10/01/2019
Timing Your Professional Development
By Melanie Reinersman and Ali Breen
How can practitioners, educators, and students find valuable professional development experiences when time and funds are limited? NCDA, as part of its mission, aims to provide opportunities to develop and enhance professional skills and knowledge. Looking at the NCDA website, under Professional Development, as well as on the home page calendar, you will find programs that could easily spark your interest, serve your needs and meet your goals. Low registration fees solve the funding issues and the time commitment is often low, especially for webinars and the Career Practitioner Institutes.
What is a CPI?
NCDA offers Career Practitioner Institutes (CPI) twice a year. These smaller, regional conferences convene for the purpose of:
- gathering practitioners together for a day-long event at a low cost
- allowing state CDA leaders, NCDA Board members and qualified representatives opportunities to present to and interact with smaller groups of practitioners
- showcasing NCDA products and benefits to both members and non-members
- offering CEUs (continuing education units) to practitioners who seek these
- convening Board meetings and state CDAs.
All CPI's follow the same format: a keynote speaker kicks off the conference at 8:30 am Friday, followed by two sets of presentations (with three choices of sessions each). After the lunch (included – lots of networking here!), another presentation series (of three choices) is offered. The Closing General Session caps the afternoon and concludes by 4:00 pm. Two PDI's are offered on Thursday, (as an option, with an extra registration fee). For those curious about NCDA credentials, a jump start session will be held during the lunch break.
The next two CPIs are scheduled – one for October 25, 2019 in Ohio and the other for February 7, 2020, in North Carolina. On October 24th, the first PDI is “Building Skills for Career Construction Counseling” (presented by Hartung, Savickas, Briddick and Savickas) and the afternoon PDI is on “Career Work Reimagined: The End of Career Work as You Know It” (presented by Feller).
For more details, visit the NCDA website and click on Professional Development: CPI or click here to register now.
NCDA Webinar Series
Recognizing the talents of many presenters and the challenges workers face when traveling to presentations, NCDA regularly offers webinars. Two up-coming events cover unique and trending topics:
Brain Based Career Development (BBCD): The Neuroscience Coaching Approach That Helps 
Clients Take Action
Presented by: Imants Jaunarajs, Jodi Pavol, Zach McGrain and Marcquis Parham
October 8, 2019
12:00-1:00pm (Central Time)
For most individuals, the career development process is inherently overwhelming by the shear amount of information and future based thinking that goes along with making life altering decisions. This webinar will showcase the Brain Based Career Development (BBCD) model (with 2019 updates), which is based on cutting edge neuroscience research.
For more information and to register, visit the website and click on Professional Development: Webinars
US Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration’s Open & Free Online Resources for Career Advisors
Presented by: US Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration
November 5, 2019
1:00-2:00pm (Central Time)
The U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration offers a variety of online career resources and tools that can support career counselors, academic advisors and workforce system professionals to help job seekers explore careers and find employment. Join representatives from the U.S. Department of Labor and CareerOneStop for a tour of some favorite online career sites and learn about some new resources and features.
For more information and to register, visit the website and click on Professional Development: Webinars
Attendance Aids Education for All
Numerous webinars are archived on the NCDA website for you to watch at any time it is convenient for you. Did you miss the recent webinar on International Student Services? Or the one on Bias in the Job Search? Why not schedule a “lunch and learn” with co-workers so the whole team can increase skills.
Credentialed or licensed professionals are obligated to obtain continuing education. All NCDA events fulfill requirements for NCDA credentials, as outlined in the Continuing Education Manual. All practitioners, researchers, and students are encouraged to seek NCDA opportunities to enhance their professional skills. If you have participated in an event previously or have an idea for a future option, please leave a comment below.
Melanie Reinersman is the NCDA website and web magazine editor. She can be reached at mreinersman@ncda.org
Ali Breen is the NCDA Marketing Contractor. She can be reached at abreen@ncda.org