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The MCDA Wellspring January, 2013

 

President’s Message

By Paula Brand

 

Get an update on where MCDA is with this

program year

Link to full message

Crossword Puzzle

By Raymond Holmes

 

Complete a crossword puzzle to test your knowledge of  MCDA

Link to crossword puzzle

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

MCDA, MACD and APCDA hold upcoming events

Link to article

 

MCDA Vision and Mission

 

MCDA announces its newly created mission and vision statement

 Link to article

 

 

Board Meeting Minutes

 

Board meeting minutes are available for review

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Feature Article by De Jackson

 

A Test or Not a Test? That is the Question

Link to full article

 

 

Members on the Move

 

Janet Wall, Karol Taylor, Diana Bailey and

Marilyn Maze are on the move!

Link to full article

 

 

 MCDA Visits Senator Mikulski’s Office

 By China L. Wilson

 

MCDA and NCDA advocate for career development issues

Link to article

 

 

Best Practices Column

 

Suja Joseph shares her tips on creating an

ATS friendly résumé

Link to full article

 

 

Feature Website

 

National Career Development Association

Link to article

 

 

Call For Volunteers

 

MCDA seeks your time and expertise

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President’s Message

Dear MCDA Members and Friends,

Happy New Year!  On behalf of MCDA, I share best wishes to everyone for a great year ahead.   After a busy fall, I am looking forward to this New Year.   In 2013, the MCDA Board will continue to listen to member needs and work towards implementing the Presidential Goals for this program year.   Read below to see where we are with things so far.

New leadership - As you know, we have a new President Elect and Programming Chair, Berri Wells.  Thanks to all who gave her a warm welcome!  We are excited to lead MCDA together in the coming years.   Due to only starting in late October,  the Programming Committee was able to schedule one event this fall but you can be sure you will see more events in 2013, including professional development events in person and through webinars, a leadership event, more regional networking events and of course our annual conference.   If you are interested in presenting a topic for MCDA, please contact Berri at Berriwells@yahoo.com.

Programming - In case you didn’t make it, our Regional Meet ‘n’ Greet held at Killarney House in Anne Arundel County went well.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, we had to reschedule, which resulted in a smaller turnout.  However, those who attended had a great time.  We had a lively discussion on entrepreneurship and shared excellent ideas and brainstorming for career businesses.    The food was excellent at a great price and the camaraderie couldn’t have been any better.  Thanks to everyone who made it!   Please look out for more regional networking events near you in the future.

Annual conference - Regarding one of our biggest MCDA goals, I am getting very excited about our annual conference which is now only a few months away.   Plans have been going on behind the scenes with involvement of the Conference Committee along with other helpers.  Everyone is doing an excellent job of preparing a worthwhile event for you.  We had a great response to our Call for Proposals.   Thanks to everyone who submitted a presentation or roundtable and to Pam McHugh for coordinating the process from beginning to end!   Plans are moving along rapidly.  Registration forms and full agenda details should be available on the website any day now. 

For a sneak preview, I can share the following... for the evening of Thursday, April 18th , we will have a full banquet and a panel presentation with well-respected leaders in our field including Rich Feller (NCDA President),  Lee Richmond (Professor at Loyola) and Niel Carey (NCDA's first Executive Director).  Senator Mikulski has been invited too.  The full day of our conference on Friday April 19th will include our keynote Rich Feller, return of the Tech Café, breakfast and lunch along with so many great breakout sessions you will have trouble choosing which one to attend.

Collaboration - MCDA is interested in collaborating with other groups with similar goals, and a few examples follow.   Board members attended the MACCA conference in December and we continued the tradition of offering raffle items at the MACCA conference.  MCDA has been working with MACD to keep each other informed of events.  You’ll see a message about a February event they are holding in this newsletter.  Also, please keep your eye out for an event on Saturday, May 4th with Mark Savikas.   If you represent a group related to the career field, please contact me about ways our groups can try to support each other.

Finally, The MCDA Membership Committee is preparing a survey to gauge information about what folks expect from us and what they would like to see in the future for MCDA.  Please take time to complete this questionnaire.  I thank you in advance for helping us learn more about what our members want.

Best wishes for a great 2013 – I hope to see you at our conference in April!

Paula Brand, GCDF, CPRW

MCDA President 2012-2013

MCDA.President@mdcareers.org

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Upcoming Events

MCDA January Event

For Those of You Who Were Not Invited to an Inaugural Ball, come join us for our next MCDA Regional Meet and Greet.  Kick off the New Year with good food, great fellowship and big fun (Formal attire welcome, if you dare).

