Download the December 2016 (Vol. 5) Newsletter

President’s Corner

Hello MCDA Colleagues,

We have just celebrated National Career Development Month and I hope you are as proud as I am to be in a profession which helps people!

We have the privilege of making a difference in the quality of our clients’ and students’ professional lives. I’ve always believed that great satisfaction can come from the work we do and I’m thrilled to be able to participate in the process of helping others find greater satisfaction.

Which is why our theme this year of “Strengthening Career Professionals to Serve Others” resonates with me. In the coming year, my focus will be on providing opportunities and resources for MCDA members to become better, and then to serve others better. I also hope that MCDA can continue to offer valuable events with great speakers as well as opportunities for connecting with others in our field.

When I was new in career development, the people of MCDA welcomed me and helped me to learn and grow professionally. We still have a wealth of knowledge in our membership and I want to encourage the sharing of this talent with others. I will always be a strong advocate for MCDA and the value it offers to members and our community. My goal is to promote our organization even further by strengthening the value we bring into the lives we can influence and ultimately, our entire community. I hope you’ll join me and our dedicated Board in this effort by getting involved in one of the many volunteer opportunities we offer!

Warm regards,

Kim Marrone, MCDA President, 2016-2017

2016-2017 Board Members:

President Kim Marrone
President Elect Denise Felder
Past President Vic Massaglia
Secretary Katie Ness
Treasurer Tom Colosimo

Board of Trustees

Sharon Balke
Donna Bennett
Bill Bridgeman
Margie Dirks
Lesley Farnham
Nancy Fraasch
Gordon Helle
Cindy Hinderks
Shelley Jensen-Decker
Bushra Rizvi
Simona Suen
Sue Fransen Way

Roundtable Recaps

September 21, 2016 MCDA Roundtable

President-Elect Denise Felder is a Certified Poverty Awareness Coach and works for Minnesota Career and Technical Education. On September 21 she shared her in-depth knowledge and led a rich discussion on the topic of Career Assistance for the Working Poor. Assisting individuals who are struggling with poverty issues related to a variety of reasons is incredibly challenging. Denise provided tools, techniques, and resources for assisting this unique group of individuals as they struggle with long-term decisions that are often overshadowed by short-term issues and stressors.

October 26, 2016 MCDA Roundtable

Past President Cindy Edwards presented and facilitated on the topic of ADHD in the Workplace. Cindy helped describe and define the often confusing terms of ADD/ADHD and how this condition impacts individuals at work and throughout their career by looking at brain structure and executive functioning. Cindy distributed a multitude of resources and tools for assisting individuals with both diagnosed and possible forms of ADHD.

Fall Event Recap

November 16, 2016 MCDA Roundtable

Nathan Perez, Co-Author of The 20 Minute Networking Meeting & Job Coach, shared his advice and techniques on
how to make the most out of your networking efforts. The 40 individuals in attendance really enjoyed the hands-on, step-by-step exercises he took the group through. Each participant received a copy of his book as well.
Look for information online about upcoming roundtable events to be held in January, March, and May 2017

NCDA News

At the May 2016 NCDA meeting, the Board of Directors reviewed and approved the Credentialing Organizing Committee’s recommendation, and announced the establishment of the Career Services Credentialing and Accreditation Board (CSCAB).

This was in response to providing NCDA members and the public at large, clarification of the differences between the wide varieties of career services professionals and to address the need for providing opportunities for industry credentials for its members according to their educational and experience levels.

For year 2016-17, the CSCAB will offer:

• Certified Career Services Provider (CCSP) Intended for career services providers in roles and settings such as consultants, coaches, advisors, workforce practitioners, facilitators, trainers and recruiters and resume writers. This certification is earned upon the successful completion of NCDA Career Services Provider Training program, formerly known as NCDA Career Development Facilitator Training program.
• Certified Master of Career Services (CMCS) Intended for providers with greater tenure and experience in a wide range of roles such as consultants, coaches, advisors, workforce practitioners, facilitators, trainers and recruiters and resume writers.
• Certified Career Counselor (CCC) Intended for career counselors with Masters or Doctoral degrees in counselor education, counseling psychology or closely related degree engaged in career counseling or related career services.
• Certified Career Counselor Educator (CCCE) Intended for Counselor Educators engaged in developing, implementing and supervising the education of professional counselors who seek specialization in career counseling.
• Certified Clinical Supervisor of Career Counseling (CCSCC) Intended for individuals who serve as clinical supervisors to career counselors and other practitioners who provide career services.

