 So before I introduce today's speaker, just want to share a brief background on advanced clinical training for our first timers. ACT is a leading online training and certification provider in the healthcare industry. And our goal is to provide a quality education that prepares our students to excel in the competitive healthcare landscape. We offer simulation-based instructor-led training to deliver the best learning experience possible and students can learn in an interactive, asynchronous format to gain skills necessary to enter any entry-level healthcare position in as little as eight to 12 weeks while earning nationally accredited certifications. So we hope that you continue to consider us to support you in your pre-health journey. And with that, I would like to hand it off to our speaker, Jessica, to kick off today's presentation. Thank you so much, Jenny, for the introduction. So we'll just jump right in today. So on our agenda, we're offering insights and resources available to ACT students and alumni to be able to enhance the skillset for a successful professional journey. We'll be covering an introduction to ACT's Career Development Department, benefits, key components, why investing in yourself is important and the services and resources that we offer. So it will be an interactive webinar and workshop. So we'll be asking questions and taking polls throughout this webinar. So get ready. With that being said, a big welcome to everyone that was able to join us today. We're super excited to have you all here. So whether you're a student exploring potential career paths or alumni seeking to advance your professional journey, we have a range of resources to support you in every step of the way. So the Career Resources Department is dedicated to supporting individuals in their professional growth advancement and providing a range of resources, services and guidance tailored to their unique needs. When it comes to navigating the landscape of career development, it can be daunting regardless of the stage as a student or alumni, whether you're a recent high school graduate, pre-med student and adult learner or someone that's committed to continuous education. It's often challenging to know the necessary steps, prioritize your goals and chart your course forward. We do recognize the importance of clarity and understanding your path and identity, but we're dedicated to providing the guidance and support needed to launch you towards your aspirations, helping you gain insights into your unique journey and empowering you to take confidence strides towards your professional goals. So with that, our mission in the career development department is to empower individuals to navigate their career journeys with confidence, resilience, purpose throughout their journey with resources and opportunities. For our vision, it's to cultivate a dynamic and inclusive community where every individual can unlock their full potential, pursue fulfilling careers and contribute meaningfully to their workforce. So who am I and what is my backgrounds? My name is Jessica Angalescu. I'm career and professional development advisor here at ACT. My expertise encompasses 13 years in talent acquisition, recruitment and human resources with a recent pivot last year into career and professional development. I'm very passionate about healthcare, creating strategies and resources, understanding market insights, crafting personalized guidance and strategic career plans and ensuring your success as a student or alumni in your development. I like to bring a holistic approach to essentially bridge the gap between talent acquisition, fostering growth and contributing to successful professional journeys. So let's kick things off with a fun question. In the chat box, put in what your dream job or career goal is and we'll give everybody a couple of minutes to input their answers. Position assistant, excellence, surgeon, RN, yes. We have lots of variety going on here. PA, perfect. CEO of a healthcare organization. Get it girl, yes, RN. Oh, I love this. Very good, very good. Definitely y'all took a good first step in obtaining experience and an education. That's wonderful. Thank you all for sharing. All right, so what is career counseling and development and what are the types? So career development is essentially the proactive lifelong process of finding your footing and advancing your career path. It's an intentional approach to creating a meaningful career that includes setting long-term goals, exploring professional developments, opportunities and gaining new experience. With that, we have two types of development. We have formal and informal. Formal is really any type of short-term training, education, certifications, workshops, seminars that can assist you in building specific skill sets for the job or industry that you're interested in. When we look at informal, this includes mentorship opportunities, networking, events, online courses, internships, and voluntary experiences. So let's take a poll. We'll give Janie just a moment to get that poll up, but let us know which type of development you have experienced, whether it's formal or informal. Okay, so it looks like we have about 67% of you with formal and 33% with informal, which is typical considering the career paths and the education paths that everyone in this call is on, you know, going towards that PA, RN, surgeon. So, excellent. All right. So when we look more into career development, we really have a set of stages. So let's take a dive in and kind of look at those. So overall, we have self-assessment, goal-setting, action planning, implementation and refinement. So what does that mean? So self-assessment really evaluates your strengths, your weaknesses, skills, personality type, interests, and values. And by understanding these, it really helps you to understand yourself, your fit, as well as the various career paths that align. When we're looking at goal-setting, using your self-assessments really assists you in creating the goals, which is definitely critical to your career development. Action planning involves breaking down your