Sponsored By:

Monday, Apr. 11

8:00 am – Networking with Colleagues

8:30 am – Powerful Questions to Stay Relevant in the Future of Work with Kris McGuigan

10:00 am – Break

10:15 am – Insider Tips to Avoid the Top 7 Salary Negotiation Mistakes with Melanie L. Denny

11:30 am – How to Meet Ordinary Extraordinary People & Advance Your Career with Kymberli Speight

12:30 pm – Lunch

1:45 pm – Journey from Transition to Renewal: Insights from the Inside with Susan Chritton & Michelle Carroll

3:00 pm – Break

3:15 pm – Guiding Clients from Diverse Backgrounds to Their Career Success with Sandra Buatti-Ramos and Cait Rosica

4:30 pm – Table Discussions

Evening Event
Group Dinner

Tuesday, Apr. 12

8:00 am – Networking with Colleagues

8:30 am – Future of Job Search & Recruiting with Marie Zimenoff & Recruiter Panel

9:30 am – Break

9:45 am – Concurrent Sessions

Choice 1: A 90-Day Success Plan for Senior Leaders with Maureen Farmer and Maddison Shears

Choice 2: Spinning Straw to Gold: Writing for Those Lacking Experience/Achievements with Louise Kursmark 

11:45 am – Lunch

1:15 pm – Concurrent Sessions

Choice 1: Pitching Your Awesomeness to Organizations with Latasha Williams

Choice 2: Board Resume Best Practices with Debra Boggs

2:15 pm – Break

2:30 pm – Concurrent Sessions

Choice 1: How to Scale a 6-Figure+ Resume & Career Coaching Business with Brandon Mitchell

Choice 2: Doing Well by Doing Good: Helping Candidates Land Meaningful Roles in Purpose-Driven Organizations with Charley Timmins

3:30 pm – Break

3:45 pm – Table Discussions

Evening Event
Small Group Dinners 

Wednesday, Apr. 13

7:30 am – Networking with Colleagues

8:00 to 11:15 am – AM Workshops

Choice 1: Executive Career Conversations: Evoking Awareness for Leadership Growth with Deb Denis

Choice 2: Federal Application Process & Resume Writing Tips with Nancy Segal

11:15 am to 12:30 pm – Lunch

12:30 to 3:30 pm – Workshops

Choice 1: The Modern Job Search with Kymberli Speight & Marie Zimenoff

Choice 2: Profitable Pricing & Selling - Finding Your Way with Jan Melnik, Louise Kursmark & Kate Pozeznik

3:30 to 4:30 pm - Closing General Session

Powerful Questions to Stay Relevant in the Future of Work

Career work is not about solving problems; it is about discovery, awareness, and choice. Asking powerful questions to our clients throughout the service delivery cycle—from intake to document delivery—drives heightened awareness, increased clarification, evidence-based decision making, and sustainable behavior changes. Furthermore, bringing focused intention to all interactions elevates client engagement and sparks long-term relationship building with the service provider.

Asking powerful questions of ourselves and teaching clients to ask powerful questions of themselves also creates a foundation for agility when faced with the unexpected. When we seek out and understand the possible future directions of work we can plan to plug in instead of being left behind.

In this interactive session, attendees will learn to:

• Understand the contexts of effective career conversations
• Pose powerful questions to clients as a means of self-discovery and lifelong career planning
• Address the most common resistance factors faced by professionals in transition

Meet the Presenter:

Early in Kris’s career, a supervisor coined the term “professional courage” to describe her direct and fearless approach to problem-solving. Kris McGuigan now brings that same bold outlook to her clients and their career aspirations.

In founding Professional Courage, Kris translated 15 years of corporate success into a targeted mission: empowering high potentials to step up and stand out in the marketplace. She built a premier career services firm from the ground up and was honored as an Entrepreneurial Woman of Note by Crain’s Cleveland Business in 2019.

Kris McGuigan

MBA, Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW); Board Certified Coach (BCC); Certified Career Management Coach (CCMC)

Insider Tips to Avoid the Top 7 Salary Negotiation Mistakes and Maximize Compensation

According to The Conference Board Salary Increase Budget Survey, company salary budgets are projected to rise 3.9% -- to the highest levels since 2008. This presents a lucrative opportunity for job seekers to maximize their paycheck as inflation rises.

