Session Descriptions & Room Locations
Welcome to the 2024 Minnesota Careers Conference! We’re glad you’re here with us!
Schedule, Session Descriptions & Speaker Bios
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9:15 – 10:15 am | Room P0806 A&B
Keynote Presentation – ChatGPT for Careers: Use AI to Accelerate the Job Search
10:30 – 11:30 am
Morning Breakout Sessions
#1 Room P0806 A&B
Generative AI in Career Development | An integral Tool for Equity
#2 Room P1840
Neglected Recruiters: Hosting a PD Conference to Build Relationships
#3 Room P1838
Putting Your “Counselor Feet” Into a Client’s Shoes
#4 Room P1808
Career Shocks as Catalysts for Change: Navigating Unexpected Turns
12:15 – 1:15 pm | Room P0806 A&B
General Session: Panel – Resilience and Renewal: Career Coaching and the Experienced Worker
1:30 – 2:30 pm
Afternoon Breakout Sessions
#5 Room P0806 A&B
Put the Go! In your Clients’ Goals
#6 Room P1840
What Do Employers Want (in a Job Candidate?)
#7 Room P1838
Putting Your “Counselor Feet” Into a Client’s Shoes
#8 Room P1808
2:45 – 4:00 pm | Room P0806 A&B
General Session: World Café Experience
4:00 – 5:00 pm | Room P0806 A&B
Awards, Refreshments, Dessert, and Making Connections
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(9:15 – 10:15 am)
ChatGPT for Careers: Use AI to Accelerate the Job Search
Room: P0806 A&B
Jeremy Schifeling, Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur, Marketing Director for Khan Academy
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Providing specific career advice for each student, alum, or client is a monumental task – especially when you serve hundreds or thousands of jobseekers.
ChatGPT is a chance to fundamentally reshape that equation, leveraging your existing coaching expertise in concert with this new technology to dramatically scale up your impact.
Join a former LinkedIn insider and ChatGPT power user to discover:
- What ChatGPT can do for you – from helping your clientele find the perfect path to helping you work more effectively than ever
- How to guide your audience in this evolving world – by understanding exactly what ChatGPT can do and what it can’t
- A hands-on guide to making it work for you – you walk away with everything you need to leverage this powerful tool
PRESENTER BIO
Jeremy Schifeling has devoted his career to helping others succeed in theirs. From teaching kindergarten in Brooklyn to recruiting top students at Teach for America to leading education marketing at LinkedIn, he’s touched the lives of millions of people at every stage of their journeys. Along the way, he’s published the best-selling LinkedIn and ChatGPT for Job-Seeking books on Amazon, served as a career coach for military veterans at Shift.org and MBA students at the University of Michigan, and produced the most-viewed video in LinkedIn’s history. He currently leads marketing at Khan Academy and shares his best career hacks on thejobinsiders.com.
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Morning Breakout Sessions
(10:30 – 11:30 am)
#1 – Generative AI in Career Development | An integral Tool for Equity
Room: P0806 A&B
Rebecca Dordel, Associate Director of Student Life and Career Design, Carlson School of Management
Annie Vangsnes, Senior Career Coach, Student Life and Career Design, Carlson School of Management
SESSION DESCRIPTION
“Just Google it,” is now “Ask ChatGPT!” What does this mean for those who teach academic credit bearing career courses? Learn from curriculum coordinators approaching AI through a developmental lens while recognizing it as a key tool to build students’ social capital and critical thinking skills. Hear findings from implementing AI in a career course taken by 1000+ students during the 2023-2024 academic year and receive language for effective syllabus and assignment structure using generative AI.
PRESENTER BIOS
Rebecca Dordel has worked in Career Development for 14 years, including time at the University of Virginia and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Student Life and Career Design at the Carlson School of Management, where she focuses her coaching and teaching initiatives on supporting students as they build social and cultural capital to effectively navigate academic and professional systems. She is currently the President- Elect of MCDA.
