Events

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Career Day
About the Event
Schedule
Food
Fees and registration
Directions
Related Links

March 2004 event

Topic: "Career Day"

Event Summary
Date:	Saturday, 20 March 2004
Time:	10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (includes lunch and four round tables)
Location:	Directions are provided below. Booz•Allen Hamilton Conference Room: Hamilton 2001 A & B 8283 Greensboro Drive McLean, VA 22102 Phone: 703-902-5000
Cost:	Fees are listed below.
RSVP:	Registration is encouraged for this event by Wednesday, 17 March. To register, complete the online reservation form.

Speakesr' Handouts and Presentations and photos from the event are available.

About the Event

This annual event features a progression of round table discussions about careers in technical communications. This Year's agenda includes topics of interest to those who are new to the field of technical writing and established practitioners alike. Attendees have a choice of attending four of six table topics, all of which are led by experienced practitioners.

Interviewing Techniques – Manager's Perspective hosted by Ann Ray (Biography)

What are managers looking for in a candidate and how can it help you get the job?

Fine Tuning your MS Word Skills So You Can Get the Better Job hosted by Eddie VanArsdall (Biography)

While prospective employers should hire us mainly for our technical communication skills, they often focus on our knowledge of industry-standard tools. Though development of online communications is important to our profession, we still need a strong foundation in word processing and print production. Microsoft Word is the primary word processing tool that you're likely to use—especially if you work as a contractor. This workshop will focus on the Word features that technical writers need to know: templates, styles, AutoText, fields, and macros. Understanding these features will enable you to provide customized solutions to meet your clients' needs. This workshop will include a demonstration of useful features and ideas, a list of resources, and a chance to ask questions.

Résumé Critique Session hosted by Daree Allen-Woodard (Biography)

Bring your current résumé with you for a quick critique on dos and don'ts for résumé writing.

Personal Branding: The importance of branding to distinguish yourself in a sea of professionals hosted by Marissa Levin (Biography)

Personal Branding is your way of letting the world know who you are, and clearly communicating the unique promise of value that you have to offer. Here are some reasons why personal branding is so important:

People buy from people: Ultimately, it is the personal relationship that makes the sale.
A strong personal brand can be the tipping point when an employer or decision maker is making a hire or purchase.
A compelling personal brand provides the guidance you need to shape your strategy, and adds enormous value to your business.
Understanding your personal brand helps you define a direction for yourself and keeps you on course during difficult times.
It helps you stay focused on how you create value.
Ultimately it leads to profound personal and professional satisfaction.

The presentation will review these elements that lead to a successful personal brand:

Vision
Purpose
Goals
Personal attributes
Passions
Values
Target audience

It will also provide direction on how to communicate a personal brand.

Salary Negotiation hosted by Conni Evans (Biography)

How do you negotiate your salary within the current economy? Due to the recession, it is sometimes necessary to negotiate in reverse—in other words, taking the next job at a lesser salary. Subtopics:

How do you convince an employer that a potential employee is willing to take a salary cut in order to change jobs?
Does the STC salary survey accurately reflect salaries because of the lag time to produce the survey in the continuing economic downturn?
How does a potential employee determine a fair salary for the area?
How does a potential employee respond to a request for salary history without disqualifying them from consideration because of their current salary?
How does a potential employee minimize the degree of salary cut (for example, a potential employee would rather take a $10,000 cut than a $30,000 cut, but also believes that a $15,000-20,000 is a possibility?
How does a potential employee make a prospective employer believe that they would be happy in a job at a lesser salary and still be a good performer?

Schedule

Date: Saturday, 20 March 2004
Time:
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Registration
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Networking lunch
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Roundtable Progression 1
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Roundtable Progression 2
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Roundtable Progression 3
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Roundtable Progression 4
4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Wrap up/Question & Answer

Speakers will present for 45 minutes and then there will be a 15 minute break in between the sessions.

Attendees must select 4 of the 6 sessions.

Food

Lunch will be provided by Celebrations Caterer. Deluxe sandwich choices are

Ultimate Veggie Wrap
Parmesan Chicken with Basil and Roasted Red Peppers on Ciabatta
Chilled Sliced Steak and Herb Cheese on a Croissant
Corned Beef on Rye
Turkey, Bacon, and Provolone on a Baguette

Fees and Registration

Admission Fees

$15	STC members with advance registration **
$10	Confirmed present event volunteers with advance registration
$10	Students with advance registration
$10	Nonmember first timer with advance registration and first-timer coupon ^$$
$25	Nonmembers with advance registration
$25	Walk-ins without advance reservations (lunch is not available unless you reserve in advance)
** Each STC member may bring one guest at the member rate. Members and guests must register and pay together.
^$$ For nonmembers who have never attended one of our programs, we are offering a First-Timer's coupon for this event. To read instructions for using the coupon and to print the coupon, visit the First-Timers Coupon page.

Admission fees help to offset the costs of our programs. Fees may vary from program to program because of the costs of food and beverages, room rental, and other services. Our attendees pay slightly different fees depending on whether they are members, nonmembers, students, chapter volunteers, or walk-ins. We also sometimes offer a program-only option for programs that are not held in restaurants.

If you are involved in the planning or production of an event, you are entitled to free admission at that event. If you would like to help and thereby qualify for this discount, contact the Events Committee Manager. Note that we do not accept last-minute volunteers unless we have an unanticipated need for extra help.

Registration

You are strongly encouraged to register and pay by Wednesday, 17 March. All information published under Advance reservation policy is applicable to this event.

To make a reservation, complete the online reservation form.

Payment

You may pay by sending a check through the U.S. Mail or by making a secure online payment through our PayPal page using your credit card, debit card, bank account, or by paying money from a funded PayPal account. (Using PayPal allows you to make purchases without revealing your credit card number or financial information to us.) We also accept cash or checks at the door. Walk-ins pay the walk-in fee listed under Admission fees.

If you have already registered and would like to submit a payment by check or through our PayPal page, see the reservation page for more detailed information about making a payment.

Cancellations

To cancel a registration, contact the Events Committee Manager as soon as possible. No shows who do not notify us that they need to cancel will be billed.

Advance Reservation Policy

We encourage all attendees to register in advance. If you are unable to register by the deadline, you can still attend the event as a walk-in, at the cost listed under Admission fees.

Restrictions:

We cannot guarantee that food will be available for walk-ins.
We do not provide refunds for late arrivals.
We reserve the right to bill those who register for a program, do not pre-pay, and do not attend the program.