Career Services hosted their first ever career leadership conference on Feb. 18. The idea was for the event to be comprehensive and for students to learn about different career development strategies. It was meant to add to Career Services’ other signature events such as the career fair. 

“(The goal is to) hopefully increase the amount of students that we can interact with and engage with,” said Dylan Tedder, Assistant Director for Employee Relations and Career Services.

The conference was broken up into three breakout sessions, each one covering a different topic. The first session discussed self discovery, in which students attended various workshops and were taught skills such as creating a vision board, developing a personal brand and learning more about one’s personality. The second session focused on career discovery and included an industry panel, taught workplace communication skills and how to develop a plan with one’s resumé and four-year plan. The final breakout session covered decision making and included workshops that discussed successful decision-making, diversity and graduate school. 

“All three of these together will develop those skills that will help (students) grow and flourish,” said Tiffany Johnson, Director of Career Services. 

The conference encouraged the participants to meet with each other and the presenters in order to network and make career connections. They stressed that this event was both a time for self-discovery and networking. 

In the vision board workshop, A-State student life counselors Carnesha Ben and Devin Nelson discussed highlighting one’s goals, while also making them realistic, attainable and fun. Vision boards act as a way to visually depict one’s goals. Students were taught to use them to illustrate their own career goals.

“Don’t put goals on there that you think are expected of you just because you think it might be expected,” Nelson said. “If you put goals on there that you’re interested in, that’s what’s going to make a vision board more helpful to you.”

In another workshop hosted by Dr. H. Steve Leslie, an assistant professor of business communication, students were taught how to maintain a social media presence that makes them desirable to employers. He discussed how students should be conscious of their digital footprint and to always be aware of the brand they present on social media sites. 

The conference hosted an employer panel, where industry leaders in Arkansas businesses discussed the skills a student needs to be successful in the workplace. They highlighted having good communication skills, having both work and volunteer experience, defining hard and soft skills, asking questions and taking risks. Afterward, the floor opened up for students to ask the panel questions. Students asked questions about applying for jobs and how to connect with people in an industry. 

“If you want to move forward in your current career, or if you want to expand your horizons and go elsewhere, you don’t want to just put the bare minimum down on your resumé,” said Anna Hawkins, a CLR coordinator for Northwestern Mutual and one of the panelists. “So the more that you bring to the table and the more positive change that you affect, the more you can talk about in interviews in the future.”

After an etiquette lunch, students witnessed a career fashion show in which they were shown various styles of business wear. Outfits presented were meant to demonstrate what styles like “business casual” and “business professional” looked like and when they would be used. 

Career Services will be hosting more events soon, such as the nursing majors fair on March 2 and the all major career fair on March 9. 

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