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2005 Minnesota Careers Conference
The 2005 Minnesota Careers Conference, presented by MCDA, was an outstanding success! The positive feedback from the attendees underlined an enthusiastic reception to the three Professional Development Institutes (PDIs) and the evening Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 5. Just as enthusiastic was the response to the keynote speaker (Lynne Lancaster), the 17 concurrent breakout sessions, and the 11 exhibitors and sponsors who showed products and services on Friday, May 6. Conference co-chairs Donna Bennett and Nancy Fraasch, and their committee of Peter Vogt, Nancy White, Janet Pelto, Martha Krohn Berowski, Vicki Saulitis, Vic Massaglia, Irene Rossman, Bill Baldus, Tracy Schmidt, Jamie Morrow, and Diana Maxwell are to be enthusiastically congratulated. "I was impressed by the results of all the hard work of the planning committee. They did a wonderful job pulling off a great Minnesota Careers Conference," observed Becky Hall, President of MCDA. "Throughout the day, I had many people commenting to me on how they were thoroughly impressed with the venue, the food, and, of course, the quality of the presentations. Overall, it was a great two-day conference." Nancy Fraasch, one of the co-chairs of the conference, said: "This year, the conference location was changed to the University of Minnesota Continuing Education & Conference Center on the St. Paul campus. Since the general feel from everyone was that the facilities 'fit' MCDA better than where it has been held in the past, the 2006 Minnesota Careers Conference will be held in the same location. "People enjoyed the great networking, reconnecting with peers, and the informative sessions with ideas they can take back to their work. Our keynote speaker, Lynne Lancaster, spoke on 'Working Across Generations' and was found to be very inspirational, uplifting, and engaging. Some said that she was our best keynote ever!" ~ Dave Bennett
Lynne Lancaster, co-author of When Generations Collide, kicked off the conference with gusto as she presented the keynote address to conference participants. Her presentation was engaging and exciting as she illustrated her points about the four generational groups through the use of TV commercials, web sites, lecture, personal examples, and even a “name-that-song” contest. Is it important that we look at generational issues, or is this just another popular fad that will soon drop off our radar screens? Much attention has been given to this topic because of future employment demographics. Within seven years, 30 million currently employed workers will be over age 55. In addition, the skilled worker gap is estimated to be 5.3 million by 2010 and 14 million by 2020. This is extremely alarming information. People are living and working longer, which moves generational issues in the workplace to the forefront. As career practitioners and fellow employees, an awareness of the values, influences, traits, and differences between the four generations is essential for our increased effectiveness. Lynne presented some interesting facts about the four generational groups, who they are, how they view the world of work, and how we might counsel them by capitalizing on their strong points. The perspectives of each of these groups have been influenced by world events and societal issues. Career practitioners need to be aware of some of the strengths offered by each generation that can be utilized to their advantage when seeking out particular work environments or organizations, evaluating good fits between organizational values and personal values, and counseling clients regarding job transitions. ~ Bridget Kenadjian
Organizations in the new millennium are demanding more from their employees, including resourcefulness, innovation, and self-direction, while expecting them to be able to react positively to almost continuous change. Is this possible? Jane Barrash from The Continuum Center addressed these issues with an enthusiastic group at her PDI. In her view, employees must be able to create order from chaos, turn adversity into opportunity, and attract resources where there are none. To do this, we must find new ways of thinking about the universe. In Barrash's view, we live in a strange, unpredictable universe, yet approach it as if it were logical and predictable. She draws heavily from the world of quantum physics. In her view, the world of logic and facts became entrenched at the time of Descartes, with his discovery of the scientific method. At that point, the subjective world of dreams, attitudes, emotion, feelings, and memories became discounted and we stopped trusting our instincts. According to Barrash, all cultures outside the Western world see this subjective world as equally important as the scientific world. In the Western world, we depend upon the objective world to get our sense of "reality." Barrash suggests that reality is an illusion—that each of us has our own reality. If we demand logic in looking at the world, we miss other possibilities. Barrash is an entertaining, inspiring speaker and used story telling extensively to illustrate these concepts. ~ Rosie Barry
To Peter Vogt and Pam Braun, the subject of counseling introverted clients in the job search is a personal one. Being (complete) introverts themselves, they stress that introversion is not a matter of ability, but one of preference. For any client, it is important to help them understand and play to their strengths. For introverted clients, it is important to understand what introversion can mean in the job search and how introverted clients can use their strengths for job search success. Author Marti Olsen Laney writes, “Nothing is wrong with me. I’m just introverted." Clients (and counselors) may have received, and accepted, negative messages about what it means to be introverted. Being introverted is not about being shy, abnormal, aloof, antisocial or standoffish. Pam and Peter related personal stories from childhood in which this was the message they heard. When we work with introverted clients, we need to convince them that introversion is all about energy. As we strategize the job search with these clients, we need to be mindful of how much energy a particular strategy will cost the client and how much energy a strategy will earn the client. The goal is to minimize energy losses and maximize energy gains. Examples of activities that can lose energy for an introverted client are “cold” phone calls, working a room of strangers, and constantly being “on." On the other hand, activities that can gain energy are using letters or emails of introduction, blending into the background of a room, and taking “alone time” breaks. An introverted spin can be put on any job search activity. ~ Martha Krohn Berowski
I recently heard a panel of recruiters and search firm professionals talk about their work. They were in unanimous agreement that the No. 1 quality they look for in a candidate is a high level of emotional intelligence. And that’s across industries, levels, and areas of expertise. After hearing that, I knew which PDI session I wanted to sign up for at the Minnesota Careers Conference. Twenty-eight of us participated in Lisa Griebel’s PDI, “EQ & You.” Most of us felt like we were on vacation with a full day out of the office and an interesting subject to explore. The already-compelling content came alive with Lisa’s engaging style. I can speak for the group in saying we gained practical tools and valuable insight on the role of emotional intelligence in our lives, relationships, and work. And we had fun doing it! The workshop was made up of three parts: first, to know what EQ is and why it is important; second, to understand which emotional competencies are most important in our own life’s context; and third, to create an emotional intelligence development plan. The good news is that EQ can be developed over time through goal setting, maturity, personal experience, and conscious effort. Griebel says: “EQ concepts are universal: as human beings we are always feeling, and what we do with those feelings determines whether the outcomes lean toward the positive or negative. We can’t control our feelings, but we can control what we do with those feelings." ~ Bill Baldus The annual MCDA Awards Ceremony honored seven outstanding individuals:
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Minnesota
Career Development Association (MCDA)
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