Career Development Symposium
Join us on Wednesday, November 9th from 8 am to 5 pm
The Career Development Symposium is an annual open-house training event, for City employees, held in collaboration with our strategic partners. The event is intended to assist you on the road to career success by providing career tools, academic resources and professional development opportunities that will support the achievement of your future career goals. Not only will you gain access to workshops facilitated by career professionals, but also career counseling provided by partnering educational institutions. In addition, the one-day event will expose you to information that will incite career readiness, encourage career planning, and provide educational resources to support your future goals with the City.
You should attend the Symposium if you are seeking to:
Acquire a first-time bachelor or post-graduate degree for professional development
Build your professional brand using resources, such as resumes, interviews, and job searches
Obtain complementary career counseling support to explore your future educational goals, career objectives, and/or job interests
Expand your internal training opportunities to enhance your professional qualifications
Achieve more effective utilization of your skills and capabilities within your leadership role
Enhance your networking opportunities through relationship building and knowledge sharing
Evaluate your career goals to effectively plan, navigate and transition into careers of interests using concepts, strategies and tools
Meet Our Symposium Workshop Facilitators
Dr. Erica P. Howard
Trainer
Mosis Willett
Training Coordinator
Angela Rasheed-Stephens
Human Resources Manager
Dr. Charity Lanier
Dean, Strayer University
Tara B. Chandler, Ph.D.
Sr. Trainer
Karen Harris
Training Administrator
Tony Cross
Training Administrator
Senior Communications Specialist
SYMPOSIUM WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do
It seems that many leaders are busier than ever, but less happy and less productive as ever. Why is that? Could it be that they have forgotten how to stay sharp? The well-known proverb, “iron sharpens iron” is particularly relevant when it comes to leadership – spending time with, communicating with, and hanging out with other leaders in the City is one of the best ways of learning. This workshop will provide leaders with a relevant and practical learning experience about the essentials needed to thrive again, becoming sharper and more efficient. After completing this workshop, each leader will be able to:
Differentiate between a positional leader and an authentic leader
Recall painful truths about burnout and leadership
Identify how to create an environment in the City that brings out the best in their people
Effective networking is an act that anyone can master provided its key components and strategies are well understood. This workshop will provide participants with effective business networking strategies to make connections and form relationships in familiar and unfamiliar environments. It also delves into the do’s and don’ts of successful networking and the game plan to take advantage of golden opportunities that can make you rub shoulders with the movers and shakers of the business community, seal the deal, access hard-to-get business leads, or land the dream job. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Plan ahead for networking events
- Craft an effective “elevator speech”––the pat and ever-ready answer to the question, “What do you do?”
- Identify opportunities to form meaningful relationships that can enhance their career
High-Impact Resumes and Cover Letters
This interactive workshop covers creating effective resumes. Participants will receive tips on resume development and learn how to present personal qualifications, such as educational background, work experience, skills and strengths, in a well-organized format. This workshop will also provide tips on preparing an effective cover letter that demonstrates your personality, characteristics, and strengths. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Present their skills and qualifications, including educational background, work experience and extracurricular activities
- Prepare an effective cover letter that demonstrates their personality, characteristics, and strengths
This workshop provides an understanding of leadership growth and how to progress in individual leadership abilities and ultimately expand influence. Exploring the theories of John Maxwell, participants will be provided with a great paradigm for understanding leadership and learn tools for understanding where they fit on the Five Levels of Leadership. Participants will explore the levels of leadership, reviewing the pros and cons of each level and the limitations that are found at that level. Participants will be given direction on how to ascend the levels as they grow and develop leadership abilities. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Evaluate and determine their leadership style
- Explore the Five Levels of Leadership
- Learn the steps to maximize their leadership potential
Career Enrichment: Creative Ways to Fine Tune Your Career Profile
Many employees face a multitude of challenges in the fast-moving, unforgiving occupational climate that does not reward stagnation. To move ahead, employees need to assess their current career status and determine the steps to take in their quest for a smooth-sailing career journey. Also, they need to identify learning opportunities that will further advance their career goals on an on-going basis. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Assess their current career status
- Map out a meaningful plan
- Recognize the obstacles that hinder career growth
- Come up with specific steps to take in an effort to improve their career profile
- Identify and take advantage of learning opportunities that will further advance their career goals on an on-going basis
This informational workshop will help employees learn the most effective techniques and best practices in applying for positions within the City, completing the employment application and answering supplemental questions. Participants will also receive a preview of current job opportunities within the City. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Discover the techniques used in finding a job in a competitive job market
- Effectively apply for positions within the City using the employment application and supplemental questions
Career Assessment and Readiness Exploration
This workshop provides participants with a brief, but relevant experience that will allow them to explore and assess their strengths, interests, and affinities as they relate to deciding upon a career choice. Participants will have an opportunity to take the Holland Code Assessment, which is intended to guide them towards a career where they will find satisfaction and happiness, based on their personality type. The Holland Codes or the Holland Occupational Themes (RIASEC) identifies personal strengths, interests, and affinities relevant to work. The assessment identifies six personality types and work environments, and purports that the closer the match of personality to a job, the greater the job satisfaction. After completing this workshop, each participant will:
- Know their “code” based off of the Holland Code Assessment
- Be able to recall 5 essential steps in the career planning and exploration process
Are You on the Right Path? Evaluating Career Opportunities and Educational Needs
Are you where you want to be professionally? Have you reached a fork in the road and can’t make a career decision? Do you have a career path? This session will assist you in learning how to manage your career through self-evaluation of your talents, abilities, and interests. The focus will be on providing you with tools, tips, and techniques for reflection, planning and goal-setting. Through the use of group discussion, this workshop will also explore ways to overcome obstacles to career fulfillment. After completing this workshop, each participant will be able to:
- Discover their interests
- Discuss, examine and apply their skills effectively
- Identify their Personality Preference and Interpersonal Needs (PPIN)
- Draft and make a career plan
This activity-filled workshop helps participants to successfully master the tough-to-answer questions asked during a job interview. Participants will also partake in a mock interview and receive professional feedback on their performance. Emphasis is placed on pre-interview preparation, anticipating and interpreting behavioral-based questions, describing appropriate conduct and dress, and performing necessary interview follow-up activities. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Anticipate and interpret behavioral-based questions
- Describe appropriate conduct and dress
- Test out their interview skills with someone who isn’t evaluating them for an actual job
- Perform necessary interview follow-up activities
This workshop examines and discusses an eight step plan for newly promoted/ assigned supervisors to utilize in order to be successful and effective leaders. After completing this workshop, each participant will learn:
- How to plan their first 100 days in a new leadership position
- How to evaluate the members of their management team
- How to change their organization’s culture
- The common pitfalls incoming leaders face
- How to lead by example
Career Planning and Development Strategies
The workshop provides participants with the necessary tools and development strategies for creating their own career plan. After completing this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify and analyze their strengths, passions, talents, and interests
- Analyze current educational and professional skills for career advancement
- Explore career options and how they will achieve those goals
- Discuss the importance of managing their career
PARTICIPATING PARTNERS
Participating educational institutions with a current agreement with the City will distribute information materials to Symposium attendees, as well as extend counseling support on enrollment services and academic programs available to City employees.