"Career Change" Webinar Series A Success (2009)

November 10 - 12, 2009.  Alumni and friends flocked to the NAA-sponsored, sold-out "Career Change Webinar", which addressed how to effectively maneuver a career. The webinar featured career transition experts, Marilyn Moats Kennedy (J65, GJ66) and David J.P. Fisher (WCAS98).

The three session series addressed the first steps to approaching a career change, building your personal brand, preparing for the interview, and leveraging your network to land the employment opportunity. The first session, "First Steps", helped participants create a career “business plan” by identifying objectives, constraints, and incorporating effective networking to generate opportunities. Fisher and Kennedy underscored the importance of embedding yourself within the target industry and refining your message to communicate your skill set at industry events, job fairs, and networking events.

Following the introductory session, "Building your Personal brand and Defining your Targets" illustrated how to build a better resume by focusing on the job objectives, relevant experiences, and emphasizing quantitative results. Fisher and Kennedy then outlined how to target the best companies to maximize career opportunities. By concentrating on younger companies typically hovering between 5-10 years old, with less than 2,500 employees and profitable over the past 2 years, it will be easier to break into the industry. Lastly, participants learned how to leverage virtual networking to create new contacts and to warm cooler connections.

The third session, "Preparing for the Interview", incorporated job-hunting tips in the new economy, and an interviewing 101 tutorial with salary negotiation advice. The presenters emphasized turning to your network resources to unearth company and industry insight. Additionally, Kennedy and Fisher highlighted the importance of asking relevant pre-interview questions within your extended network, by utilizing the introduction feature on LinkedIn.com. By generating useful information about the employer’s challenges, expectations, organizational dynamics, and hiring process, you will give yourself a competitive edge in the interview process.

Thorough networking and research within the target industry formed the overarching themes of the Career Change Webinar series. By making career objectives concrete and forming action steps within a career networking plan, participants can leverage their purple and personal networks to land the next employment opportunity efficiently and intelligently.

Purchase the NAA webinar series recording.

Posted November 23, 2009.