Craft Your Future: A Professional Development Series
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The Craft Your Future: A Professional Development Series is designed to offer all students the opportunity to learn more about the holistic vital skills that will boost their career & life readiness. These webinars, workshops, and speakers share the narratives that offer insight and guidance into professional networks, teach lessons of crucial skills that help students put their best foot forward when pursuing an internship/job/community role, and create space for reflections that provide ways to give meaning to all experiences as students transition into the professional world.
If you have an idea or any questions about the series, email us at ccec_info@whitman.edu.
Craft Your Future Events
Spring 2022 Craft Your Future Sessions
Excel Pivot Tables
This workshop will teach you to use a powerful tool in Microsoft Excel: the pivot table! In this video, Eric Hamilton shares techniques for data analysis, data manipulation, and representation. Aimed at those who use Excel for research, the workshop will strengthen your understanding of this common and handy spreadsheet software.
Honing your Presentation Skills
We kicked off the Spring 2022 Craft Your Future professional development series with one of our favorite guest presenters: Juli Dunn, Senior Associate Dean of Students. Juli led an engaging, interactive workshop about honing your presentation skills. A presentation on presentations – pretty meta!
Juli’s work on presentations is inspired by Nancy Duarte (you can check out Duarte’s books and website here). Design thinking and IDEO also influence Juli’s approach to creating visually engaging presentations and beautiful slide decks! (More about IDEO can be found here)
Here are some tips Juli shared with us:
1) Who is your audience?
Make sure you know who your audience is and tailor your presentation’s content and medium accordingly. Are you presenting to your peers? to fellow academics? Is your audience already familiar with the content or is this new information for them?
2) Is a presentation the right medium?
Presentations are meant to be heard and presenter-led. If your slide deck can live without you, then you really just have the makings of a handout versus a presentation.
3) What’s your POINT?
Presence – be fully present in the space and be completely tuned into your work.
Originality – be original, what is your unique story to share? How can you use a story to frame your presentation?
Inclusion – be inclusive — what can you do through your slides or your interactions to draw your audience.
Narrative – choose a story arc that will support your call to action. At the end of your presentation, what do you want people to do?
Transformative – transformation through presentation requires three things –> resistance, tension, and a call to action.
4) Do your slides support your point?
Fit – if they do not reinforce your POINT, they should not be included.
Information – they need to include critical info only.
Visual – can you represent your point visually for increased impact and reinforcement
Engagement – design your slides so that you control the movement and message. Be unpredictable to keep your audience engaged.
Seal the deal – your slides should be designed to support your call to action.
5) If your audience only took away five points, what would they be?
Build your entire presentation around these five points and consider using an acronym and/or visuals that support them.
Happy presenting!
Fall 2021 Craft Your Future Sessions
Excel Formulas and Functions
Join Rich Hinz from WCTS for this second of three workshops on the most common spreadsheet form. Take your knowledge a step further by learning to build functions and formulas into your spreadsheets to easily build simple and complex calculations.
Introduction to Excel Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are used in every organization to sort, classify, and calculate data. This is an important and relevant skill for any student working in a lab, internship, summer position, or early career job. Join Rich Hinz from WCTS for this first of three workshops on the most common spreadsheet form. Learn how to start a spreadsheet, navigate through it and format the content.
Professional Communication Practices
What does communication in the workplace look like? This virtual workshop will cover professional communication best practices including language, formatting, and content. Learn how to connect with everyone no matter the medium!
Mastering the Art of the Informational Interview
Informational interviews are your key to networking, securing opportunities and building your brand awareness. However, there is a strategy to them. View the slide deck used during the live event and learn how you can use this valuable resource in your internship, job, and post-college opportunity search! Any questions about the slide deck can be sent to Kim Rolfe at rolfekb@whitman.edu.
Access the slide deck here.
Cover Letters That Work
What is the purpose of a cover letter? What should I include or leave out? What’s the difference between a cover letter and letter of interest? Learn how to use a position description as a template for a great cover letter and how to characterize your experiences accordingly from this slide deck that was used in the live event. You can view the slide deck and send any questions to Victoria Wolff at wolffv@whitman.edu.
Access the slide deck here.
Building Your Professional Network
A professional network is imperative to success in realms you may not be looped in to. This session covered how to build strong professional relationships and how they can help you access information and opportunity while keeping you connected to Whitman. You can view the slide deck used in the workshop and send any questions to Kim Rolfe at rolfekb@whitman.edu.
Access the slide deck here.
Budgeting 101
This workshop will cover foundational concepts, help you manage your college finances, and provide you with the tools and resources you need to craft a budget and stick to it! If you'd like to access anything offered in this workshop, send an email ot Victoria Wolff at wolffv@whitman.edu or contact the Career and Community Engagement Center at ccec_info@whitman.edu.
Spring 2021 Craft Your Future Sessions
Interview Prep with the Experts with Victoria Wolff '12, Cara Setchell, Jack Buettner, Andrew Johnson '09, and Al-Rahim Merali '13
Join the interview prep experts to learn how to practice the skills that will improve confidence and performance in any professional interview.
Transitioning from College to Nonprofit Leadership with Anna Taft '02, CEO of Tandana Foundation
Anna Taft '02 is the Founding Director of The Tandana Foundation, an international nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting the achievement of community goals and addressing global inequities through caring intercultural relationships that embody mutual respect and responsibility.
Finding Career Satisfaction & Success with Justion Hayashi '09
Luck is not a good strategy...
