Last week, the annual Minnesota Career Development Association was held in Minneapolis.  Our Career Services Center staff attended and two of our Career Services Advisors, Nicolle Skalski and Dina Bergren, presented a breakout session on the topic of: “Post-Job Loss Reinvention for Mid-Career Professionals.”  They thoroughly researched their topic, including labor statistics and practical strategies to assist individuals experiencing long-term job loss.  Their presentation was well-received – one participant encouraged them to take their presentation to the national conference and another stated it was the “best breakout session” she had attended at the Conference.

We often encourage Walden students and alumni to build their professional reputation or brand outside their immediate workplace through professional associations, volunteer work, networking, building their online presence, and other activities.  I think it’s important to convey that “we practice what we preach.”  Our staff is very involved in our professional association through our various roles and presentations.   We deliver evening workshops in the community for unemployed jobseekers under the Walden Service Network.  We’re always reading and learning something new about our field, whether it’s tracking a relevant LinkedIn group, reading a new book for this blog, or developing a new workshop or webinar.  We enjoy what we do and it’s reflected in our efforts at continuous professional development.   

Though not a student success story, I wanted to post this to let you know we “walk our talk.”  Whether or not one is in job search mode, it’s important that we all continue to proactively manage our careers, especially in these challenging economic times.  Are you tracking your work accomplishments in a journal at home?  Are you on LinkedIn and joining relevant groups and list-servs to track your field’s hot topics?  If you want to brainstorm career enhancement ideas, we hope you’ll schedule an appointment with us.

Hope your spring season is off to a great start!

Lisa Cook, Career Services Director