Unfortunately, salary negotiation is still a skill that many professionals lack. In an economy where every penny counts, it's vital for professionals to capitalize on their talents and tactfully ask for what they're worth.

In this presentation, Melanie will address the top 7 mistakes job seekers make in salary negotiations and how anyone can negotiate regardless of their level or role.

Attendees will walk away with practical tips they can use with their clients - the same strategies that have Melanie's clients achieving up to 5-figure salary increases!

Meet the Presenter:

Melanie L. Denny is an International Career Speaker, Award-Winning Resume Expert, Nationally Certified LinkedIn Strategist, and trusted resource for all things job search. Since starting her resume business in 2009, she has written thousands of resumes for diverse industries at all levels.

Her clients have seen remarkable job-search success and salary increases to the tune of $15K to $50K as a result of her ability to not only concisely articulate their value on paper, but her empowering approach to self-marketing. She also enjoys mentoring new resume writers to serve their clients at a higher level. 

Melanie has been featured on multiple podcasts, radio shows, top career websites and national media outlets has been invited to speak to international organizations across the world on career-related topics including resumes, LinkedIn, interviewing, personal branding, networking, and career empowerment.  

She has won 2 resume writing awards and her resumes and cover letters have been featured in 6 career-related books. She holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Science in Business with a minor in English. 

Melanie L. Denny

MBA, CPRW, Nationally Certified LinkedIn Strategist

How to Meet Ordinary Extraordinary People & Advance Your Career

What if the next person crossing your path today is the exact person you need to know tomorrow? Truth is: We need each other.

In this session, attendees with learn (and practice!):

• Fundamentals for growing your network at any time
• Keys to networking and relationship building
• Techniques for having exceptional and memorable conversations
• Approaches for uncovering opportunities to give and receive help
• Ideas for meeting people.

Building a vibrant network takes time. Learn how to meet ordinary, extraordinary people to improve business development opportunities for yourself as well as help your clients network to discover job opportunities in the hidden job market!

Meet the Presenter

Kymberli is an author, speaker, executive coach, and trainer. She serves as the president for NSA-Austin and teaches USAF executive transition courses. An AF Academy graduate, she has jumped out of planes, soloed in a plane, and purchased F-15E fighter jets.

Her book: I Need To Know You: How to Meet Ordinary, Extraordinary People and Improve Your Life, chronicles her challenge to meet 100 people in 100 days.

Kymberli has lived as far north and east as Maine, as far south as Texas, and as far west as Okinawa. She understands the importance of building solid, mutually beneficial relationships.

Kymberli Speight

ACRW, MPBS, CPCC, John Mattone Intelligent Leadership Executive Coach, Conversational Intelligence Training, Executive Transition Assistance Program Trainer

Journey from Transition to Renewal: Insights from the Inside

Change is everywhere. Clients seek our services when they are undergoing a change in their lives. Guiding them through the tasks is not enough. To truly add value, we must understand what happens to a person on the inside during times of transition.

This interactive presentation will give you a little bit of theory so that you can have a solid foundation of what transition is. You will be guided through a process that you can use for yourself and for your clients who are experiencing transition. You will also have a chance to walk the Cycle of Renewal, giving you an embodied sense of what transition feels like.

By the end of the session, you will be able to understand and embrace this quote by William Bridges.

“It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions. Change is situational – the new site, the new boss, the new role. Transition is the psychological process people go through to come to terms with the new situation. Change is external, transition is internal.”

Meet the Presenters

As a career management specialist, Michelle Carroll has served 100s of clients and built a solid reputation for career coaching and counseling, career transition and management coaching, and leadership training.

With more than two decades of experience in the career and coaching industry, she has the privilege of offering a full spectrum of career development benefits.

She has been very successful in guiding professionals to identify their goals by using her expertise in the Myers Briggs (MBTI), STRONG (SII) and 360 / 180 assessment tools.

In addition, she is a speaker at various career industry venues, an instructor, and a workshop facilitator.

When she was young, Susan Chritton's favorite board game was called Careers. She loved that she got to choose her formula for fame, fortune and happiness, and then create her own winning strategy. It had a special magic. Now, as an Executive Coach, she uses her magic to guide thousands of people through changes in their lives. She helps them understand and develop their unique formulas and strategies—even if they come with blank slates.

The outcome? Her clients enhance their careers, work towards their goals and live more authentic and satisfying lives. They play by their rules—and they love it. What is your formula for a good life? Do you love it?