Annie Vangsnes (she/her) has been a career coach for 6+ years, including time at Capella and the University of Minnesota. She is about to start a new role as the Program Manager for Work+ and Career Content Initiatives at the University of Minnesota, where she will develop and oversee a system-wide career preparation program to leverage student employment experiences at the university. She continues to coach with Cindy Edwards at Find Your Fit, where she focuses her coaching around helping people navigate their careers and identities at work authentically and safely.
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#2 – Neglected Recruiters: Hosting a PD Conference to Build Relationships
Room: P1840
Tammison Smith, PhD, Associate Director of Career Development and Outreach, St Cloud State University
SESSION DESCRIPTION
The St. Cloud State University Career Center (SCSUCC) received a grant from Google which could be applied to any effort that served to enhance career opportunities for students. Inspired by a successful initiative at the University of Miami, the SCSUCC resurrected a shelved concept: Hire a Husky Academy. This drive-in professional development conference designed for recruiters and HR professionals aimed to provide a space for these hardworking recruiter allies. Often asked for significant contributions, recruiters could use the academy to renew their professional energies, learn new skills, and network with their peers. Additionally, the Hire a Husky Academy served as an introduction for unfamiliar recruiters to SCSU’s campus and the dedicated SCSUCC team. It was also a heartfelt thank-you from grateful campus partners to the recruiters engaged with the SCSUCC.
In this presentation, the SCSUCC’s journey in launching, running, and evaluating the conference will be reviewed. Participants will engage with the conference material through a demonstration of the afternoon session. Lessons learned from the project and its execution will be shared. The presenter will also discuss plans for expanding the Hire a Husky Academy brand to build on the collaboration between academia and industry established by this inaugural offering.
PRESENTER BIO
Tammison Smith is currently the Associate Director for Career Development and Outreach at the Career Center at St. Cloud State University. Tammison received her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from Walden University. She has worked with a range of populations throughout her career including in-patient mental health patients, the elderly with dementia, displaced workers, students with disabilities, and Native American students during a career path that has meandered from research at the University of Kanas Medical Center to career counseling at the Career Services Network at Michigan State University. Additionally, Tammison has taught master’s classes in college counseling and vocational rehabilitation programs, but her favorite role is as a supervisor for master’s students learning to be career counselors. Tammison has also worked as part of a therapy dog team and trained Community Emergency Response Teams on disaster psychology.
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#3 – Putting Your “Counselor Feet” Into a Client’s Shoes
Room: P1838 — Limited to 20 participants (repeated in Afternoon Breakout Sessions)
Cynthia Favre, Gustavus Adolphus College, MCDA President
Kayla Malgren, Student, Gustavus Adolphus College
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Trying something new is hard – especially when you haven’t tried something new in a long time. In this interactive session, you will be asked to put yourself in your clients’ shoes and try something new. We will take “ever changing” literally and give you a lesson in juggling! Because of equipment limitations this session is limited to 20 participants.
PRESENTER BIOS
Cynthia Favre is the Director of Vocation and Career Readiness Programs, Gustavus Adolphus College Center for Career Development. She has a Master of Science in Counseling and Student Personnel from Minnesota State University-Mankato and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota, Morris with a Sociology major.
Cynthia helps students to name their gifts and talents and find places to use them in the world. Focus areas of her work include assisting students in selecting academic majors, teaching Career Readiness (second half of fall and spring semesters) and teaching Design Your Future (January). She is very interested in helping students to gain career-related experiences while in college.
Kayla Malgren is a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College creating an individualized major in Entertainment/Coaching/Business. She is also a world class juggler holding several world records in juggling and an experienced juggling instructor, currently with Jugheads Youth Juggling Company.