aspirations into manageable, achievable tasks and establishing a timeline for completing them. Implementation is where you take your action plan and put it into place. This is where you can, you know, create a calendar, block off time, each day to really focus on your goals, track your progress, but being sure to celebrate every win. I know that career development can be overwhelming, especially if it's your first time in doing so. So just remember to celebrate each win that you have, no matter how small. And then when we're looking at refinement, this is the process that typically goes more smoothly over time. It involves regularly assessing your goals and plans and progress. With that, you can do regular reflection, you can ask for feedback, and then just really staying adaptable and flexible if things go off course or the timeline needs to be longer or shorter, kind of depending on, you know, where you're at in your life, what you have going on. So, well, again, let's take a quick poll to see where our audience is at currently in their development journey. All right, so it's looking about 10% in self-assessment, 50% action planning, 30% implementation, and 10% in refinement. So a lot of you are in that stage where, you know, you're really breaking the goals that you have into daily, weekly, monthly steps and really focusing on, you know, how you're gonna track your progress. And like I said before, celebrating your wins. Wonderful. So within our Career Development Department, we have five key components that we really focus on. We have career counseling and advising, job search assistance, skills assessment and development, professional development and engagement in partnerships. So let's take a look at what each means for you all. So we do offer support for career exploration and decision-making through one-on-one sessions. And this is really where we dive into your goals, challenges, any obstacles or roadblocks that you may be facing. This allows us to really tailor our approach so that we can be able to address your unique needs effectively. By working with you, we strive to overcome those roadblocks and really provide you guidance that aligns with your aspirations, allowing clarity and confidence in yourself, in your decision as you navigate your career journey. We also provide comprehensive resources and personalized placement assistance to support effective job hunting strategies and plans with our job placement assistance. We do curate a list of seven to 10 job openings in your location, along with available contact information and facilitating that outreach. We found that this approach really empowers you to effectively connect with potential employers, take on relevant opportunities that are really tailored to what you're looking for an employer, your location and also enhancing prospects for job placement. Assessment really involves evaluating your skills followed by tailored training, resource provision to enhance your employability. These tools serve for identifying areas of improvement, particularly in soft skills like communication, teamwork, time management and adaptability. And by really looking at where the opportunities are, we can pinpoint specific areas that may require additional development and help you identify what tools, support and resources you need as an individual to succeed. We also provide an array of professional development webinars and events such as this one crafted to cater the evolving needs of our students and alumni's. In these sessions really offer knowledge to enhance your skills and really stay ahead of the industry trends. We offer invaluable networking opportunities enabling you all to connect with your peers and industry experts. So really whether you're looking to sharpen your expertise, create connections, explore new avenues for growth, our webinars and events are definitely tailored to empower you on your journey. At ACT, we do prioritize building and nurturing solid relationships with employees to assist with job placements, externships and experimental learning opportunities. We really aim to provide our students and alumni with hands-on experience, enhancing their skill sets and just really overall support for that successful job placement. We really feel like our proactive approach ensures that you can access opportunities that align with the career goals, ultimately empowering you to thrive. So let's take another quick poll. What aspects of your career journey do you find most challenging? So it looks like no one selected self-assessment or goal setting. So I assume you are all of those and are doing wonderful creating those, just kidding. All right, so resume and cover letters about 33%. Job search strategies at 56%, networking 44 and communication 22%. This is kind of what I was expecting. Job search strategies and kind of creating that plan of action can be daunting. But here at ACT, we do have ways to provide you with the support and assistance to kind of navigate the job market, the trends. Also with networking and communication, we have some great, great resources from industry experts on how to do that effectively, what it means. So excellent, thank you all for your input. All right, so you may be asking yourself why is career development for students and alumni beneficial for your professional journeys? So when reviewing the data and conducting research, we really found the six top reasons that career development can benefit you all. Those are clarity, growth, connectedness, informed decision making, balance and satisfaction. So let's take a peek into those just briefly. So we do offer insights into various career paths, industries and job roles within healthcare. This allows you to better understand your options through the information and resources, allowing you to make well-informed decisions that do align with your interests and goals. Utilizing a connected approach entails integrating your personal interests, values, skills and long-term goals into your career exploration. Through the holistic approach exam, we facilitate meaningful connections with industry professionals, employers