Through 20+ years of work in the careers field as Master Career Counselor, Master Personal Branding Strategist and Hudson Certified Master Coach, Susan has found that she loves Personal Branding. It’s one of the best tools she uses to help clients find their formulas. That’s why she wrote Personal Branding for Dummies. She's grateful her readers made it the #1 Personal Branding book on Amazon for years. 

Part of my personal brand is a commitment to her profession and the community. She serves on the Board of the Career Thought Leaders think tank; facilitates Personal Branding certification programs; trains coaches to align their brands with their practices; and speaks on Personal Branding, Career Development and Positive Psychology.

In her free time, she enjoys family and friends, attending classes, participating in book clubs, traveling the world, and riding her red Vespa to yoga class.

Her unique formula?
Deep knowledge, good judgment and intelligence. Adventure, enthusiasm and curiosity. A lively sense of humor, unbridled optimism and a laugh that bubbles up. And that Vespa…

Michelle Carroll

M.A., CCMC, GCDF-I, CTTCC, CBBSC, CELDC, WECF

Susan Chritton

Master Personal Branding Strategist, Author

Guiding Clients from Diverse Backgrounds to Their Career Success

Clients from all different backgrounds come to us for assistance with their career goals. We not only need to have some understanding of the differing challenges they may face, but also the skills and confidence to ask questions instead of giving advice that may not serve their situation. 

In this session, we'll have two speakers covering trends, need-to-knows, and strategies for working with clients who identify as neurodiverse or LGBTQIA+.

Participants will receive information and have an opportunity to talk with colleagues about how they can best work with diverse clients in a facilitated discussion.

Meet the Presenters:

Cait Rosica OTD, OTR/L is the Director of the Neurodiversity Employment Network: Philadelphia, a network connecting employers, academics, providers, vendors, job seekers, and other allies in the Greater Philadelphia region supporting one another to enable neurodivergent individuals to gain meaningful employment.

Cait is an outspoken advocate of the need for and benefit of neurodiversity-inclusive practices in the workplace, having presented on the topic at the BPHL! Innovation Fest and the Academy of Management Annual Conference, among others. Cait approaches this topic from a unique intersection; she holds both a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy and a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. Cait believes strongly that neurodiversity is a crucial part of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is proud to be a part of the mission to further inclusion in the workplace in Philadelphia.

Sandra Buatti-Ramos is a Certified Life Mapping Coach (CLMC), Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW), career coach, and the Principal, Lead Coach, and Lead Consultant of Hyphen Coaching + Consulting. She provides holistic guidance and support to clients throughout their career development and career management endeavors and employs an integrated approach to coaching. As a certified MBTI® Global Step I™ and Step II™ and Strong Interest Inventory® practitioner, Sandra works with clients to identify personality type preferences, foster the development of interpersonal, collaboration, leadership, communication, and other core skills, and match clients' interests with potential educational, career, and leisure activities. 

Sandra is the 2021 CSPA-NYS Champion of Diversity & Inclusion Award winner and the 2021 CSPA-NYS Innovation & Research Award recipient. Her research on trans career issues and concerns has been published in the journal of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). She is a NACE Blog contributor, has served as a sub-committee co-chair on the NACE DEI committee as well as the NACE LGBTQ+ affinity group. Sandra's work with the NACE DEI Committee involved presenting recommendations for NACE's future Professional Standards related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, analyzing and synthesizing NACE (2019) and CAS (2019) professional standards, and reviewing internal and external resources and categorizing resources in an easily accessible format to increase practitioners' engagement and learning and development. 

Sandra has presented on queer/trans issues related to career services and higher education at the CSPA-NYS annual conference, the New York Educators Leadership Conference (NYLEC), and Columbia University. She has also presented to and consulted with numerous public and private institutions. Sandra was a panelist for the 2021 SUNY Pride Career Chat as well as a guest on the Positive Philter Podcast LGBTQIA+ Folx in Career Services episode and will be serving as a panelist at the 2022 Career Thought Leaders Symposium in April 2022. Sandra holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from Stony Brook University, a master’s degree in communication from the University at Albany, a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from SUNY Oneonta, and an associate degree in Media Communications from Fulton-Montgomery Community College. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Educational Practice and Leadership at the University of North Dakota.