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#4 – Career Shocks as Catalysts for Change: Navigating Unexpected Turns
Room: P1808
Vic Massaglia, Michael Stebleton, Abby Wilfert, University of Minnesota
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Career shocks are unexpected and significant events, often influenced by external contextual factors beyond an individual’s control. These factors prompt individuals to reassess career pathways and meaningful decisions through intentional reflection and planning. This interactive session will explore the concept of career shocks and their impact on individuals’ professional and personal lives. Using career metaphors as a framework, we will discuss various types of career shocks, their potential positive and negative effects, and strategies for navigating them effectively and purposefully.
Participants will gain insights into the research on career shocks, learn from the experiences of individuals who have successfully navigated career disruptions, and develop practical strategies for assisting our students and clients in building resilience and thriving in the face of change. Additionally, using small group activities, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on and discuss their own career shocks, and how they impacted their own career decision-making in recent years. Negotiating career shocks can be an intentional strategy to manage ongoing change in the modern workplace.
PRESENTER BIOS
Vic Massaglia is the Director of the Career & Professional Development Center at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He has a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Human Resource Development with a focus on Career Development. Massaglia is now a student in the Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with an emphasis in Higher Education. His doctoral research explores spirituality in graduate career counseling.
Michael J. Stebleton is a faculty member in the Higher Education program in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. He earned a master’s degree in Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology (CSPP) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. After working directly in student affairs and career advising for several years, he returned to the University of Minnesota to earn a Ph.D. in Work, Community, and Family Education. His research and teaching focuses on college student development and career education.
Abby Wilfert is a PhD candidate in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (Higher Education) and a Graduate Instructor for the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. She holds an MBA from the University of North Dakota and brings experience in career services, marketing communications, and entrepreneurship. Wilfert now teaches undergraduate sales courses and coordinates sales competitions. Her doctoral research pertains to experiential learning and career development.
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(12:15 – 1:15 pm)
Resilience and Renewal: Career Coaching and the Experienced Worker
Room: P0806 A&B
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Older workers encounter common obstacles such as ageism in the job market and perceived stereotypical challenges to adapting to new workplace technologies. Over the years, our approach to understanding older workers has evolved, broadened, and deepened, emphasizing the intersectionality of aging, social class, and racial identity.
What are effective strategies for overcoming these old and new hurdles? Can inclusive hiring practices and educational programs tailored to older adults, acknowledging the importance of intergenerational teams, and restructuring work environments to accommodate diverse workforce realities make a difference?
PANELISTS
George Dow, Executive Career Transition Consultant, George Dow Consulting
Denise Felder, Associate Director, Career Services, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota
Mary Jo Schifsky, Minnesota Gerontology Society Education Coordinator, WomenVenture Development Officer, and President, GenSync, LLC
Kate Schaefers, Ph.D. L.P., Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of Minnesota
MODERATOR
Rebecca Dordel, Associate Director of Student Life and Career Design, Carlson School of Management
PANELIST BIOS
George Dow started his solo practice in 2010 after 21 years as a career transition consultant at Right Management. Since 1989, George has helped his clients improve their career transition effectiveness and ensure “fit” in their future direction. He helps his clients through assessments, identification of options, and coaching to achieve their desired outcomes, both professionally and personally. Most of the clients in George’s practice are over 50 years of age.
George has also taught graduate and undergraduate career management courses at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. A dedicated industry leader, George has been President of the Minnesota Association of Career Management Professionals, and a board member of the International Association of Career Management Professionals. He received the Jules Kerlan Lifetime Achievement award from the Minnesota Career Development Association in 2009.
Denise Felder (she/her; @DeniseMpls) is a Workforce Equity Advocate and Career Coach with nearly 20 years experience exploring the intersections of career readiness and social justice. She has supported the career and life plans of job seekers and career changers from marginalized communities in numerous educational, community, and public organizations. Denise is a past president of the Minnesota Career Development Association, a Certified Poverty Awareness Coach, and a YWCA Racial Justice Facilitator. Denise earned a master’s degree in Community Psychology from Metropolitan State University. Her consulting business DeniseMpls Career Services is based in Minneapolis, MN, operates in cyberspace, and lives in the hearts of many.