and peers. And this really allows us to expand our networks and opportunities. One thing that I can say that I've noticed more recently in the past year and kind of growing over the years, especially since COVID is that connected approach that networking linked in, you know, it's a lot of job placements are through referrals or word of mouth, so it's really essential to really put yourself out there and connect with individuals that are having similar career interests. When we're looking at balance, this really encompasses prioritizing your fulfillment alongside your success. Our offerings cater to diverse needs, whether pursuing passions, achieving work-life balance or advancing in your career. When we look at clarity, it's pivotal to define your career goals and aspirations to essentially provide you with a clear direction and purpose within your career journey. This involves, you know, really understanding your strengths, interests, values and, you know, what your goal is, what is the outcome. With clarity, you can definitely confidently navigate your decisions regardless of the profession, leveraging your new found confidence to pursue opportunities that are aligned with your vision. And by doing this, you can make better informed choices, set your goals and embark on a path that really leads to fulfillment and success in your career. Looking at growth, this can be done through skill building and learning opportunities and it really just refers to the process of personal and professional development that's achieved by acquiring new skills, knowledge and experiences. This is attained through various educational initiatives, training programs, workshops, hands-on experiences that are designed to enhance your capabilities and your experience. And by actively engaging in these activities and embracing learning opportunities, you can expand your competencies, be better off at adapting and being flexible to the changing environments and really progress towards your goals. Looking at satisfaction through the pursuit of enhancing, excuse me, overall fulfillment in your career journey really entails actively seeking and creating opportunities that do align with who you are and what you're looking for in your career. This may be identifying meaningful work, nurturing relationships, growth opportunities, balancing your personal and professional life, but ultimately it's about creating a career path that is rewarding for you, that brings joy, satisfaction and really a sense of accomplishment. So let's take a poll. What aspect of your career journey resonates most with you at this point in your journey? You can go ahead and type it in. So with that question, it's really based around these identifying factors of the benefits. So are you more seeking clarity, growth, connections, informed decision-making, balance or satisfaction? Maybe having a technical issue here, that's okay. We'll just go ahead and move on to the next. So investing in your career development, we have continuous growth and learning, advancement opportunities, increased job satisfaction, adaptability and resilience, increased earning potential and personal fulfillment and wellbeing. So investing in your career is definitely crucial for your growth and can offer benefits that can impact your long-term success and satisfaction. So by taking on continuous learning and in skill enhancement, you're really updating yourself with the industry trends, technological advances and the best practices. Investing in your ongoing education and training can really expand your knowledge base, broaden your skill set and allow you to remain competitive in the market. Investing in yourself can also increase your chances of advancing within your current organization or transitioning into higher level positions by acquiring the new skills, gaining more relevant experience and really just position yourself as a valuable asset to employers but can also open doors to new career opportunities. Engaging in career development activities that align with your interest values and long-term goals can lead to greater job satisfaction, fulfillment and making you more likely to feel motivated and keep engaged. By being adaptable and resilient, this helps you navigate changing job market and industry developments. You become better equipped to take on the challenges, overcome them, embrace the change and really thrive in the environment by continuously refining your skills, expanding your knowledge and fostering a growth mindset. Investing in yourself can directly impact your earning potential by enhancing your market ability and value as a professional. So as you acquire new skills, gain that experience, you may qualify for higher paying position, more opportunity to negotiate which ultimately increases your earning potential. And additionally, ensure you're allocating your time to professional success. This can contribute to your overall well-being and personal fulfillments. Pursuing a career that allows you to be more purposeful and satisfied really can give you a sense of accomplishment in your career that's very, very rewarding. So overall, committing to your career development is essential for achieving long-term success and can definitely unlock new opportunities and assist you in realizing your full potential. So taking a look at these options, let's take a quick poll on what motivates you the most to invest in yourself in your career growth. And we can work in a variety of choices here. So it looks like continuous learning and growth, we have 33%. Advancement opportunities was 50%. Increased job satisfaction was at 17 as well as adaptability and resilience at 17. Increased earning potential, 67%. And then 33% of personal fulfillment and well-being. Definitely expected, the increased earning potential to be the top result. We all have to work and earn money to support ourselves and our families as well as our continuous career development. So, excellent. All right, so I bet you're asking yourself what specific resources does the Career Development Department at ACT offer? So let's jump in. So we offer students and