Cait Rosica

Director of the Neurodiversity Employment Network: Philadelphia

Sandra Buatti-Ramos

CLMC, ACRW, 2021 CSPA-NYS Champion of Diversity & Inclusion Winner 

Board Resume Best Practices

Expand your value to clients and open up a whole new market of opportunity by offering board resumes and board document portfolios. Learn what makes a board resume different from an employment resume and find out how to position your clients for non-profit, for-profit, and even public company boards.

Learn best practices for board resumes gained from one-on-one interviews with board-level recruiters and decision-makers to ensure you deliver stand-out documents based on what the market is looking for.

This session will be specifically created to teach resume writers how to add board resume services to their suite of offerings AND to write them at a high level that will delight their clients.

1. How to expand your services, value, and revenue by offering board resumes and board-related documents. This includes how to pitch and sell these documents as well.

2. Walk through the research to learn more about what makes a board resume different, the documents a board or board recruiter may ask for as part of the vetting process, and the information that they want to know.

3. We'll review several different board resumes and discuss why each was effective and how they could be incorporated into your practice. 

About the Presenter
Debra works with interesting, talented, and successful executives from all over the globe to equip them with the tools they need to advance in the modern job market.

Debra has been recognized as a resume, LinkedIn, and job search expert by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and many others in addition to serving as an international speaker and podcast guest.

Debra holds a Master of Science in Management, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and an Associate of Science in Labor Studies.

Debra Boggs

D&S Professional Coaching
Master of Science in Management

Spinning Straw to Gold: Writing for Those Lacking Experience/Achievements

Have you ever struggled to write powerful career documents for new grads with no relevant experience, clients with a series of short-term jobs that lack accomplishments, people coming off lengthy periods of employment, or those who can’t articulate their achievements (“I just did my job”)?

This session is for you! We’ll explore a variety of methods for unearthing, organizing, expanding, and connecting career stories that will resonate with employers and give your clients pride and confidence as they begin their job search.

This session, while not excluding executive writers, will appeal especially to mid-level experienced writers, college and university career center advisors, experienced coaches seeking to build resume skills, and those who advise on resumes but don't write them for clients. It offers new ways of approaching a familiar topic and a client segment that can be challenging. The session will include:

• 6 Methods to Capture Meaningful Content
• 4 Keys to Create a Powerful, Cohesive Resume
• Tips to Translate Material for LinkedIn, Cover Letters, and Interviews

Meet the Presenter

Louise Kursmark is a career storyteller who has been crafting branded resumes and career documents for more than 20 years. She is the author of some two dozen career-related books, including 3 titles in the MODERNIZE YOUR CAREER series with co-authors Wendy Enelow and Jan Melnik.

Louise was the first person worldwide to earn the Master Resume Writer credential and has won 6 “best resume” awards. Among her favorite things in life, in addition to her friends and family, are traveling, biking, visiting baseball stadiums around the country, and sharing success strategies with a room full of career professionals.

Louise Kursmark

MRW, CPRW, JCTC, CEIP, CCM

A 90-Day Success Plan for Senior Leaders

Do you coach senior leaders?

Whether your client is an experienced CEO, or a C-level executive planning to level up, you can help them jump-start their next role with a comprehensive 90-day plan designed to maximize performance.

There is intense scrutiny paid to executive performance today, especially considering the loss of business because of COVID-19. Leadership is watching, the board is anxious, and Wall Street is tapping its toes. That’s why a 90-day plan is an excellent tool for your client’s success.

Walk away with a product roadmap and marketing strategy that will grow your business while making your client look like a hero.

Used for job interviews, investor pitches, and onboarding, our session includes a sample plan, customizable template, job interview model, and marketing strategy.

Meet the Presenters

Maureen Farmer is the CEO & Founder of Westgate Executive Branding & Career Consulting, offering premier executive branding and career consulting services for high-profile leaders.

Maureen partners with business leaders who are looking for internal promotions, publicly traded board of director opportunities (BOD), industry changes, or individuals planning to start a consulting firm.

With polished consulting, training, and coaching skills, Maureen serves corporations and private clients across Canada, the United States, and beyond.

Serving clients globally since 2011, Maureen believes that when we’re doing work that aligns with our values in a respectful workplace, everyone wins. 

Maddison is a marketing professional with expertise in digital marketing, content development, social media strategy, and strategic writing for public relations. Maddison attended Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, CANADA) and the University of Calgary (Calgary, CANADA) for her BA and marketing certification.