Kate Schaefers, Ph.D. L.P. is Director, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Minnesota, a learning community offering enrichment courses for older adults. She serves on AARP Minnesota’s Executive Council, The Nexel Collaborative Advisory Board, and the University of Minnesota Age Friendly U Council. Previously, she launched the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers Initiative, a gap year for late career professionals exploring what’s next. She has a background in lifelong learning, encore careers, 50+ workers, and building connections between the generations, in higher education and in the workplace.
Mary Jo Schifsky founded GenSync LLC to change the dialogue about “traditional retirement age”. She puts the ongoing tension between recognition of older-worker value in MN’s workforce and ageism endured by those 55+ into perspective, and then reveals options and tools available to employers and employees as the entire work-life paradigm shifts.
Mary Jo’s work history includes over 45 years of business leadership, in both for- and non-profit settings, serving as CEO and business owner, Executive Director and Director. Recent contract assignments include Education Coordinator/MN Gerontological Society, Adjunct faculty/Metro State University and Interim Executive Director of the Friends of Saint Paul College Foundation. Volunteer engagement includes an appointment to the MN Board on Aging and working with Women Venture as a business development officer. Currently, she’s working to support the MN Legislative Task Force on Aging, a bipartisan effort to chart a comprehensive path to support over 1million 65+ MN residents.
In 2020, she completed a M.Ed. in Organizational Leadership and Policy Development at the University of Minnesota.
MODERATOR BIO
Rebecca Dordel has worked in Career Development for 14 years, including time at the University of Virginia and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She currently serves as the Associate Director of Student Life and Career Design at the Carlson School of Management, where she focuses her coaching and teaching initiatives on supporting students as they build social and cultural capital to effectively navigate academic and professional systems. She is currently the President- Elect of MCDA.
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Afternoon Breakout Sessions
(1:30 – 2:30 pm)
#5 – Put the Go! In your Clients’ Goals
Room: P0806 A&B
Julie A. Berg, Principal Consultant at HRD Consulting in St. Paul
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Ever wonder how our brains handle goals? Unravel that mystery in this interactive session at the intersection of neuroscience and coaching. You’ll learn some brain basics that impact how you connect & collaborate with clients on the road to their desired future. And, how about getting the breakdown of the brainy stuff behind goal setting and staying motivated? On this journey, you’ll merge into the neural highways that drive goal setting and discover how using brain science can power your clients’ success in reaching those goals. It will be like giving their ambitions a turbo boost using the accelerator of cognitive neuroscience!
So, get ready to pop the top on your coaching toolkit. By the end of this presentation, it will be filled with easy strategies from this brainy roadmap to put the GO! into your clients’ goals.
PRESENTER BIO
Julie Berg is Principal Consultant at HRD Consulting in St. Paul, is a leadership development consultant and an ICF-certified leadership coach working 1-1 with managers and together with their teams. As a coach, she helps put the GO! in her clients’ goals. She has over 30 years of Training & Organization Development experience in a variety of industries & organizations, including 10+year partnerships with cherished client companies. She holds a master’s degree in human resources development from the University of Minnesota and is a contract instructor/coach with Normandale Community College, Winona State University, and the University of Minnesota. She recently completed a neuroscience in coaching certification course with Dr. Irena O’Brien at The Neuroscience School in Montreal, Canada.
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#6 – What Do Employers Want (in a Job Candidate?)
Room: P1840
Paul Sears, Career Counselor, Private Practice
SESSION DESCRIPTION
What do employers desire in a job candidate? The job seeker who articulates what it takes to do the job exceptionally well has a powerful advantage, as does the applicant attuned to employers’ additional wants. Hear what employers are saying they covet in their new hires, with tips on preparing job seekers to respond accordingly. The session will include a combination of lecture and interaction, including group activities.
Bonus: Participants receive a set of PDFs on job hunting as a sales process which they can share with clients.