alumni a robust, self-paced virtual course specific for career development that allows you all to easily digest the topics by way of infographics, tips and tricks, templates, links and other additional resources to really enhance your learning. Within this virtual course, the modules include topics like crafting, compelling resumes, cover letters, personal brands and interviewing, which is the four topics that I hear about most, knowing what it means and diving into how it works. And these aspects are really essential in making a positive impression on employers and really equips you with being able to showcase your skills and experiences to really set yourself apart in the job market. We've also created our own job board tailored to the programs that we train. We also offer job placement assistance, which I mentioned previously, that provides opportunities for students and alumni to connect with job openings. So, whether you're seeking internship, entry level, career advancement, our platform does offer a variety of options. So, we try to keep you informed and updated with the latest trends and insights through our various articles, publications and blog post collection from industry news to career advice. Our content really provides valuable resources for you to enhance your knowledge and inform you of any developments. Networking, definitely again critical to expanding your professional circle and uncovering new opportunities through our networking events, community, pre-health mentors and webinars you can connect with industry professionals, alumni peers, really opening the doors to opportunities for mentorships, externships, collaborations that can also assist you in gaining real-world experience and building valuable connections. We do advise you to use our one-on-one guidance, coaching and counseling sessions for personalized support and advice. If you're having trouble, you know, clarifying your career goals, refining your job search strategies and really just addressing any challenges that you may encounter. So, let's take a poll. What aspect of your career development are you most excited about to explore? You could just type it in the chat box. Janie, I'm unable to see the answers for this. Yeah, I'm not sure why it's not showing up, but I do see some responses around job placement assistance, excuse me, resume guidance and externship, job placements, externship. So, it looks like we have a lot of excitement around externship placements and job opportunities. Yes, yes. And more to come in regards to, you know, those specific topics in our next slide, where we really go through the course module that I created for the students and alumni. So, we will just pop on over to dig into the learning module to really explore what it offers. So, to start off your journey, we've crafted a welcome chapter, really introduces career development, along with links and resources to kickstart your progress. Our goal setting and assessment chapter is really designed to guide you through and define and refine your career objectives, aligning your skills, interests and aspirations to create that career path that you're looking to go into. In this chapter, it includes career readiness assessments, how to build an action plan and strategies to help you kind of kickstart that journey. We do offer expert guidance resources, templates and checklist for crafting resumes in cover letters that effectively highlight your qualifications, experiences and achievements. We've taken time to break down the resume into sections or lessons and provide you with the examples of what each means, how to word that part of the resume, just really allowing you to optimize your experience on this. And with that, we aim to increase your chances of securing interviews and job opportunities. With our interview chapter, you can confidently prepare for interviews by taking a look at the breakdown of the types of interviews, common interview questions, professionalism during interviews, how to prepare in research for the interview, as well as employers. We have a section on mock interviews and additional strategies to help you effectively communicate your skills and experience during that interview. We also offer a dedicated chapter focused on enhancing your networking and communication skills by providing very tailored resources that are specific to allied health in the phase that you're at in your career path. And with that, our goal is to really equip you with the tools and strategies necessary to build professional connections, foster those relationships and then ultimately assist you with advancing your career. Within this chapter, we really focus on providing guidance on effective communication with employers and it also includes a list of do's and don'ts. We offer LinkedIn specific tips for networking and strategies to build that strong professional network that we previously talked about. And then within our job placement assistance and strategies lesson, it's really designed to provide you with the essential knowledge and skills needed to successfully navigate the job market. In this chapter, we cover the most successful types of job boards specific to you all for allied health, various job search methods, common job titles to really assist in age you in your search. We also explore the significant role of technology in how it plays into the job search process. Over the years, again, especially since COVID, there have been a lot of new companies and resources and websites to assist you in automatically applying to jobs and things of that nature. So you definitely wanna kinda research the resources available to assist you so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. And additionally, the chapter includes a review of the job offers, a checklist, negotiation techniques and decision-making to really support you throughout this part of the process. When we look at our professional development chapter, we do include resources designed to enhance your skills, broaden your knowledge, maintain competitiveness in the job market, overviewing topics like emotional