Maddison has over ten years of sales and customer service experience. She is a certified Resume Strategist, a certified DISC Behavioral Consultant, and the producer of the Get Hired Up podcast.

Her exposure through travel, active involvement in the improv community, and zeal for networking all contribute to her success as a career strategist and digital marketing professional.

Maureen Farmer Westgate

CPBS, CDBS, CCMC, Certified Career Strategist, Certified Résumé Strategist, Certified DISC Administrator, Certified DISC Behavioral Consul

Maddison Shears

Digital Marketing Specialist & Career Success Strategist 

The 2021 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report revealed that 72% of surveyed executives consider “the ability of people to adapt, reskill, and assume new roles” as either the most important or second most important factor in their organization’s ability to navigate future disruptions.  However, only 17% of these same executives said that their organization was ‘very ready’ to adapt and reskill workers to assume new roles, pointing to a substantial disconnect between leaders’ priorities and the reality of how their organizations support workforce development. 

And according to Forbes "Large companies spent an average of $1.5 million in outsourced training services". 

Now more than ever before, you have a unique opportunity to expand your reach. 

In this 60-minute session we will cover:

• Teach you how to uncover and "package your awesome" as a career coach or resume writer into a workshop or keynote engagement. We will map out an easy but impactful blueprint for uncovering your "tasty" workshop or leadership session so that companies want more and more ( you will learn how targeted content and solving pain points wins contracts).
• My signature RISE model for elevating is your idea a hit or miss while insuring it inspires high performing and engaged workplace ( Relatable, Interesting, Scalable, and Evergreen & Optimize). You will use this model to develop corporate pitches that win a share of those billions of training dollars set aside by companies every year to work with consultants. You will learn why NOW is your time.
  
• The art of a persuasive pitch from an HR pro who has reviewed hundreds of pitches across non-profit and corporate. I will cover the top 5 "must-haves" you need when pitching to companies - based on my experience over the last decade.
• How to uncover the pain points that companies ( infused with industry research) have to and align your workshop into a no-brainer pitch to companies.

Meet the Presenter:

She had a dream. A big one. She wanted to work her way up to the highest point in her career, help other leaders progress, and be the one in charge. But she didn't know where to start. She did know she wanted to make an impact. And so she did. She started from scratch, with nothing but a few dollars, no mentors,  and a lot of ambition. She worked hard every day, learning as she went along. This led to leaders who waited their turn and worked their way over decades of working up to ask " How was she progressing so fast and getting other leaders to buy into her..with no experience?".At moment, she knew she tapped into a strategy that most professionals don't realize they have...ownership in their careers. That became her secret weapon..helping leaders navigate workplace dynamics, creating career-boosting career strategies to help pros uncover their power (even if they are introverted), and learning the art of getting leaders to say yes to YOU.

Today, Latasha helps early to mid-career professional women rise above the noise and not just fit in, but stand out. She works with thousands of professionals in various industries to understand their unique talents and untap their own potential in the workplace. Voted one of the Top Millennial Thought Leaders, and Top Women in Grocery & Next Generation Leader to Watch by Progressive Grocer,  leadership and career strategy expert Latasha Williams is a 3X certified career strategy and leadership coach, keynote speaker, and business strategist. With a background in corporate recruiting, training & development, and leadership development- her career successes have enabled her to teach professionals from entry-level to executives to infuse strategy and tenacity into their careers. Latasha worked her way up from a minimum wage server making $2.13 per hour to earning a seat at male-dominated organizations making well over six figures and is now on a mission to teach professionals how to do the same.

Latasha Williams

Career Strategy & Leadership Coach, Resume Writer, Business Strategist

How to Scale A 6-Figure+ Resume & Career Coaching Business: Using Technology for Growth & Automation

Being a great coach or resume writer is key to growing your career services business. Having a business that doesn't take over your life while still providing the income you desire requires going beyond these skills to learn how to manage your time, projects, and relationships. 

In this session, participants will learn:

• How systems can help you automate manual tasks and improve your customer experience
• The 5 biggest mistakes business owners make when trying to grow 
• Lead generation matters: how to attract, segment, and convert contacts to customers

Every participant will have access to a free business growth resource guide.

Meet the Presenter:

Brandon Mitchell is the Founder and CEO at WriteSea, one of the fastest-growing business management platforms for writers and coaches in the career services industry.

