Lynne Williams, Integrated Digital Marketing Certification

There is no going back to the past with AI, except for the need of human oversight. In the rapidly evolving job market, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a key player in how job seekers discover opportunities and present themselves to potential employers. This interactive workshop will equip you with the knowledge and tools to effectively integrate AI into a job search strategy.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn techniques with some AI Tools to get familiar with some AI platforms and software to optimize a job search
• Enhance their personal resumes and LinkedIn profiles and learn how to guide others to use AI to tailor resumes and cover letters for specific job postings, ensuring the application stands out
• Use AI in job matching: Discover how AI can help individuals identify the best job opportunities that match their skills and aspirations

Elisa Seeherman, Associate Director of Career Services, Penn State Great Valley

In this engaging and insightful workshop, I'll share my unexpected journey from guiding others through their career transitions to navigating my own unemployment. What I discovered is that when a career counselor suddenly finds themself in the job market, something remarkable happens: theory meets reality, and empathy transforms from professional practice to lived experience. Participants will explore the powerful intersection of professional expertise and personal vulnerability as I present honest reflections on how being unemployed reshaped my understanding of the emotional and practical challenges my students/clients face. Through storytelling, interactive discussions and practical exercises, attendees will discover the positive impact of the authentic empathy that is gained when we experience situations similar to those we serve.

Learning Objectives

This presentation will prompt a discussion on ways in which all stakeholders can provide opportunities for college students to embrace and improve career competency development.

• Understand how personal struggle creates deeper connection with those we serve
• Discover the unexpected insights gained when professional knowledge collides with personal experience
• Explore techniques for authentic vulnerability that enhances rather than undermines professional credibility
• Identify the unique value of "having been there" when guiding others through similar journeys

Managing Transitions: Helping Clients Move from Ending to the Beginning

Eileen Snyder, Private Practitioner, GCDF

Transitions are emotional, psychological, and identity-based. In this session, participants will explore a framework for coaching through transitions, utilizing William Bridges’ Managing Transitions model (Ending, Neutral Zone, and New Beginning) to assist clients and students facing job loss, burnout, return-to-work dilemmas, or mid-career reinvention. This session will integrate journaling prompts, a case scenario, and coaching strategies to prepare participants to navigate change with empathy and effectiveness.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn to apply the three-phase transition model (Ending, Neutral Zone, New Beginning) to real-life career coaching scenarios.
• Discover how to utilize powerful questions, and journaling prompts to assist clients in processing and reframing career disruptions.
• Identify client behaviors and emotions that signal transition resistance and develop strategies to help the client move forward.

Margaret Land, Board Certified Coach (in progress)

The job market is changing—again. As employers increasingly adopt skills-based hiring practices, existing career development models must evolve. This session explores how career development professionals can empower students to identify, articulate, and apply transferable skills so students thrive in a new, ever changing market. Through hands-on examples, data, and practical coaching strategies, attendees will leave equipped to help students of all majors compete confidently in a credential-light, skills-heavy landscape.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn about the shift to skills-first hiring and its implications for higher education.
• Facilitate student reflection on transferable skills gained through academic, co-curricular, and life experiences.
• Incorporate skills language into resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, and mock interviews.
• Learn strategies for partnering with faculty and employers to promote skill development and visibility across campus.

Dr. Binta Brown, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Career Coach

Staff career wellness is a critical but often overlooked factor influencing student success and institutional excellence in higher education. This session explores the twin challenges of burnout and "boreout" among academic and administrative staff, examining their causes, signs, and consequences. Drawing on foundational career development theories and contemporary wellness frameworks, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how staff well-being directly impacts student engagement, learning outcomes, and operational effectiveness. The session also offers evidence-based strategies and practical tools for institutions to support staff career wellness, build resilience, and mitigate these threats. Attendees will leave equipped to advocate for and implement career wellness initiatives that enhance both people and organizational performance.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Define burnout and boreout and recognize their manifestations among higher education staff.
• Apply core career development theories and wellness models to understand staff career well-being.
• Explain the impact of staff wellness on student success and institutional operational excellence.
• Identify and implement practical strategies to promote staff career wellness and mitigate burnout and boreout.

Ira Disman, Career Coach, Cornerstone Career Advising

It is estimated that approximately 40% to 60% of people in the United States will change careers at least once in their lifetime and that approximately 60% to 80% of people who take a break from their careers eventually return to work. Who does someone turn to for advice that wants to change their career field, is in transition due to circumstances beyond their control, or is returning to the work force after a long-term break? Of course, for the MACCAA audience, everyone will say a career coach! For those who do work with career coaches, recruiters can still provide valuable/alternative insights that a career coach may not be privy to. This presentation will do a deep dive of the often overlooked and time-tested strategy of a job seeker/career changer in utilizing recruiting firms/agencies in their search. It will look at the many different areas that a recruiter can supplement a career coaches' advice, including resumes, interviewing, and compensation expectations/offer negotiations.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn how to advise jobseekers about the different types of recruiting firms/agencies (retained, executive, contingency, corporate, temporary).
• Advise jobseekers on the advantages and disadvantages of each type of recruiting firm/agency.
• Advise jobseekers on the advantages and disadvantages of working with the different types of recruiters and the additional insight they can provide.
• Gain tips on the most effective ways of working with the different types of recruiters that they can pass onto jobseekers.

