Conference to focus on career building over a lifetime

Whether just entering the workforce or planning for the later years of their careers, people must be prepared to deal with the shifting nature of today’s workplace. Because people today change jobs and careers several times over their working lives, career planning has become a critical service offered by many schools, colleges, and private practitioners.

At the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s 22nd annual Careers Conference this month, more than 1,000 counselors, educators, and other career-development practitioners from across the United States and abroad will gather to focus on how best to prepare students and adults to make sound career decisions and to develop the employability skills necessary to navigate through their working lives.

Sponsored by the Center on Education and Work (CEW) in the UW–Madison School of Education, "Careers Conference 2008: Preparing for a Lifetime of Change" is being held January 28-30 at the Madison Concourse Hotel.

The conference offers more than 150 sessions covering a diverse range of topics, such as entrepreneurship, motivation, overcoming barriers to employment, working with at-risk populations, planning for college, and working in retirement. Session leaders — from preeminent national experts to everyday practitioners — will present the best practices in the field today.

With such variety and quality, the Careers Conference has become a premier gathering that provides professional development for practitioners working in diverse settings, ranging from middle and high schools, colleges and universities, to adult career services and retirement-counseling providers.

The conference also offers participants opportunities to tour work sites to learn from employers about skills and training needed for tomorrow’s careers. Tours this year include some of the leaders in Madison business, medicine, industry, education, and successful entrepreneurs — Epic Systems Corp., Henry Vilas Zoo, TomoTherapy, Inc., Glass Nickel Pizza, UW–Madison’s Camp Randall Stadium, WKOW/ABC Television Studios, Placon Corp., Inspire Design Group, and Cedar Grove Cheese.

Norman Amundson, an internationally known authority who emphasizes the importance of creativity, imagination and actions as career counseling strategies, will deliver the keynote address on "Breaking the Mold: Reshaping Career Development." Amundson is a professor of counseling psychology at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and a founding partner of Ergon Communications.

For complete details and registration information, contact Carol Edds at cedds@education.wisc.edu, (608) 263-4779.