Brandon started his career as a resume writer and has worked with thousands of job seekers from all walks of life and industries.

Prior to launching WriteSea, Brandon worked as a technology consultant for PwC, a global accounting, and advisory powerhouse. He has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Earn Your Leisure, The Squeeze, and Blapitalist for his insights. Find him online at LinkedIn.com/investinbrandonmitchell. 

Brandon Mitchell

Founder at WriteSea & Resume Writing Business Growth Advisor 

Doing Good by Doing Well; Helping Candidates Land Meaningful Roles in Purpose-Driven Organizations

Covid changed the employment landscape. Candidates and organizations alike are now engaged in rethinking their purpose, i.e., “Why do we do what we do?” Each needs the other - for different reasons – in order to excel in this new world of work.

A different conversation between candidates and employers needs to emerge from this new dynamic trend. Fortunately, career professionals appear uniquely qualified to serve these two groups. But how?

Candidates look to their coach to position them as being “so good they can't be ignored”.

In this interactive session, career professionals will learn how to serve purpose-driven prospects and clients as these candidates seek to capitalize on this rising employment trend.

Key Takeaways:

• The economic benefits of developing a purpose-driven career practice.
• Ideas, practices, and techniques that equip career professionals to serve this demographic.
• The role of purpose in the journey of both you, the coach, and your candidates.
• Those non-psychological tools for uncovering the career assets of purpose-driven candidates (needs, wants, desires, values, vision, mission, purpose, strengths, roles, talents, etc.) that best align with the requirements of a socially conscious marketplace.
• The elements of a strategic communications platform that position career professionals to attract candidates, socially conscious companies, and their hiring authorities.

As The Human Archeologist, Charley Timmins guides clients on an inward journey, where they rediscover these hidden treasures, identify their' secret sauce', harness their superpowers, and figure out "What's Next" in their career journey. As a result, they are empowered to make the difference they want to make.

As a Personal Branding Strategist, Charley helps clients rediscover what truly differentiates them in today's competitive workplace. He mentors executives and professionals to define their purpose, develop their authentic stories, build a trusted network, and design/ execute a game plan to secure full-time roles/ engagements/ contracts with mission-driven organizations.

Charley's philosophy? "New Questions lead to New Thinking which reveals New Possibilities."

Charley Timmins

Chief Inspiration Officer, Human Archeologist, Certified Personal Branding Strategist 

Executive Career Conversations: Evoking Awareness for Leadership Growth

The work done by career professionals often begins when someone is in transition, and we know this work provides a foundation that can support the client once they land and beyond. 

In this workshop Deb shares executive coach approaches that you, and your clients, can use to evoke awareness and extend leadership growth beyond transition. 

In this interactive session you will experience the power of three, and learn how to guide your clients through exercises that contribute to deepening clarity and leadership effectiveness using the power of three:

1.     Three layers of awareness

2.     Top three values in action

3.     S³: story, somatics, strengths

Meet the Presenter:

Business Leader, University Professor, Published Author.  Likes to climb volcanoes.

Deb is the founder of DDG, a firm that specializes in working with Director to C-Suite Executives, their organizations, boards and teams.

Deb is a serial starter. In 1999 she started Cencibel, Inc. a NJ-based educational group; she was co-founder of The Athena Project, a coaching consultancy specializing in women's leadership development. In 2010 she, along with coaching colleagues, started Coaches Without Borders, an international volunteer organization that pairs U.S.-trained Executive Coaches with leaders of aid organizations around the world. 

In addition to her coaching work with leaders, Deb supervises professional coaches, is an Adjunct Professor at Villanova University and an Executive Coach with Wharton’s graduate leadership program. Before starting her own practice, Deb’s experience included more than two decades in roles of consistently increasing responsibility and span at Colonial Penn, Dun & Bradstreet, and Vanguard.

She is a published author and speaker: her work in coaching has been featured in academic journals, corporate newsletters, on blogs, podcasts and websites; she has been a featured speaker at industry, academic, Federal, and global NGO conferences. Only 41% of people attempting to summit Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft.) actually make it (2010 statistic), and Deb is one of them. She chronicled her journey in Kilimanjaro, which was published in 2012.