PRESENTER BIO
Paul Sears focuses on job seeking skills training and career development. Paul currently is in private practice having concluded 31 years with CareerForce at the Minnesota Dept. of Employment and Economic Development, where he most recently served as a Workforce Development Specialist. Paul leads a group called The Second Saturday Job Club Book Club.
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#7 – Putting Your “Counselor Feet” Into a Client’s Shoes
Room: P1838 — Limited to 20 participants (Repeat of Morning Breakout Session)
Cynthia Favre, Gustavus Adolphus College, MCDA President
Kayla Malgren, Student, Gustavus Adolphus College
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Trying something new is hard – especially when you haven’t tried something new in a long time. In this interactive session, you will be asked to put yourself in your clients’ shoes and try something new. We will take “ever changing” literally and give you a lesson in juggling! Because of equipment limitations this session is limited to 20 participants.
PRESENTER BIOS:
Cynthia Favre is the Director of Vocation and Career Readiness Programs, Gustavus Adolphus College Center for Career Development. She has a Master of Science in Counseling and Student Personnel from Minnesota State University-Mankato and a B.A. from the University of Minnesota, Morris with a Sociology major.
Cynthia helps students to name their gifts and talents and find places to use them in the world. Focus areas of her work include assisting students in selecting academic majors, teaching Career Readiness (second half of fall and spring semesters) and teaching Design Your Future (January). She is very interested in helping students to gain career-related experiences while in college.
Kayla Malgren is a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College creating an individualized major in Entertainment/Coaching/Business. She is also a world class juggler holding several world records in juggling and an experienced juggling instructor, currently with Jugheads Youth Juggling Company.
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Room: P1808
Sue Holm, Career Development Assistant Director, University of Minnesota Duluth Career Center
SESSION DESCRIPTION
How are you feeling personally and professionally? What about your clients? Are you and/or your clients feeling energized in your careers and personal life or is it time for a shift? Join us for a holistic discussion that explores the interplay between career & personal wellbeing that you can apply to yourself and/or with clients!
Participants will engage in activities that get them thinking about what they want in their career and personal lives. These activities can then be used to help clients navigate these areas. In addition, participants will determine action steps to move them closer toward what they want in their career and/or personal lives and away from what they don’t want.
PRESENTER BIO
Sue Holm is currently the Career Development Assistant Director in the Career Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD). She is enthusiastic about helping students and alumni find their career passions! Her specialization is in assisting students with major and career exploration as well as applying to graduate and professional schools.
Sue is a Gallup Certified CliftonStrengths Coach and has recently completed an ICF Level 1 Coach Certification Program through Awaken Coach Institute and is working towards her ACC certification. She has been active in professional organizations including MCUCSA, MCDA, as well as a founding member of the Duluth based Northland Career Development Professionals Association (NCDPA). Sue has a Master of Arts degree in Counseling/Educational Psychology and a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Psychology and Communication. Prior to working at UMD she was the Director of the McNair Scholars Program at the University of Wisconsin – Superior.
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General Session: World Café Experience
(2:45 – 4:00 pm)
Room: P0806 A&B
Victor Massaglia, Director of the Career & Professional Development Center at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health
Rachel Nihart, Career Counselor at Metro State University’s Career Center
SESSION DESCRIPTION
PRESENTER BIOS
Vic Massaglia is the Director of the Career & Professional Development Center at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He has a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas in Human Resource Development with a focus on Career Development. Massaglia is now a student in the Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with an emphasis in Higher Education. His doctoral research explores spirituality in graduate career counseling.
Rachel Nihart serves as a Career Counselor at Metro State University’s Career Center. A dedicated student affairs educator, Rachel is committed to fostering sustainable and equity-based career management practices for students. With a passion for empowering individuals, her goal is to bridge the gap between education and professional success. Rachel has an MA in Leadership in Student Affairs and soon will be embarking on a Ph.D. journey.
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Awards, Refreshments, Dessert, and Making Connections
(4:00 – 5:00 pm)
Room: P0806 A&B Stick around for some delicious refreshments and deserts, networking, and MCDA Awards.
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