When:  Thursday, January 24, 2013, 5:45 pm – 8:30 pm

Where:  Jasper’s Restaurant, 9640 Lottsford Road, Largo MD  20774 (301-833-2199)

Activities to Include:  Networking, Door Prizes, Speed Discussions and Pictures with the President!!!  Cash Bar and Dinner Menu Available

Please r.s.v.p to President Elect Berri Wells at berriwells@yahoo.com by January 22, 2013

 

MACD February Event

Mark your calendars for the upcoming workshop sponsored by MACD: "Impact of Cultural Sensitivity and Interventions on Mental Health," on Saturday February 23rd 8:30-2pm at the Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus in Rockville. Participants will enjoy discussion on a variety of relevant and engaging topics by prominent educators and leaders in the field.  The Opening Speaker  will be Dr. Clemmont Vontress followed by Dr. Aaron Stills, from Howard University talking about Evidence-Based Multicultural Clinical Interventions in Counseling," Dr. Norma Day Vines, from Johns Hopkins University speaking on Broaching Behavior in Counseling and Educational Contexts, and Dr. Nancy Wheeler, JD, ACA Attorney (topic: Are YOU Skating on Thin Ice? Exploring Law and Ethics in Counseling Children, Adolescents and Families in a Culturally Sensitive Manner). This workshop will strongly emphasize multicultural interventions, so you can leave with new tools for your practice.  Go to http://www.mdcounseling.org/ for more information.

 

APCDA April conference in Korea

The Asia Pacific Career Development Association will hold its first conference in Seoul on April 3-5.  As APCDA's Executive Director, Marilyn Maze has arranged for a number of tours for attendees after the conference, so that, after making new friends or renewing old friendships at the conference, attendees can continue to enjoy each other's company while exploring Korea.  Visit www.AsiaPacificCDA.org for more details.

 

MCDA Annual Conference in April

Join us at the Annual MCDA Conference for an exciting panel discussion and banquet on Thursday, April 18th from 6 to 9 p.m.  Learn about legislative changes and the impact in our field.  Enjoy a fabulous dinner and networking opportunities.  Earn 2 CEUs.

 

On Friday, April 19th, a full day of stimulating workshops will be offered.  Sessions on networking, branding, disability awareness, federal jobs, working in a multicultural environment, transitioning, working with mature job seekers, coaching clients, the popular Tech Café and much more! You can earn up to 5 CEUs.

 

You can register for day 1, day 2 or both days – whatever meets your needs and interests.  Full conference program and pricing will be posted no later than January 21, 2013. 

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 Board meeting minutes available for review

 "Minutes from MCDA Board Meetings dating back to mid-2008 are available for review at http://www.mdcareers.org/bylaws--minutes. We strive to have minutes posted within two weeks of each meeting."

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Members on the Move

 

Janet Wall and Karol Taylor received the 2012 Professional Contributions AWARD from the Mid Atlantic Career Counseling Association

 

Janet and Karol founded the Mid-Atlantic Career Development Facilitator (CDF) certification program. As NCDA e-learning trained instructors, they have applied their unique and compatible skills in successfully training many dozens of career counselors/coaches, government/private sector workforce staff, school counselors, and career and HR specialists.

Participants develop a collaborative website, conduct a webinar, speak with employers, visit educational and workforce career centers, research special topics in career development, practice helping skills, learn how to apply various career theories, deal with multicultural issues, and conduct a final project that is a capstone to the program.

Their graduates join a cadre of superior career development professionals fully prepared to serve as leaders in the industry. Alums stay engaged by participating in a special LinkedIn group where they receive postings on relevant resources, and have an opportunity to mentor current students.

They have expanded sites from Maryland into DC, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and implemented a monetary award for the participant with the most influential and excellent capstone project.

*********************

 

Diana M. Bailey retired from the Maryland State Department of Education after 39 years in a variety of roles.  Starting as a Howard County educator, she moved into the State system and gave many years of dedicated service.  Diana recently began her next career as a Technical Assistance Coach for a national consulting firm who provides technical assistance and training services to Department of Labor grantees.  Services will include career and workforce development skills and strategies leading to competitive employment for reentry services to adults and youth returning from incarceration and detention sites.