Deb Denis

Master Corporate Executive Coach, PCC, CPBS

Federal Job Applications: What Every Career Pro Needs to Know

In this presentation, you will learn to assist your clients in understanding the federal hiring process, including

• finding federal jobs,
• understanding how to use USAJOBS (including helping your client create an appropriate system “profile”),
• reading a job announcement and occupational questionnaire,
• and actually applying through USAJOBS, including whether to upload or copy and paste a resume and what supplemental documents applicants should (and should not) include.

Three key takeaways:

• How to read a federal job posting,
• Describe how to find, review, and respond to occupational questionnaires,
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of uploading a resume versus copying and pasting a resume into the USAJOBS system to apply for federal jobs.

About the Presenter

Nancy has 30 years of Human Resources experience with the Federal government and run her own business for 15 years. Her federal career includes serving as Personnel Officer, Deputy Regional Administrator, and Special Assistant for the Department of Defense, the U.S. Treasury, and other government agencies. Nancy was nominated for a Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) award for best military transition resume and her resumes have appeared in several books.

She is the author of The Complete Guide to Writing a Federal Resume, The Complete Guide to Interviewing for a Federal Job, and The Complete Guide to Making a Federal Career Transition. She authored and facilitated the Academy Federal Resume Writing Certification. Nancy holds a Master’s degree in Human and Labor Relations and a second Master’s degree in Public Administration. Her undergraduate degree is in history.

Nancy Segal

Certified Federal Resume Writer, CEIC, MCD, CPRW

In this 3-hour workshop, we’ll explore the journey from prospect to client and share a wide variety of strategies and options for making your business more successful. This means capturing the right prospects, closing your ideal clients, and producing more profitable services—while honoring your own preferences and niche of expertise. Best practices shared by two primary presenters, Jan Melnik and Louise Kursmark, will be enhanced by wisdom and experience from Kate Pozeznik, a relative “newbie” who has rapidly built a thriving business through expert use of digital marketing techniques. We’ll crowdsource even more ideas through interactive exercises that will provide valuable approaches and specific techniques for enhancing your go-to-market model and bottom-line results.

Meet the Presenters:

Jan Melnik is one of the industry’s top career strategists, Jan Melnik is a Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Manager, and Certified Professional Resume Writer. She is President of Absolute Advantage (in practice since initially establishing the company in Durham, CT, in 1983), author of top-selling resume and business start-up books, including “Executive's Pocket Guide to ROI Resumes and Job Search,” and contributor to more than three dozen career and resume books. She works remotely from her office in Sarasota, FL, with clients from all over the US as well as expats.

Jan holds two undergraduate degrees in business, is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland, and earned her Master's degree summa cum laude from Wesleyan University. “Our business is making you look good”—and we want to help you be as successful as possible in developing the right suite of career management tools and collateral documents that will assist you in competing for the right opportunity.

Louise Kursmark is a career storyteller who has been crafting branded resumes and career documents for more than 20 years. She is the author of some two dozen career-related books, including 3 titles in the MODERNIZE YOUR CAREER series with co-authors Wendy Enelow and Jan Melnik.

Louise was the first person worldwide to earn the Master Resume Writer credential and has won 6 “best resume” awards. Among her favorite things in life, in addition to her friends and family, are traveling, biking, visiting baseball stadiums around the country, and sharing success strategies with a room full of career professionals.

Kate Pozeznik is a resume writer, career advisor, and founder of Quirk, a personal branding and career consulting firm that helps accelerate the careers of women executives and rising professionals.

Kate’s expertise stems from partnering with executives in former corporate jobs, 20 years of technical writing experience, and navigating several career transitions, including a shift from stay-at-home mom to the tech industry. She's a trusted partner who helps women achieve measurable success.

Jan Melnik 

M.A., MRW, CCM, CPRW

Louise Kursmark

MRW, CPRW, JCTC, CEIP, CCM

Kate Pozeznik

Personal Branding Expert & Career Consultant

The Modern Job Search

The modern job search means using new tools to optimize proven tactics and coaching clients to avoid shiny object syndrome and overcome the ever-powerful rejection now piled on top of COVID angst. 

They need a clearer vision to stay motivated. An understanding of how to use the digital tools available for research and connection (without falling into the sleazy DM pile), and a coach who brings a balance of structure and grace.

Join us for an interactive session where you'll go through the process of creating a plan, researching via LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and then devise a strategy for connecting. You'll walk away not only with the scripts, checklists, and other tools we'll provide, but with a plan (and a reward structure) for implementing them in your practice.