All the above credentials would additionally require review and approval by CSCAB, of a formal portfolio application. Furthermore, it was agreed that providers holding current

NCDA member designations (MCC,CC,MCS,CS) would not be “grandfathered” to any new above mentioned certifications. Any member wishing to earn a CSCAB certification must formally apply for that credential.

Member Spotlight: Steve Chirpich

Like many people coming out of high school, I had little idea about what I really wanted to do. After 3 years of college and various jobs, I concluded that I wanted to be a Physical Therapist. I became very focused on that, and worked strategically and diligently to elevate my college grades, and expand my work and volunteer experiences.

Making the alternate list at a medical school was a big accomplishment, but not quite enough. I was crushed, and my life took another track. After co-leading a variety of youth programs for 11 years, I was laid off and hired to work in the Dislocated Worker program with adults who are unemployed and want help to be re-employed.

Eventually, other career counselors such as, Paul Sears were hired who were more involved in career counseling. I admired the added value they brought to clients and our team effort. Co-workers Sharon Goodyear and Kathie Kosharek, who were finishing their Masters’ degrees shared ideas and support for a goal that I hadn’t seriously considered before.

I continued working full-time, and earned my Masters in Human Development with an emphasis on career counseling. Perhaps because I have had a variety of jobs since my teenage years, I really enjoy learning about the work that other people do and what that means to them, and I find it rewarding to play a significant role in helping each person achieve their employment goals.

As some leadership opportunities have come my way, I now do less career counseling but have great respect for people that do, particularly the people I know best: my teammates and co-workers. I know the work they do, and the significant role they play in their clients’ lives.

I value MCDA for the opportunities for the broad venue it offers its members to learn from each other, and realize the variety of differences and commonalities of people our members serve. When we gather for conferences, it resembles a museum collection of many artists seeking to improve their craft. I’ve enjoyed taking photos of the events because it allows me to sample a little of each session.

Some of the career counseling books I have enjoyed and would recommend are: Pocket Job Series by Amy Lindgren, 50 Jobs in 50 States: One Man’s Journey of Discovery Across America by Daniel Seddiqui and Do You Know What It Means to Teach New Orleans? By Mark Lucker

Upcoming Events

Winter Event

On March 10, MCDA’s Diversity Committee is organizing its annual Winter Event in partnership with Metro State University at the Metro State’s campus. This event will be in the morning. There will be a keynote workshop after which attendees will break out into roundtable discussions on various career related topics. The event will be open to Metro State students and staff and will conclude with a networking lunch for MCDA members. Please look out for further details and information about registration in subsequent MCDA communiqués.

Spring Conference

The Conference Committee has our Spring Conference set for Thursday and Friday, April 27th & 28th. This year the conference will be held at the New Brighton Community Center. Please put this on your calendar now. Soon requests for session proposals will go out and we encourage you to consider presenting on a topic you are passionate about this year.

LinkedIn Updates

LinkedIn is undergoing construction. The new style and layout are changing the layout of the LinkedIn home page, and profile page as we have come to know it. Click on this video to learn more about these changes.

Another new feature in LinkedIn is Open Candidates: Open Candidates makes it easier to connect with your dream job by privately signaling to recruiters, that you’re open to new job opportunities, securely and confidentially. You can specify the types of companies and roles you are most interested in, and be easily found by the hundreds of thousands of recruiters who use

LinkedIn to find great professional talent. Open Candidates is accessible from the “Preferences” tab on the LinkedIn Jobs home page. To enable the feature, simply turn sharing “On” and fill in some brief information about the types of roles you are interested in. You can privately indicate to recruiters on LinkedIn if you do not wish your current employers to know you are looking for new opportunities: LinkedIn will hide the Open Candidates signal from recruiters at your company or affiliated company recruiters. This feature allows you to not only search millions of jobs on LinkedIn, it also enables you to learn about the company’s culture through LinkedIn’s newly released Career Pages and “Meet the Team”. Additionally, LinkedIn is offering high quality courses, and content to help acquire new skills for desired jobs through their new LinkedIn Learning platform.