 

*********************

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Best Practice Column

7 Tips to Create an ATS Friendly Résumé

By Suja Joseph

 

  1. Text or word files are preferred to pdf format.
  2. The length of your résumé does not matter.
  3. Don’t ‘choke’ the system by adding pictures, graphics, logos, headers and footers and over formatting your résumé – (this makes it difficult for the software to read and sort the text into categories).
  4. Separate sentences listing accomplishments will bring you better results than accomplishments in paragraph format.
  5. Include keywords and related keywords from the job announcement throughout the résumé.
  6. Resume-parsing software runs contextualized searches – relevant and related terms, depth of experience and how recent the experience was in a career path.
  7. Your presence on social media sites is important – most ATS are programmed to look for and rank your social media presence and display it to the reviewer.

 

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MCDA Call for Volunteers

MCDA has some new openings on the Board.  We are looking for a Chair for the Student and Mentoring Committee as well as the Website Committee.   Some Committees have a Chair but are seeking members – among these are the Nominations, Awards and Membership Committees.   Every Committee welcomes new members.  If you are interested in joining or leading a committee, please contact Paula Brand at paulabrandcprw@gmail.com.   Or, you can go to our website, click on Contact Us and send an e-mail to the Committee Chair directly.   I thank you for reading this and hope you decide to get more involved with MCDA.

 

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How Well Do You Know MCDA?

                                                                     

The first five   people to respond with all correct answers will be mentioned in the next newsletter along with the answers.  

Please send your   responses to Raymond Holmes at MCDA.Awards@MDCareers.org

 

                                      CLUES

ACROSS                                        DOWN

                                                                                                
   

5

   
   

Number of officers serving on MCDA’s executive board

   
   

1

   
   

Lynne Waymon wrote this column in MCDA’s October 2012     newsletter

   
   

8

   
   

Committee which oversees the     process of granting Contact Hours related to Continuing Education Units to     participants

   
   

2

   
   

Last name of the Chair of the membership committee

   
   

9

   
   

Contact hours awarded to members participating in professional     development opportunities

   
   

3

   
   

An annual event sponsored by MCDA

   
   

10

   
   

The     annual conference will be held in this season of 2013

   
   

4

   
   

Award given to the person who has     been the most helpful to the MCDA President during the current year

   
   

11

   
   

MCDA is a state division of this association

   
   

6

   
   

Word that illustrates the quality recognized     in the award given to those who have found an innovative way to use     technology in career counseling

   
   

 

   
   

 

   
   

7

   
   

Last name of the Past President from 2010-2011

   

 

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MCDA Mission and Vision Statement

MCDA announces its newly created mission and vision statement

As you may know, one of my Presidential Goals was to solidify a Mission and Vision for MCDA and I am happy to announce that this has been accomplished.   To make this happen, a task force was setup at the start of this program year.  Raymond Holmes led this effort and carried the task to completion.  Input was solicited from MCDA members including Officers, Chairs and Committee Members.  Responses were compiled, reviewed and synthesized.  As a final step, MCDA Officers voted to accept the mission and vision below for MCDA.  I hope you agree that this mission and vision accurately reflects MCDA’s goals and actions and I’d like to thank everyone who participated in this initiative!

MISSION:  The Maryland Career Development Association’s (MCDA) mission is to promote a forum where career professionals network and share resources to ensure the quality of career services to the standards of the National Career Development Association

VISION:  MCDA’s vision is that all career professionals provide the most effective and efficient services in an ethical manner.

 

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A Test or Not a Test?  That is the Question

By De Jackson, GCDF/DCF, SSA Career Development Counselor (20 years)

When people think of the word assessment, they equate it to a test and immediately panic.  Assessments have been given for years and should be seen as an advantage, not a disadvantage.  Deciding on the right career path is not always an easy task.  There are many factors to consider and assessments can most times assist in your journey. Assessment tools are used to:

  • Determine what a person knows or can do.
  • Determine whether or not the goals of education are being met      (testing is a small part of assessment).
  • Provide diagnostic feedback.
  • Set standards.
  • Evaluate progress.
  • Motivate performance.
  • Become familiar with oneself.

There are various types of career assessments depending on the desired results sought. For example, the most common fee based personality test is Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It is a well-defined tool, which uses educational and psychological measurements to identify 16 personality types.  The results are to depict how people see the world and make decisions.  Based upon theoretical research, MBIT is also designed, to determine if a person will be successful in certain environments.  Most people will not need this intense assessment tool unless they are transitioning into management; technical positions; new entry-level positions, etc.