Roundtable Topics To Be Announced

Stacy Moore, Certified Career Management Coach

In the past, career development relied on tools like word cloud generators, interest inventories, and worksheets to encourage reflection and guide conversation. These resources helped jobseekers articulate goals and identify patterns, but today’s technology opens new doors for personalization, speed, and real-time feedback. This session will explore how foundational career strategies still ground our work—and how generative AI tools like Large Language Models (LLMs) can expand our impact. Nowadays, it’s not enough to be aware of AI; we need strategies to stay ahead without getting overwhelmed. Attendees will leave with curated resources for staying up to date, plus a clear, manageable strategy to turn a fast-moving and often intimidating technology landscape into an opportunity for growth—for themselves and those they serve.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Compare traditional career development practices with emerging AI-driven approaches.
• Distinguish between essential and optional elements of an effective chat prompt to enhance client outcomes.
• Identify reliable resources and create a plan to stay current with evolving AI tools.
• Develop a sustainable strategy for integrating AI into career development practice.

Dr. Barry Davis, Certified Master of Career Services, Career Transition Counsultant, Cerfied Talent Consultant

A book by Julie Jansen published over 20 years ago made the following comment – "I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This." The existence of this vocational quandary is no less present today…perhaps it is even more widespread! Some potential influences for this challenge include: options for career choice these days are dizzying and constantly changing, most people are better at more things than they want to do for a living, technology continues to pick up speed, and the looming specter of Artificial Intelligence makes some wonder if many careers may become extinct before one completes training. It’s not surprising that the result of this myriad of factors is confusion for many! What is to be done when confusion brings frustration, constant equivocation, even vocational paralysis? Attend this practical seminar to improve your “confusion intelligence” and discover the latent resources present in this challenging phenomenon.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Discover the primary factors that can cause career confusion.
• Receive information on the neuroscience of confusion.
• Learn about the “Confusion Matrix” and its relationship to career decisions.
• Experience a strategic approach to marshaling the power of confusion to take action.

Cheryl Clark Bonner, Director, Alumni Career Services Penn State University  
Patrick Fligge, Director, Alumni Career Engagement | Institutional Advancement

Back to the Future: Reinventing Group Career Coaching for Reach, Impact, and Efficiency. Explore how career services can scale support without sacrificing quality. This session blends high-tech tools with high-touch coaching strategies to meet the evolving needs of job seekers—especially career changers. Learn from Penn State and Temple University’s reimagined models, including asynchronous learning, live coaching, and peer support. Walk through a practical framework guided by five key design questions. Discover how to engage participants, measure success, and adapt programs. Join us to build inclusive, efficient, and future-ready coaching programs.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Identify key challenges and opportunities in scaling group career coaching to meet the evolving needs of diverse job seekers, especially career changers.
• Apply a five-question framework to design or enhance group coaching programs that integrate both technology and personalized support.
• Evaluate innovative coaching models from Penn State and Temple University to understand how institutions can expand reach and optimize resources.
• Develop actionable strategies to implement inclusive, adaptable, and measurable group coaching initiatives across various professional settings.

Karen James Chopra, Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Career Counselor, National Certified Counselor

The future is inevitable-and it’s arriving faster than ever. For many, the idea of starting or growing a private practice can feel daunting amid constant change and uncertainty. Yet, private practices play a vital role in supporting the broader workforce as they navigate these evolving challenges. This workshop will provide you with practical strategies and actionable steps to future-proof your private practice, whether you’re just starting out or looking to grow. You’ll learn how to anticipate industry trends, adapt to new developments, and position your practice as a leader and resource for your community. Join us to gain the confidence and tools needed to thrive in the changing landscape and help others do the same.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn the critical foundational elements of a successful private practice.
• Identify the signals that it’s time to adapt to a changed environment.
• Understand the three best practices of a thriving private practice

Eileen Snyder, Private Practitioner, GCDF

Our greatest leverage in the coaching business is the human connection. As AI reshapes the career landscape, career professionals must stand their ground. The relationship between client and coach cannot be replaced with technology. Career journaling is a human-centered tool to help clients explore their values, fears, and aspirations for their work future. Through journaling, clients are writing their stories, something AI can't do authentically. In this session, you will learn practical ways to integrate journaling into coaching sessions or assign it as reflective homework. It can be used as part of your intake form. Finally, we will discuss ways in which to engage a client who may resist writing. (there are apps for that). No matter how advanced AI becomes, the combination of journaling and human connection will make your coaching relevant and impactful.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Identify the unique value of career journaling as a human-centered practice that strengthens the coach-client relationship in the age of AI.
• Learn to apply practical techniques to integrate journaling into coaching sessions or as reflective homework, informal assessment, and intake forms enhancing client self-awareness and goal alignment.
• Develop strategies to engage clients who may resist writing, making journaling an accessible and adaptable tool.

Karen A. Litzinger, National Certified Counselor, Certified Career Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor

Career changers usually come to us in pain and with spinning thoughts. The Monday Blues exercise can be used as a holistic framework to help you assess the situation, educate the client and together decide on a path forward. This informal questionnaire has roots in core career development theory and also focuses on the emerging career development trends of paying more attention to emotional barriers and mental health. The exercise will be used with a case study and permission is given to reproduce to share with clients, colleagues and mental health professionals.

Learning Objectives: by the end of the workshop, attendees will:

• Learn a practical framework for assessing individual career dissatisfaction and for providing insights about their pain points
• Use the framework to help individuals assess how large and what types of changes, both external and internal, they may want to consider for greater career and life satisfaction.
• Increase awareness of the intersectionality of career counseling and mental health issues and language support related to making referrals as needed •
• Use the exercise in a case study to increase understanding and will have access to reproduce it for future use.