July 2024

Editor's Message

Do you work with clients who have criminal records? In this month’s Watercooler, Cheryl Minnick, Ed.D., helps guide us in best serving them. This is an important topic that is easy to overlook, but it can help us give many people a fresh start. Scroll down to read about it.

Also in this issue:

• We are about to elect new NRWA officers. Stay tuned.

Ruth Sternberg 

• Don’t forget that the conference is coming up in October! We give you a few more great reasons to attend.

• It’s time again to select our next Industry Hero. This award honors our colleagues who have contributed to the advancement of our profession. Read below to find out how to nominate a deserving career professional.

• Thinking about earning your NCOPE? This credential will give you all you need to be a true LinkedIn profile expert! Our next certification cohort is starting this month. Check it out below.

• And speaking of increasing your expertise, how about putting your work out there for recognition? The next ROAR contest is in full swing. You have until the end of July to submit your best resume(s). You just might find your work on display among the winners at our conference!

• In this issue, we also give you some ways to acknowledge and assist job candidates and employees with disabilities. July is Disability Pride Month, and Eustacia A. English has some suggestions you won’t want to miss.

Thanks to all who contributed to this issue! It’s a group effort, and we are always seeking assistance. If you have a story idea or want to write something, let me know! Contact me at ruth@confidentcareersearch.com. I can help you shape and share it.

Ruth Sternberg

In This Issue:

• Get Ready to Vote
• 2024 Reignite Conference
• Industry Hero
  
• Become a LinkedIn Expert
  
• Entering ROAR
  
• Helping Our Clients with Criminal Records Break Barriers
  
• Disability Pride Month: Celebrating Inclusion and Empowerment
  

Get Ready to Vote

The call for the 2025 board candidates has concluded. Thank you to everyone who nominated themselves to serve or nominated another member. It’s your participation that makes the NRWA so valuable to all of its members. Voting will begin later this month. Watch your email and the website for more details.

You will be voting for these roles:

• President-Elect

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Six Directors of Member Support serving members in the following segments:

• • Experienced Business Owners – Eastern and Western Regions

  • New Business Owners – Eastern and Western Regions

  • Military and Workforce Career Centers

  • College Career Centers

Have you registered for the NRWA’s signature event, the 2024 Reignite Conference?

Have you registered for the NRWA’s signature event, the 2024 Reignite Conference?

This year’s conference will be held October 8–10, 2024, in Providence, R.I.

Visit the conference website to register. 

The conference is a great chance for you to connect with colleagues and hone your skills. It features:

• Powerhouse keynote speech.

• Post-conference session from an industry pro. 

• Jam-packed breakout sessions taught by career experts to help you improve your skills and grow your business.

• 2 evenings of fun: We build in time to network with new colleagues, reconnect with old friends, and see a few sites.

• Earn 10 CEUs when you attend these information-packed sessions.

NRWA members Heather Rombauer-Warnish and Erin Kennedy recently held an NRWA digital conversation and shared their top reasons to attend:

• The in-person networking opportunities at the annual conference are amazing. The camaraderie and collaboration among everyone has been one of the highlights of each conference that I have attended.”

• The annual conference allows you the opportunity for travel. Past conferences have been in Colorado Springs, Denver, Seattle, and Charlotte. One was on a cruise!

• Being a solopreneur can sometimes leave you with unanswered questions or questions you struggle to figure out on your own, so having a group of like-minded people to bounce ideas off or ask these questions is very helpful. 

• I've been in the industry for almost 25 years, but I never quit learning, and there are always changes. Staying current has always been a mission of mine, and the conference offers even more of that. 

Do You Know an Industry Hero?

The NRWA wants to honor that person. We are seeking nominations for the 2024 Industry Hero Award.

This year's Industry Hero Award will be presented at the NRWA’s 26th Anniversary Conference in October.

We want to know who you think deserves this recognition and why. The award will be presented to someone within the career services industry who has contributed significantly to the growth and advancement of the industry.

Please email your nomination to Rob Rosales at robert.rosales@outlook.com by July 31. Include with your nomination a brief description of why the nominee deserves the award and what impact the individual’s work has had on the industry.

The NRWA created the annual Industry Hero Award in 2015 to recognize leading-edge career services providers who are passionate about the growth and advancement of our profession.

Past winners have introduced industry-leading tools and courses, promoted excellence, and raised industry standards. They’ve devoted time and energy while managing their own careers, and their work has educated and inspired countless resume writers and other career services professionals.

As we continue to salute our past Industry Heroes, we look forward to honoring the contributions of many more who continue to work tirelessly to advance our profession.

Become a LinkedIn Expert

These days, if job seekers are not optimizing their LinkedIn profiles, they are missing out on a great career tool. That’s why it’s important to help our clients understand the platform and develop effective profiles so they can showcase their strengths, skills, and accomplishments.

You can strengthen your expertise in this area by earning your National Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE) designation. 

There is so much to know! That’s why the NRWA offers gold-standard training in optimizing the LinkedIn profile for visibility and results.

The next training begins July 10. NRWA member Tom Powner will spend five sessions teaching you:

• How to craft branded, engaging, conversational, value-based LinkedIn profiles that get found and land clients more interviews.

• The role of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the role LinkedIn plays in today’s job hunt, career marketing, and social recruiting.

• The ins and outs of LinkedIn Recruiter—the platform used by a majority of recruiters to find and vet talent. This will give you the edge needed to craft profiles that perform in a crowded and competitive space.

• The strategy behind finding, building, and nurturing a large, centric network to catapult your clients’ networking power.

• Best practices to leverage LinkedIn’s network power and career interest settings and to find and apply them to LinkedIn job postings.

