Working in career development, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with individuals from all over the U.S., and I occasionally have clients that live or have lived abroad. It is eye opening to see how different cultures and areas of the country approach career planning. Embracing diversity and inclusion is important for job seekers, employers and career practitioners. Here are 3 ways to embrace Diversity and Inclusion: Job Seekers – Seek out companies that are searching for candidates based on culture fit. You can often recognize these organizations because their culture is evident in their marketing, mission statement
Do you want to grow tomorrow’s talent today? Some of the best companies know the value of an internship program to their talent management strategy. And current research shows that 40% of interns return to the organization they interned with for full-time employment If you’re a college student, participating in an internship(s) is one of the best methods for ensuring job offers come your way before you graduate. In fact, choosing a college based on their relationships with top employers and their established, quality internship programs should be a key factor in vetting a college. If your organization is considering
You’ve gotten a LinkedIn account set up, created a stand-out profile, built your network and have started searching for jobs. Now what? Ideally your job search should lead to people seeking you out instead of you having to search and apply for openings. This is done by creating a stellar profile and maintaining a personal brand that is consistent with your career goals. Be active in your use of LinkedIn so that people will come to you. Manage your Skills & Endorsements to ensure the ones you want to be known for are seen (How to reorderthem) Get Active with Groups
Have you always been curious about how machines work? Do you take things a part and put them back together? Do you like to design things? Do you enjoy figuring out why things are broken and fixing them? If any of these describe you, then Mechanical Engineering may be the career field that would make you tick. What do you need to be a Mechanical Engineer? Education: At least a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering If you are a high school student, make sure you are focused on taking higher-level math and science classes. Be sure to take Calculus and Physics if available
The 2014 National Career Development Association Conference in Long Beach, CA was a tremendous experience. Here’s what I learned along with some thoughts on leadership actions for us all to consider: 1. Career Development in an Employee Engagement Strategy. I heard about how Boeing and GM are setting up systems (mainly through online tools) to facilitate employees to take ownership of their careers and for leaders to take ownership of facilitating career development discussions and planning with their employees as a part of performance management. I personally learned how true this lesson is through an experience a friend had before we