intelligence, professionalism, communication, conflict resolution, relationship building and being culturally aware. We also have a chapter that allows you to understand the job market and the trends better. Within this chapter, we cover emerging trends, impact of technology on the healthcare space, industry-specific information and leveraging industry resources. In our mentorship, internship and externship chapter, you can really unlock your full potential by reviewing the insights that we offer to really prepare your career growth and development. This lesson covers an overview of each opportunity, meaning it has an overview of the mentorship, internship and externship. And it also goes through stacking credentials to really enhance you as a professional and your growth. And then we have a chapter for staying connected, continuing to grow with our alumni chapter that reviews career advancement planning, leadership, transitioning, being a lifelong learner, your well-being and self-reflection, which is aimed to support you in your ongoing development long after graduation. So let's take a poll. Which aspect of the learning module do you feel is gonna be most helpful for you in your job search? So is it the goal setting and assessments? Is it the market industry trends, alumni services, professional developments? I think I have an idea of what responses will be, but I'm always up for a surprise. All right, Janie, would you mind sharing again which answers we have coming in? Yeah, sure. It looks like we have interest in professional development and mentorship, resume, interviewing personal brand support, job placement assistance and really refining their cover letters and resume. Yes, absolutely. That's kind of where a lot of it really happens. And very important chapters and modules and lessons to really dive into and get to know each chapter and each lesson and reviewing over the information. So wonderful, thank you. All right, so when and how do you all reach out to career development? So you can submit a Zendes ticket. This can be found in our CD course in the welcome chapter all over the place. And once you kind of bring up the ticket to create it, it goes through various aspects of the program, what types of services you're seeking. You can also in chapter one go through and schedule one-on-ones or coaching sessions. Most importantly, we do ask that once you are 80% of your program of completion is when you would reach out to career development. And we ask that you wait until the 80% mark to really be able to focus on the requirements for the program and focusing on the curriculum and the assessments and the assignments and deadlines and just really ensuring that you're able to complete your program and strive for that completion and graduation. We don't wanna throw too much information at you from career development and your program that can be very overwhelming for students. I've done it, I do not recommend. But yeah, all right. So we hope this session has provided you with valuable insights into the world of career development and really how it can impact your journey. Throughout the lesson, we've explored understanding critical components of successful career planning, the importance and benefits of investing in yourself and leveraging the resources available. But do remember that by investing in yourself, you're also investing in your future success, improving patient care and advancing healthcare. So I did want to take another quick moment to thank you all once again for your participation and attendance. We definitely look forward to accompanying you on your path to success. Remember, as you embark on your journey, we encourage you to remain proactive, resilient and open to new opportunities. And be sure to take advantage of the services offered and always appreciate the power of continuous learning and growth. If you have any specific or further questions or would like to explore our services more in detail, do not hesitate to get into contact with us. So now we'll do, let's go into questions that the audience may have. Thanks so much, Jessica, for that very informative presentation. We do have one question that came in and it's around really bridging the gap between what the job requirements are and just your personal immediate need. And the question is when I'm looking for jobs online, some organizations require one year of working experience as a medical assistant, but I want a job ASAP. What are your recommendations and what should I do? That's an excellent question. And I get this question a lot. And the key that I have found to success with this specific part of the job search is utilizing the filters that are available to you when you're looking for jobs on various platforms. So examples would be if you're going into Glassdoor or LinkedIn or indeed there is a filter that says education level, experience level. What you really wanna focus on if you do not have that experience is ensuring that you select no experience required or internship options or also let's see intern, no experience, entry level. I believe is another one just thinking of the different options on the various platforms right off the top of my head. But that can really assist and guide you in what positions to apply for. Because I do agree with this participant, a lot of the specific to the MA job openings do require experience, but when you're filtering down the opportunities that you're looking at, this can make it less cumbersome and overwhelming for you and allow a specific guide to know which jobs to apply for. Right, thank you so much, Jessica. Absolutely. I do not see any additional questions in the chat. So again, would like to thank everyone for attending our session today. We have another webinar scheduled this week on Friday around wellness for the modern pre-health students. And we hope to see all of you there and it's scheduled for 5 p.m. So if you have time, please register and join us for this informative session. Once again, thank you, Jessica, for the wealth of knowledge you have shared. And we hope to see you all next time. Have a good day. Bye everyone, thank you.