Another well-known behavior identifying assessment is called DISC.   It was developed in 1928 and is still widely used today. Each person possesses four types of behavior:

  • Dominance – relating to control, power and      assertiveness.
  • Influence – relating to social situations      and communication.
  • Steadiness – relating to patience,      persistence, and thoughtfulness.
  • Conscientiousness – relating to structure      and organization.

Understanding the interactions between each behavior and its relevance to emotion will provide insight on personal and work related relationships.  Sometimes certain job tasks require a particular behavioral style. The DISC can be administered to determine if the person being assessed will have a higher probability of success, if he/she responds appropriately

Other testing tools vital to career development are called self-assessments. These are usually assignments to provide quick feedback.  Based upon answers, a person can identify what they like, dislike; how they react to certain situations; how they learn, etc. Getting to understand yourself is an important beginning in career and personal growth.  Self-assessments:

  • Help the learner check if they have mastered a topic.
  • Provide opportunity to measure learning progress.
  • Are usually voluntary and may allow multiple attempts.
  • Inform the learner, but not the teacher.

A well-known self-assessment is the Holland’s Self-Directed Search (SDS), developed by Dr. John Holland. It can be completed independently without the need for a career counselor or psychologist.  The results will identify a 3-letter Holland code to coincide with the Holland’s six types of work groups, that best suits a person -- Artistic, Realistic, Investigative, Conventional, Enterprising, or Social.

Additional types of assessments include:

Interactive assessments - are the easiest and most fun to use.  They can include puzzles, games, and exercises and allow for immediate feedback.

Objective assessments - are used for the recall of learning.  Examples are the true/false questionnaires, multiple choice or short answer.

I.Q. (intelligence quotient) - an assessment of your ability to think and reason.

Aptitude assessments - help identify motivators versus your skills to target an occupation.

Career Interests assessments - identify the correlation between your motivators, your interests and your skills.

Occupational assessments - used to determine an occupational match according to your skills and interests. The questions will ask about values, interests and contains skills inventories.  There are many free online assessments if one takes the time to search.  For example, OSCAR is one.  It was developed by a university for its students.

So why not discover your strengths through assessments? Identify the knowledge, skills and abilities that will lead you to better personal and career growth.

Free Resources:

Career One Stop: Skills Center
Career One Stop: Occupational Profile
Building Effective Interpersonal Communication Skills: Self-Assessment Exercise


Many career assessments can also be located at college/university and job seeking websites.

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MCDA Visits Senator Mikulski’s Office

By China L. Wilson

 

On August 30, 2012, Niel Carey, NCDA Chair for Government Relations Committee and China Wilson, MCDA Chair of Legislative Relations Committee had a productive meeting with Senator Mikulski’s office regarding career development. The purpose of this meeting was to outline the range of services and resources that NCDA and MCDA members and their associates provide to help individuals across the age span prepare for, obtain and progress in meaningful careers and work, as NCDA celebrates 100 years of professional service. Our second goal, during a time of reduced resources and uncertainty at all levels of government, was to devise ways to obtain and maintain support for our mission and work. Moreover, prior to our meeting, Senator Mikulski wrote to us and shared her extremely transparent views on the importance of career development and its role in the workforce. A snapshot of her views were “In order to stay competitive in a global economy our country must continue to invest federal dollars in programs that help prepare students to enter the workforce” and our in-person meeting with her office continued to showcase that synergy. As a result, NCDA as well as the regional Maryland CDA was offered and gladly accepted the opportunity to partner with Senator Mikulski’s office as we seek reauthorization of the Perkins Act, in addition to a variety of other initiatives. We look forward to this partnership and the impact we will make as career professionals.

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Featuring the NCDA Website

MCDA is a division of the National Career Development Association (NCDA) which has a great website with a wealth of information to help career professionals.  Though NCDA members have access to more pages, there is still a ton of resources available to the public.   Please go to http://www.ncda.org and explore more. To help save you time, some links are provided below to take you to specific pages on the site.

 

To get to the government relations page that has everything you need to know about making a legislative impact on our industry, go to:  http://ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/govtrelations

 

To explore website listings for career development, job search, assessment, occupational and educational information go to: http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/resources

 

To access more ways to earn continuing education:  http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/prodevelopment

 

To learn more about CDF certification, go to: http://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/facilitator_overview

 

For a tutorial that introduces you to all of the great website features (33 minutes), go to: 

 

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Maryland Career Development Association (MCDA), 915 Russell Ave, Suite B, Gaithersburg, MD 20879


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