He also will give you access to the inside scoop on the best LinkedIn account types and guidance on account, privacy, ads, and communication settings to fit your clients’ needs.

After you complete the program and pass a brief quiz based on the presented material, you will be eligible to attend monthly meetings with Tom to review LinkedIn trends and changes. You also earn a 1:1 coaching session with Tom. 

Each year, you can renew your NCOPE certification and learn even more about its evolving features.

Here are the details:

Five class meetings are on Wednesdays, July 10, 2024 – August 7, 2024. 

Classes meet 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. ET.

Showcase Your Writing Expertise by Entering ROAR

The NRWA annual resume writing competition is here, so get ready to showcase your exceptional skills and creativity. The Recognizing Outstanding Achievement in Resumes (ROAR) competition offers a platform to demonstrate your mastery of industry standards while elevating your credibility and visibility. 

Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on July 31. Winners will be announced at the NRWA Conference in Providence, R.I. 

The winner in each category will receive:

Here's what you need to know:

Familiarize yourself with this year’s categories, catering to various career levels and special circumstances.

Each entry will be “blind judged” and assigned a point value based on the following criteria:

Here are the categories:

Select your BEST resume in any category (limit of one entry per category for each contestant). Fictionalize all names, contact information, company names, and optional company descriptions. Prepare a strategy statement for each entry. Don’t forget to include the job listing on which you based your resume submission (if you don’t have access to the exact job listing you used, please include a similar job listing).

By Cheryl Minnick, Ed.D., NCRW 

Helping Our Clients with

Criminal Records Break Barriers

Everyone deserves a fair chance at employment, including those with a tarnished past. Many laws are changing to give justice-impacted individuals a chance at jobs and professional certifications, trade programs, and college degrees.

New laws such as “ban the box” have helped candidates compete more effectively. Effective in 2018, the law prohibits employers with five or more employees from asking a job candidate about conviction history before making a job offer. Twenty-five states have enacted variations of this law. So has the federal government, with its Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act (2019) extending the ban to federal agencies.

Other regulations have broadened access to funding for education. The federal government also recently extended Pell Grant eligibility to allow incarcerated individuals access to postsecondary education. Many prison systems have implemented new, innovative higher education and professional training programs to help reduce recidivism by eliminating educational and workforce barriers. This includes partnering with colleges and universities to provide online courses, offering degree programs, providing trade certification programs, and teaching critical soft skills.

As career professionals, we may support clients or students with felonies to teach them to navigate their past on a resume, application, or in an interview. Here are a few tips you can share with them:

Coaching

Resume

College and/or Job Application

Interviews

References

Cheryl Minnick, Ed.D., is a career consultant, resume writer, and director of career services for the College of Humanities and Sciences at the University of Montana in Missoula. 

Disability Pride Month:

Celebrating Inclusion and Empowerment

By Eustacia A. English, NCOPE

In July 2024, people around the world will observe Disability Pride Month. This is an opportunity to consider the strides made and the work that remains in building an inclusive society for individuals with disabilities. 

This annual event commemorates the achievements made by people with disabilities in society and pays tribute to the history of the disability rights movement. The main objective of this month is to dispel myths and change the perceptions of disabled people.

People with disabilities frequently encounter prejudice and obstacles that prevent them from participating fully in all facets of life, including their jobs. During Disability Pride Month, we can highlight and celebrate the abilities and viewpoints of persons with disabilities and raise awareness of their equal rights to opportunities and advancement. Employers can also take advantage of this designated celebration to review current procedures and brainstorm ways to make the workplace more accessible.

Here are some suggestions for companies looking to assist workers with disabilities:

Accessibility: Regardless of an employee's disability status, make sure the physical workplace and internet resources are accessible to them. This could entail making adjustments to the equipment, offering assistive technology, or allowing flexible work schedules.

Inclusive hiring practices: Examine job descriptions and hiring procedures to make sure that there are no obstacles for people with impairments. To find suitable applicants, think about collaborating with disability-focused organizations.

Education and training: All employees should receive regular training on disability inclusion and awareness. Open communication about disabilities is important to dispel stigmas and increase understanding.

Support networks: Create networks or employee resource groups for people with disabilities and others who are allied with them. Within the company, these groups can offer advocacy, mentorship, and peer support.

Open communication: Encourage a culture of open communication so that staff members are at ease disclosing any disabilities they may have and what accommodations they may require. Supervisors should receive training on how to have these discussions discreetly and sensitively.

As career professionals, we can make sure we are also helping our clients with disabilities compete more fairly and equally in the job market by providing tailored support and leveraging resources designed to promote inclusivity. Here are some strategies and tips:

Educate Them on their Legal Rights

Provide Accessibility and Inclusivity

Highlight Skills and Achievements

Address Employment Gaps

Leverage Assistive Technology

Target Inclusive Employers

Many are listed with the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN)  and websites such as GettingHired  and AbilityJobs.

Encourage Networking and Mentorship

Guide Them on Disclosure and Accommodation Requests

Review Interview Skills

Promote Confidence and Self-Advocacy

Offer Support and Follow-Up

Other Resources and Programs

As we celebrate Disability Pride Month in July 2024, let us honor the resilience and contributions of people with disabilities and continue the fight for full equality and inclusion. Let's push our organizations and ourselves to do more to build a society in which everyone can succeed, regardless of ability.

Eustacia A. English is the owner of Resumes on Demand in Cherry Hill, N.J., where she provides resume writing and career coaching services. She specializes in helping new graduates, nurses, and other HR professionals brand their careers. 

Professional Development 

The NRWA offers live and on-demand webinars, a self-paced Resume Writing 101 course, teleseminars, and more opportunities for learning throughout the year.

Certification Programs 

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