PSCDA June Speakers

Date: June 5, 2008, 6:30 PM

Topic: THE 18TH ANNUAL SHARE FAVORITE EXERCISES MEETING
(Fun and Useful Exercises to Engage Your Clients)

Presenters: Terry Pile and Allan Hay

Location: Community Center, Mercer Island, WA (For directions, click here)

Each year for the past 18 years our PSCDA Members have shared with us exercises that make a real difference with their clients. At our June 5th meeting Terry Pile and Allan Hay will share practical and useful exercises that can be learned in 20 minutes each. Come and have fun as you get to learn more about yourself and help your clients to be more effective.

Potluck! Potluck! Potluck! Once you've decided what snack, meal item or drink you can contribute, please email our potluck coordinator, Tom Washington tomw@cmr-mvp.com, and let him know!

Terry Pile and Allan Hay will share with us exercises that have provided considerable benefit to their clients. Each year two or three of our members share exercises that they have found useful in working with groups or individuals. Our members have valued and appreciated the opportunity to expand their repertoire.

THE ACTIVE LISTENING EXERCISE
Terry Pile www.careeradvisorsonline.com

This exercise demonstrates the importance of active listening and proves that the skill of active listening can be learned with practice. Active listening plays a crucial role in career decision making, informational interviewing, job interviewing, networking, and in many aspects of a job search. This exercise works well with small or large groups.

The exercise begins by discussing the difference between listening and hearing. How, for example, can you tell when someone is listening to you? How do you know that someone is not listening? The importance of body language and tone of voice is discussed. Then tips are offered and the group divides into triads for the Active Listening Exercise.

SUGGESTIONS FOR ACTIVE LISTENING: Nature gave man two ears but only one tongue, which is a gentle hint that he should listen more than he talks.

· Stop talking.

· Show interest in listening with non-verbal cues.

· Remove distractions.

· Empathize.· Be patient.

· Go easy on arguments and criticism.

· Ask questions.

Active Listening Exercise:

The Storyteller will answer a question such as: Tell about a time you had a disagreement with your boss, coworker, customer or friend. How did you feel? What did you do to have a positive outcome?

The Listener will actively listen to the Storyteller and can ask questions for clarification. At the end of the story the Listener will repeat the key elements of the story.

The Observer will observe the Storyteller and the Listener. How well did the Listener practice active listening and how accurately did the Listener repeat the story?

Terry Pile is a solutions-oriented career development professional specializing in career transition, outplacement, and workforce development. She has over twenty years of experience in corporate, government, non-profit and entrepreneurial settings. An innovative trainer and empathic coach, Terry's areas of effectiveness include working with individuals to identify their strengths and passions and develop a career destiny within their current company or for future employment. Prior to career counseling, Terry was an educator in the public schools and marketing/public relations executive for Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and Valley Medical Center. She has combined her love of teaching with her creativity in marketing to teach people to market themselves.

Terry has a Master's degree in Education from Indiana University and a certificate in Career Development from the University of Washington. She is certified by the Center for Credentialing and Education as a Global Career Development Facilitator(GCDF). Frequently invited to speak at association workshops and conferences, Terry publishes a monthly column "On Careers" in the Mercer Island Reporter and author of three online books about teleworking.

Editor: To see Terry's books, go to www.gettothepointbooks.com . Click on any of the categories in Catalog of Resources in the left column. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and key in Terry Pile in the search box to see what e-books Terry has published.

TELLING STORIES IN INTERVIEWS USING MEMORY MINING TECHNIQUES
Allan Hay careergold@comcast.net

Story telling is as ancient as mankind. We've been telling stories to each other in order to paint a mental picture of a distant place, an experience, or a conquest, all in an effort to evoke an understanding, emotion or simply appreciation. As a result of all these opportunities and eons of human experiences you'd think we would be better at it in our job interviews. Not true. But, why not?

The answer lies in a strange phenomenon. It seems that we are all good at telling stories about things or other people, but to tell stories about ourselves is difficult. Too often, telling a story about an experience, especially about an accomplishment, is confused with bragging. To overcome this concern a vehicle is needed that proves to our clients the difference between bragging and presenting good, solid, accurate information.

In the Memory Mining exercise, you will learn to help your clients overcome their fears of experiential story telling. The method will build their confidence and enthusiasm for attending interviews. These principles will enable your clients to establish a highly useful dialogue between themselves and their interviewers. Attendees will learn:

1. The value of "really" reading a detailed job description,

2. How to assess each function/activity in a job description by applying the Five Question Memory Mining Assessment,

3. The ultimate connection made when your clients select and refine their strongest, most relevant stories related to a particular job description,

4. How to use these strongest stories to uncover the skills they most utilize and depend upon in their everyday work, their "Natural Strengths", and

5. When and how to utilize these strengths statements when interviewing.

Through this exercise you will be able to instill in your clients a sense of pride in their work and a way to sell their strengths in interviews.

Allan Hay is a career management and development consultant, and author of: Memory Mining, Digging For Gems From Your Past Good Work. His job interview training was featured in the Seattle Times article titled "How to Ace the Interview" (S. Holt, Seattle Times, October, 2002). Allan is also an adjunct instructor at Bellevue Community College, where he teaches a variety of career and job search subjects. He is a former president of the PSCDA (1998 – 1999), and, currently serves on the 2007 – '08 board of directors.

Prior to establishing his private practice, Hay & Associates (January 1997), Allan was Vice President and Senior Career Advisor for Bernard Haldane Associates. His responsibilities included training and supervision of staff career advisors while also working directly with clients. In 1993 Allan was nationally recognized for his work at Haldane Associates, as Advisor of the Year for client satisfaction. Allan's work is supported by Certificate in Career Development from the University of Washington and an undergraduate degree from Antioch University Seattle.

Come and be inspired! (Please note that PSCDA's next meeting will be on October 4th, 2007).

We thank PSCDA's Conference Chairperson, Tom Washington, for arranging the June meeting.

Meetings are open to the public--free to Members, $10 to nonmembers.

Questions about membership can be directed to our Membership Chair: <pugetsoundcareer@gmail.com>

Please Note our new venue at the Community Center on Mercer Island! (For directions, click here).

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