That is just one of the numerous sound bites of insightful and relevant advice that Justin Hayashi, Whitman alum from the class of 2009 shared with a group of about 15 students tonight during an Executive Speaker event hosted by our office.
Justin was a varsity tennis player and an avid IM participant during his time as a Whitman undergrad. He was also a member of ASWC, a KWCW DJ, a member of Phi and an Asian Studies major. His Whitman experience embodies the expansive breadth that he recommended students pursue now and after graduation. Here are a few other pieces of sage advice we captured from his talk.
- Getting experience is much more valuable than having a nice summer. Explore different ways to expand your experience, try new environments and grow your skillsets.
- It's okay to try something and hate it. When you try things you haven't tried before, you'll learn a lot about what you are good at and what you enjoy doing.
- If you have a connection, or can make one, it will seriously advance your chances of getting into an organization. The Whitman alumni network is a valuable resource that can help you open doors to an incredible array of experiences.
- Always be gracious and avoid treating professional interactions as transactional. Sometimes that well-written follow-up email will open a door that you thought was closed.
- Careers are not linear. It's a long game and there's a lot of room for recovery if you try something new that's not right for you.
And when we asked him about the skills and traits he looks for when he's hiring for New Engen - the digital marketing agency that he started and now runs as CEO - he said:
- Microsoft Excel - it's not going anywhere
- A strong aptitude for communication - that's what they do
- An ability to work well in teams - almost every employer looks for this
- A clear articulation of why you're interested in the organization and how your story fits into that
To watch the recording of his talk, email sec_info@whitman.edu to request the link.
Metting Etiquette & Management with Nikki Brueggeman, Sneh Chachra '23 and Antonia Keithahn
There is no one way to run a meeting…
This was the opening message for this week’s Craft Your Future workshop on Meeting Etiquette & Management. The workshop, moderated by Nikki Brueggeman from the SEC, began with Sneh Chachra ’23, ASWC President and Antonia Keithahn, Asst. Director for Disability Support Services sharing brief presentations about structuring meetings that are accessible and inclusive. Here is what we learned.
Inclusive meeting structures
Sneh addressed the importance of sending timely agendas to allow others to contribute to the content of the meeting. This also requires flexibility and clarity about expectations – what to accomplish during the meeting, what attendees can plan to take away from the meeting and how they should prepare.
In addressing meeting facilitation, Sneh recommended an intentional approach to language used in order to create brave spaces where others feel welcome to contribute. Be thoughtful about how you make space for others to share diverse perspectives and experiences in order to foster a more robust and productive outcome.
In being respective of others time, it is crucial to know when to move the meeting along. Sneh recommended summarizing the discussion to end with a direction and allow others the opportunity to weigh in on that direction. Clearly communicate next steps, goals and expectations and allow time for everyone to be heard before closing your meeting.
Ensuring meeting access
Antonia opened her presentation with the importance of Universal Design to ensure that meetings are accessible to all possible participants. This requires using a variety of formats for sharing information and honoring any accommodations necessary to allow all to contribute. If you’re hosting an in-person meeting, think about accessible spaces, using audio equipment and lighting to meet everyone’s needs and have the space assessed by others to ensure that you are not overlooking anything.
As so many of our in-person meetings have moved into online formats Antonia recommended using the captioning features on platforms like Google Meet and Zoom during your meetings and allowing participants to use the video and audio settings that meet their needs and comfort levels. She suggested normalizing inclusive behaviors like cameras off, creating opportunities for non-verbal feedback and building frequent breaks into your agenda – all of which will meet participants needs without “outing” any access issues.
And again, the use of timely agendas and post-meeting notes are important tools for effective and inclusive meetings. If you’d like to view the materials shared by Sneh and Antonia, please email sec_info@whitman.edu for access.
Communication in the Workplace with Shelly Rasmussen and Madeline Gyongyosi '18
Professional communication is crucial for achieving productive, balanced, and dynamic goals in group settings. This workshop will teach you the best communication practices no matter your audience.
Excel Pivot Tables with Eric Hamilton '01
Spreadsheets are used in every organization to sort, classify, and calculate data. This is an important and relevant skill for any student working in a lab, internship, summer position, or early career job. Join Eric Hamilton '01 for this third and final workshop on the most common spreadsheet platform. Learn how to use a pivot table to summarize data from more extensice tables. This functionality will allow you to analyze larger amounts of data in a variety of meaningful ways.
Excel Formulas and Functions with Rich Hinz
Spreadsheets are used in every organization to sort, classify, and calculate data. This is an important and relevant skill for any student working in a lab, internship, summer position, or early career job. Join Rich Hinz from WCTS for this second of three workshops on the most common spreadsheet form. Take your knowledge a step further by learning to build functions and formulas into your spreadsheets to easily build simple and complex calculations.
Introduction to Excel Spreadsheets with Rich Hinz
Spreadsheets are used in every organization to sort, classify, and calculate data. This is an important and relevant skill for any student working in a lab, internship, summer position, or early career job. Join Rich Hinz from WCTS for this first of three workshops on the most common spreadsheet form. Learn how to start a spreadsheet, navigate through it, and format the content.
Fall 2020 Craft Your Future Sessions
Building your Professional Network with Kim Rolfe
A professional network is imperative to success in realms you may not be looped in to. This podcast will teach you how to build strong professional relationships and how they can help you access information and opportunity while keeping you connected to Whitman.
Articulating the Meaning of your Experiences with Abby Juhasz & Kelsey Martin
What is the impact of your collective goals? Learn how reflection can help you to articulate how your experiences in your community relate to your personal and professional goals.