Career Month is an international celebration of careers!

Each November, Canadians and Americans, celebrate the importance of accessing meaningful work and all those who help in connecting people with preferred futures.  We speak to 2 Canada career month organizers, Ali Breen and Judy McKinnon to tell us more about, in the second half of today’s show.

But first, Career Buzz goes to Houston Texas for the National Career Development Association conference. NCDA provides professional development, publications, and advocacy to practitioners and educators who – in turn –  inspire and empower individuals to achieve their career and life goals. Today we speak to 2 presenters from the conference bringing you insights into career development.

Dirk Matthews is a Career Development Leader and Educator at Columbia College Chicago. His work helps students find and build thriving careers in the arts and media fields. Dirk’s work is influenced by experience as a counselor, a filmmaker, photographer, and a faculty member. At Houston NCDA, he presented on Integrating Technology into the Career Development Process.

Dr. Susan Barclay is a licensed professional counselor, with a specialization in career counseling and enjoys collaborating with individuals in learning how to live an authentic life. She serves on multiple editorial boards for professionals journals, and her research interests include life transitions, career counseling and interventions, identity development, and counseling related to existential concerns.

Judith McKinnon has been a counsellor with the Career Education team for over fifteen years. During this time she has had the privilege of working with thousands of students in the process of making important career and educational transitions in their lives. Judith uses a strengths approach to counselling combined with solution-focussed goal setting strategies. She believes in developing the “leader within”, and uses self- awareness and career testing to find the best fit for educational programs and for providing ongoing career and student development strategies.

Millennials Career Coach Ali Breen, believes that your career can and should be a reflection of who you are and how you want to be in the world. She uses story-based, narrative coaching to help people get clear about what they want and how & when they can actually get it. As a past corporate recruiter and bilingual career practitioner in non-profit employment centres, Ali has experience from both sides of the Career Management table. With 9+ years in the career development and human resources fields, Ali is certified as a Holistic Narrative Career Professional. She offers a refreshing break and realistic divergence from the cookie-cutter career advice and tools that are often outdated.