcations here to stay? 
• Look at what top companies are doing to embrace new trends and incorporate it into the workplace.
• Learn tips on how to stay prepared for the future of the workplace.

Sabina Sulat, Founder/Author, Re: Working                                                                                                                         Session 3 - 3:30 PM

As we emerge from the isolation of the past two years many are making the difficult and controversial decision to seek new career paths, often opposite of what they did before. As evidenced by The Great Resignation, many workers want to make that leap but still others are unsure of where to go and how to get there. Few people understand that their existing skillset can readily transfer to additional roles, rendering a complete transformation easier that it appears.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• Learn to build both short- and long-term strategies for their career progress and growth.
• Learn how to use existing skills as they transform to careers in alignment with their personal values and needs.

Barry Davis, Career Coach, Gift of Self Career Services, LLC                                                                                      Session 3 - 3:30 PM

Change is everywhere. In the most “stable” of times, change is present, and the last two years have certainly NOT been stable! It has been said that the only ones who want change are babies, and they cry throughout the process! What IS change? When you think of change are you excited? Annoyed? Inspired? Terrified? All of these? Attend this practical seminar to understand the importance of reframing Change as Transition, an important perspective to both understand Change as well as to approach these experiences as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• identify the major distinction between Change and Transition
• Be introduced to the 3 key steps in all Transition experiences
• Interact with the emotional components of the 3 steps
• Receive a list of books to deepen their awareness of Transition vs. Change